Elected Official Videos

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Elected Official Videos

Definition:

Elected official videos provide short video webcasts that introduce elected officials to citizens.

Summary: Short videos (less than three minutes) can be a valuable tool to increase visibility of elected officials, as well as communicate key ideas and objectives in a format that is both accessible and engaging.

Rationale and Objectives:

What can you use this feature for?

• Improve recognition of elected officials.
• Widen communication of policy and objectives.
• Improve trust in elected officials.
• Increase approachability of elected officials by creating a virtual introduction.

Why use it?

• It makes communication more accessible by moving away from the complete reliance on the written word. With adult literacy a concern in many areas, this can make a significant difference.
• Video webcasting elected officials increases the public’s trust – they are more likely to believe someone they see saying something than reading the same information.
• Meets people's growing expectations and preferences in terms of website functionality – multimedia is increasingly standard on private sector websites and the public sector must maintain an attractive online presence to remain accessible in terms of citizen relevance and site traffic.

Benefits - Describe the top benefits for each group

• All Users: Increased accessibility and visibility of elected officials.
• Citizens: Greater awareness of elected officials in a format which suits their viewing preferences and time schedule.
• Councillors: Effective communication with a wide audience. Enhances the flat biography with a "virtual" introduction with voice, images and the emotion that video displays.
• Local Administration: Increases the public understanding of the role of elected officials.

Limitations and Cautions

• Viewers may need to have the correct software or software version to watch the video in the format your government chooses.
• Can be frustrating for dial-up modem viewers or those with older equipment.
• Interviews should be taped in a quiet setting with proper lighting.
• Must be done in a non-partisan, politically balanced manner with elected officials of all parties represented. Videos should be collected/updated in the first half of a term and not in the run up to an election.

Successes ^{collected projects}

- Successful Implementations

• Example 1: Lancashire County Council
• Link: http://www.councillor.info/lancashire/tmartin/5984/Default.aspx
• Usage and Results: Lancashire has been webcasting for three years. This is its first direct broadcast from an elected official. It is part of the Councillor.info project/product which provides a website for every member. The video was captured by cameras used for the webcasting of meetings and events and is deliberately a straight-to-camera address rather than an interview in a more "produced" setting. Project managers determined that this makes the content more direct and less like "yet another news programme". It has been transcribed, as well, to maximise its accessibility. Lancashire is piloting this extension to their Councillor.info project and will seek to film elected officials after the elections later this year in order to broaden the service out.

• Example 2: The Scottish Parliament
• Link: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/index.htm
• Usage and Results: The site provides clips for each MSP, and it is possible to go directly to the video rather than having to visit each member’s own page – unlike the other examples where a user goes to the member’s page first. The members have been interviewed with a standard script and filmed and edited in a professional manner by parliament staff.

• Example 3: Minnesota House of Representatives
• Link: http://ww3.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/housemembers.asp - Select member name, then "Video interview" on right
• Example: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?district=13B
• Usage and Results: The Minnesota House broadcasts legislative hearings and floor sessions over television and the Internet. Between meetings they share video interviews with members. On-demand webcasts of member interviews are then made available from that member's online directory page along with other information about or from that member.

Further Information

Top Related "How-to" Online Resources

• Public Sector Webcasting, Community of Practice
  • http://dowire.org/webcasting
• StreamingMedia.com
  • http://streamingmedia.com – Industry and technical news
• UK Local Government Webcasting Report
  • http://www.xpedita.com/downloads/webcasta5report.pdf
• Additional webcasting links

http://del.icio.us/dowire/govcasting http://del.icio.us/dowire/webcasting http://del.icio.us/dowire/webcasting-tech

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