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.