Thanks to Jennifer Armstrong for passing on the story of YouTube testimony in a House committee.
Being discussed was a bill sponsored by Rep. Andy Welti that would incorporate mental health education into school districts’ existing physical education and health programs for students in grades 7 through 12. Kayla Murphy, a Marquette University student and constituent of Rep Welti, testified via YouTube that she has suffered from anorexia nervosa, an illness that claimed her aunt’s life.
You can find her testimony and more details from the story in the Post Bulletin.
I think it’s allowing testimony via YouTube is a great way to broaden citizen participation – both in terms of who testifies and who watches the testimony. Many, if not most, committee meetings seem to be archived (House and Senate) these days on the Legislative web site – but I think YouTube is much more accessible and the testimony on YouTube is more portable. If the owner of the video allows, other can re-post that content on their own sites.
Blandin on Broadband 
Ann – Yes, we need to promote accessible and easy-to-reach Net broadcast solutions like YouTube. I’m so glad you posted this.
I just dug around the Legislative video archives looking for the committee meeting about the new broadband recommendations which was supposed to be available. Never found it. I did play one video (on a Mac with OS X 10.5.8) and it displayed at postage stamp size. Scaling larger lost all detail. The site stated I need Windows Media Player. I was using Quicktime of course with Microsoft Flip4Mac plugins. Outside of the audio, it was useless. And since the audio isn’t in a format for the iPod, I would have to sit at the computer to listen.
The sad fact is that YouTube distribution would probably be much cheaper than whatever they are doing now.
Peter
Peter,
Thanks for your notes. I’ve run into the same issues. Plus the video on YouTube would be portable. Anyone would post it on their blog, web site, whatever. I ran into this issue earlier today. I wanted to post video on a blog – the original isn’t on YouTube or another video sharing platform that allow for easy re-posting.
That lends to easier, cheaper more accessible civic engagement – both for citizens and as you point out for the government dissemination. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?