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1240/5(4755)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO CHAIRMAN OF CHAIRMEN'S COMMITTEE BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. MARY
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 21st SEPTEMBER 2009
Question
To aid members in their consideration of P.112/2009, would the President advise whether the Committee has been notified of any complaints made against the official media' in the last 10 years and, if so, what was the outcome of such complaints?
Can the Chairman further explain what are the underlying principles behind a proposal seeking to exclude citizen media and hand a monopoly to 'official professional media' and how this squares with the need for the Assembly to engage with the public as fully as possible?
Answer
The matter of access to States meetings by the media and members of the public has been considered by both the Privileges and Procedures Committee and the Chairman's Committee.
It has been agreed that a working party be established consisting of the Chairman, Privileges and Procedures Committee, President of the Chairman's Committee, and a representative from the executive.
It is anticipated that the working party will consider;
• Access to government, executive and non-executive meetings by public;
• The use of recording equipment in respect of States related matters;
• The distinction, if any, between bloggers' and the official' press;
• Audio recording of States meetings;
• Visual recording of States meetings;
• The provision of information to the public;
• Timely communication of information to politicians;
• The use of blog' sites by politicians and the possible regulation thereof;
• The application of Standing Orders and standards to websites/weblogs run by politicians;
• The right of redress;
• The rights of the public and/or witnesses to refuse to be filmed;
• The rights of the public and/or witnesses to refuse to be recorded.
It has been agreed that P.112/2009 shall be withdrawn pending the outcome of this review. In respect of complaints made against the official media' during the past 10 years it should be noted the Chairman's Committee has only been in existence for 4 years, and during that time has no record of any official complaints.