News about Webcasting

Summer, 2007: New York State Makes Webcasting the Law

Legislators across the U.S. are recognizing the benefits of webcasting public meetings and hearings. Webcasting enhances transparency, allows access for people with disabilities and is environmentally friendly.

In 2007, the Governor of New York made webcasting of city council meetings mandatory, pointing to a survey that revealed very few citizens can physically attend local government meetings.

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[On his first day in office, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer issued an executive order requiring all public meetings to be webcast by July. Spitzer, the state's former attorney general, issued the order Jan. 1 because the majority of New Yorkers are unable to attend such meetings. The citizens of New York must be "fully aware of and able to observe the performances of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy," the order states. ]