The Isle of Wight Council has welcomed a parliamentary order signed by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles that allows the media and public to film and digitally report from all public meetings of local government bodies.
With social and digital media growing increasingly popular, the Council already allows live reporting of meetings from the media via social media such as Twitter and Facebook updates. It also provides a guest wi-fi network within County Hall for users to log on to and access the internet.
The council has reported live from its own meetings in the past and this is something that Island Echo look to carry out in the future.
Council leader, Cllr Ian Stephens, said:
“We are committed to being open and transparent and strive to make it very simple for visitors to County Hall to record meetings and media outlets to report live should they wish.
“News is not restricted to the traditional media these days, it is much more instant and available around the clock. The council itself is very proactive with promoting the use of social media to provide news to the public and we are one of the most innovative local authorities in this respect.
“For example, we were one of the first in the UK to use Facebook as a platform to allow members of the public to question senior officers and councillors live on major decisions, such as changes to waste collections and we also held a Facebook question and answer session earlier this year on the budget to give residents the chance to question us ahead of any decisions being made.
“We are very happy the government has recognised the importance of digital and social media and we consider this a step forward.”
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The Isle of Wight Council itself runs a number of Facebook and Twitter pages already, with a combined total of nearly 18,000 followers.
