Pay-Per-View Democracy... Or Does Anyone Care?
from the so-that's-what-we're-up-to-these-days... dept
Apparently this isn't new at all, but some people are beginning to question why some state government meetings can be viewed online only with a monthly subscription fee of $200. The article focuses on sessions of the Public Service Commission in New York State. The PSC defends the subscription practice saying it would cost $10,000 to $20,000 per month to offer the videos for free, instead of paid. Honestly, it's not clear how many people are actually bothered by the lack of these videos being available. What would have been much more interesting, however, is finding out just how many people (if any) actually cough up the $200/month to access this C-SPAN-style material.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
See things the US media doesn't show
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Because they forgot the average joe.
I hear a priest say something along the lines of "Once you've encountered demons you either go crazy or learn to laugh about them."
Let's just say I'm laughing not koo koo...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Barrier
While yes it's understandable the cost of the video service may be prohibitive, the charging of what would appear to be public content is exclusive of the ability to pay, regardless of the producer involved.
The PSC does have options. It can (1) offer reduced services that costs less, (2) supplement the service with others, or (3) remove the service altogether, among others.
$200 a month is excessive. Such an amount is clearly an economic barrier to those not of a particular economic class, thus excluding a majority portion of the public from participation.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
What did you think all that talk about "privitization" was about? What good are government services if the important people aren't making a profit off them?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]