Remote testimony could be here to stay at the Oregon Capitol
Updated May 11, 9:57 AM;
Posted May 10, 9:13 PM
The Oregon Capitol has been closed to the public for more than a year, with committees taking testimony via remote video. The Oregonian
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At the south entrance to the Oregon Capitol sits a kiosk. With the building closed to the public, the kiosk has one job: to allow people who walk up to the Legislature to testify virtually before a committee.
The public hasn’t exactly jumped at the chance to talk to lawmakers by standing outside of the Capitol and speaking into a camera. According to the Legislative Policy and Research Office, the kiosk has been used just four times since it was installed last year.
Oregon Capitol May Retain Remote Testimony Post-Pandemic
With the Oregon Capitol closed to the public, a kiosk has been installed outside the building with one job: to allow people who walk up to the Legislature to testify virtually before a committee.
May 11, 2021 •
(Shutterstock) (TNS) At the south entrance to the Oregon Capitol sits a kiosk. With the building closed to the public, the kiosk has one job: to allow people who walk up to the Legislature to testify virtually before a committee.
The public hasn’t exactly jumped at the chance to talk to lawmakers by standing outside of the Capitol and speaking into a camera. According to the Legislative Policy and Research Office, the kiosk has been used just four times since it was installed last year.
May 7, 2021 Share
Public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is bound by its charter to be editorially independent and immune from political influence.
But a new series, in which Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam interviews political leaders about reforms, is being criticized as testing the limits of that independence.
Chief Executive Lam presented the first of the programs, “Get to Know the Election Committee Subsectors,” on April 28. In the series, she discusses political reforms for Hong Kong that have been widely viewed as controversial.
Journalists and experts have said it “falls into the realms” of a propaganda campaign.
RTHK insiders told VOA that the Hong Kong government’s Information Services Department commissioned the production, with episodes to be shown on RTHK channels. Episodes uploaded to YouTube include a line in Chinese at the end saying it was produced by the regional government, media reported.
Mr. Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) has urged journalists and media practitioners to continue to uphold high journalistic standards in the execution of their mandate to maintain public trust. “It is important for us all to acknowledge the fact that when we say that we want to see information as public good then it poses on us an obligation as media people to do what is right, do what is just and do what is fair. Anything short of that cannot be seen as a public good,” he said. Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate this year’s World Press Freedom Day in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Ayeboafoh lamented the lack of professionalism and misreporting in some sections of the media, a situation he said could undermine the successes chalked by the media over the years.