West Virginians who have an interest in
what their senators and delegates are doing at the statehouse in Charleston
“We’ve got five cameras in each
chamber. By the 30th day of the session we expect to have all five cameras up
and functioning,” said Legislative Services Coordinator Aaron Allred. “Right
now, the center camera in the back in both chambers is broadcasting live to the
public. We get a wide shot of the whole chamber while we get all of the kinks
worked out of the system.”
The upgrade was viewed as an important
step by lawmakers and Allred who said open government is better government. The
audio of the sessions has been streamed to the Internet for several years. The
video was a logical step in the progression.
The cost of the new program was
$500,000, but $100,000 was funded by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
“That’s about 30 cents per West
Virginian,” said Allred. “I’m not going to tell you it’s cheap, but I think
access to a legislature statewide is a very important goal.”
Allred said no decisions have been made
about possibly expanding the program to also stream video from committee
meetings to the web. The audio is streamed from the major committee rooms.
Allred said it’s a worthwhile effort and something the
legislature has always wanted to do.
