| The meetings between the Clerk of the National Assembly and the media continued today. Except, this time, there was a far better representation of a wide cross section of media, including LOVE TV, KREM Radio and TV, the Guardian, The Amandala, The National Channel, PLUS TV, and Channel 7.
As we told you, last week, the purpose of the meetings is to propose a way forward for a modernized video system in the House. This will capture, distribute and stream house meetings using optical angles, and optimal interfaces for working journalists.
The Clerk of the National Assembly told the media representatives at the outset of the meeting what it is all about.
Eddie Webster, Clerk, National Assembly
"I am certain that you all agree that the shots coming out of the national assembly could be much better. We could much better serve the Belizean people and so we are putting together a network. I am not a technical person and so I am leaning on the expertise of you all to ensure that we buy the right equipment to serve the purposes that we would like to."
Jules Vasquez, Ch7
"I really embrace the clerk's, A) his embrace of the decision to modernize and also his funding of it. The man says he already got the money. So he has money earmarked. So I think it's a great initiative, but we all have to be on board and we all have to have an agreed terms of engagement in terms that we are all satisfied technically, that we don't do it and somebody says well that doesn't meet my standards, I will do my own thing and this it recreates the clutter, because the clutter is the issue, so we need everyone to be on the same page technically and we need everyone to be on the same page editorially, because we know the government's natural instinct. It not the failures of human beings, but the natural instinct is to sanitize what is controversial."
Dorian Pakeman, Director, Press Office
"It wouldn't be a matter of sanitizing, everybody gets the same feed. You get the video and the audio and you do what you want with it. We have no control over your editing."
Eddie Webster, Clerk, National Assembly
"We will have a feed, a distribution point, so every media house can plug into those distribution points and you could put that on your laptop if you want, you send that wherever you want. that is your prerogative. I want this thing to be where everybody gets the feed live from the national assembly uninterrupted, universally available. We must could improve the situation here at the assembly and that would be my take on this exercise. So when the money comes, we set up a technical team and then we order the stuff and then we proceed."
Funding of 65 thousand dollars will come mainly from the Government of Taiwan and FOPREL, a regional parliamentary body.
The media also requested better seating arrangements and high speed WI-FI.
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