Recorded state government meetings available through new League of Women Voters channel
The League of Women Voters has established a channel on which citizens can watch videos of the state Senate, House of Representatives and legislative committee meetings, searchable by keywords and phrases.
The Alabama Channel is a new project of the League of Women Voters of Alabama Education Fund.
“Ultimately, we anticipate that the Alabama Channel will improve civic engagement and government transparency,” Kathy Jones, president of the education fund said in a press release from the league. “Through the searchable digital archive of legislative proceedings, the Alabama Channel will help us all gain a big picture of Alabama’s legislative process and provide context for the complex issues that Alabama faces.”
Alabama livestreams legislative meetings but does not record them, making it one of four states that don’t record their meetings, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Alabama Channel will capture and save the live video recordings and make them available to the public online and on demand. Users will be able to enter a keyword or phrase to quickly find the point in any recorded meeting where the word or phrase is mentioned, then share the clips on social media or websites.
“Our legislature is elected by the people, yet as voters, we often feel disconnected from what our legislators are working on,” Tara Bailey, director of The Alabama Channel, said. “The Alabama Channel makes it simple for all Alabamians to quickly see what their legislators are saying about the issues they care about most.”
The channel used software created by the nonprofit Open Media Foundation, which is based out of Denver and focused on putting the power of the media in the hands of the people, according to the press release.
Visit The Alabama Channel.
You can trust the jobs report, Labor Department workers urge public
A strongly-worded statement from Bureau of Labor Statistics workers comes a month after President Trump attacked the integrity of the jobs numbers they release monthly.
Headed to the FBI, Missouri’s Andrew Bailey opposed abortion, backed Trump
Andrew Bailey rose quickly to be state attorney general of Missouri where he built a record for fighting abortion and defending Donald Trump. Now he's a co-deputy director of the FBI.
How Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans are reacting to Trump’s National Guard threats
Even after a federal court ruled his use of the National Guard in LA was illegal, the president has weighed sending troops to Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans. Here's where things stand in those cities.
Watching a neighbor’s cat turns lethal in ‘Caught Stealing’
Darren Aronofsky's film is a funny, bloody valentine to 1990s New York City. Though awfully engrossing, Caught Stealing's mix of rambunctious slapstick and bone-crunching violence doesn't always gel.
Hundreds of South Koreans are among 475 detained in a Georgia immigration raid
"The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed," a foreign ministry spokesman said after about 300 South Koreans were detained.
Four Democratic senators urge Smithsonian to resist White House attempts to ‘bully the institution’
Sen. Alex Padilla of California and three other Democrats are reminding the Smithsonian's secretary that the institution "is the responsibility of Congress."
