The case in summary: Several Norwegian municipalities are considering cutting the live broadcast of political meetings due to financial challenges. Secretary General of the Norwegian Association of Editors, Reidun Kjelling Nybø, believes this is a shame and important for democracy that citizens can follow political meetings. Sørreisa municipality in Troms and Tvedestrand municipality in Agder are considering cutting the live broadcast of their political meetings. Municipal director in Harstad, Børge Toft, believes streaming political meetings is an important measure to engage the people in politics, even though the municipality has an estimated deficit of NOK 150 million in 2024. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – I think it is a great pity. It is important for democracy that the citizens of Norway can follow what those who govern the municipalities are doing, and what priorities the politicians are making. This is what Reidun Kjelling Nybø, secretary general of the Norwegian Editors’ Association, says to news. A number of the country’s municipalities are experiencing very demanding economic times. In several municipalities, it is now being considered to drop or remove the live broadcast of political meetings, in whole or in part. At the same time, several mayors believe that streaming is an important part of local democracy, and will not cut the offer. CRITICAL: Streaming of meetings is an important tool to be able to verify what the politicians have said, points out general secretary of the Norwegian Editors’ Association, Reidun Kjelling Nybø. Photo: Hans Trygve Holm Million dollar deficit Several Norwegian municipalities are now working hard to find places to save money. This after about half of the country’s municipalities ran a deficit in 2023. In Tvedestrand municipality in Agder, the director of the municipality is now proposing to cut the streaming of the chairman’s meetings, but maintain the streaming from the municipal board meetings. At the same time, Sørreisa in Troms, which does not stream any meetings, is considering saying no to streaming from the municipal council. Both municipalities justify this with the need to save money. CUT: If the municipal director gets his way, it will soon no longer be possible to follow the board meetings in Tvedestrand digitally. For now, it looks like nothing will come of it. Photo: Benedicte Goa Ludvigsen / news In Sørreisa, they estimate that it will cost NOK 130,000 annually to stream the meetings, as well as NOK 220,000 for establishment. The Agder municipality, for its part, estimates an annual saving of NOK 100,000. – You should think twice before making those kinds of priorities, because Norway is a big country. It is very good that you can use technology to help more people participate in democracy, and that more people can catch up on what is happening, says Nybø. NOT ANSWERING: Jan-Eirik Nordahl (Ap), mayor of Sørreisa municipality. Photo: Malin Straumsnes / news In Sørreisa, a clear majority in the chairmanship recently voted against the establishment of streaming from the municipal council meetings. – Although streaming political meetings can contribute to even greater accessibility, it entails a significant cost for the municipality. We therefore have to make a choice about which financial priorities we will make, says mayor Jan-Eirik Nordahl (Ap), before he continues: – In a situation where we have a great need to find funds for increased basic staffing in both school, nursery and health , the board does not want to prioritize streaming over other important measures. Nordahl himself is positive about streaming, but says that he prefers to prioritize services for children and young people over streaming. What do the country’s mayors think about streaming meetings? The case continues under the “gallery”. Stina Sætre, mayor of Drangedal – I believe that it is an important part of local democracy. It is important that residents can see and hear the council’s discussions and various information that comes out in the meetings. Elisabeth Hals, mayor of Oppdal – The streaming of the council meetings is a service to our residents. We want transparency about what takes place in the meetings and believe this contributes to engagement among the population. In addition, it will be a historical archive of the proceedings which is interesting to take care of. Pål Terje Rørby, mayor of Hemsedal – We live in a time now where it is important to open up the political processes, so that the citizens and the leisure population can have an insight into the political processes in the municipality. Beate Skretting, mayor of Grimstad – I am aware that other municipalities do it (cut, journ. note), but it is not something that has come up for discussion with us. (…) We think it is important in terms of openness and accessibility to the public.Terje Bartholsen, Mayor of Evenes – It is very important to stream the meetings, especially the municipal council meetings. This helps make the policy visible to the public.Hans Olav Sundfør, mayor of Lillehammer – It is a cheap and effective way of making the policy accessible and open to the citizens, and I know that there are many who follow and are interested. People are presented with cases and decision-making bases in the same way as the politicians. The politicians said no. In Tvedestrand, the board recently voted against the cut proposal for the municipal director. – There were several proposals that were up, but all the proposals were actually voted down. The municipal director will probably have to find other places to save funds, says mayor Marianne Landaas (H). SAID NO: On Wednesday, the board unanimously said no to the municipal director’s cut proposal, says mayor Marianne Landaas. Photo: Siv Kristin Sællmann / news She herself experiences a change after the municipality introduced streaming of several of their meetings. – When we didn’t have streaming of the committee meetings, we felt that the discussions were better. I felt that we then perhaps listened to each other more. Landaas himself believes that there will be no power cuts when the matter is finally dealt with by the municipal council on 25 September. CUT: If the municipal director gets his way, it will soon no longer be possible to follow the board meetings in Tvedestrand digitally. For now, it looks like nothing will come of it. Photo: Benedicte Goa Ludvigsen / news The Conservative mayor says she has great understanding of Nybø’s point of view, and recognizes that democracy is absolutely essential in the case. Landaas says that, as a result of the financial situation they are in, the municipality has to make cuts. Therefore, austerity must be considered in everything from the funds for the leisure club, good causes for the elderly, cuts in streaming and other services. – That is actually our dilemma. There is something about choosing between plague and cholera here, which we politicians find ourselves in. I feel that is actually being done all over Norway these days, where very challenging. – Value for the voters – It was so violent that I ate… The words belong to Liberal politician Even Aronsen, and looks down at the clip news has found. In the clip, which is from a live committee meeting last autumn, you can see Aronsen taking a really good bite of the bread bling he was served before the meeting started. – Do you think about the camera when you are at these meetings? – Obviously not. Then I think I might have chosen to eat a little later in the meeting or during a break. But I think I was quite hungry when I came to that meeting, I hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch, so that’s how it turned out, says Aronsen, who has sat on the municipal council in Harstad since 2015. Should municipalities stream political meetings? Yes, everyone. Yes, but only the municipal council. Yes, but only the municipal council and the chairmanship. No. Show result He thinks it is a big advantage, especially for the voters, that the meetings are streamed. This is so that voters can see who they have voted for, or are considering voting for. Although the municipality is struggling financially, he believes it is worth the money to stream political meetings. – I think it has great value for voters and for democracy. You can hold the politicians somewhat accountable, and follow what is said and decided in a slightly different way than just reading a document and minutes from a meeting. IMPORTANT: Venstre’s Even Aronsen believes it is important for voters and democracy that political meetings are streamed. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news – You should see Harstad A few miles southwest of Sørreisa is Harstad. In 2023, the municipality held over 50 political meetings there. In addition, the municipality streamed public meetings and accounting presentations directly on its website. Municipal director in Harstad, Børge Toft, believes this is an important measure to get the people involved in politics and the decisions that are made. – There are very few people who go to the municipality’s website to read meeting minutes, but there are a lot of people who can go in and look at the matters they are interested in, and which they want to follow. Streaming meetings is then an important way of reaching people. NOT CURRENT: Municipal director in Harstad, Børge Toft, will not put forward proposals for cuts in streaming. Photo: Henrik Einangshaug / news Reidun Nybø thinks that what Harstad is doing is very positive, and believes that Municipality-Norway in general has a lot to go on when it comes to transparency. – Those municipalities that are not far ahead in this, they should look to municipalities like Harstad, she says. Although Troms municipality estimates a significant deficit of NOK 150 million in 2024, it is out of the question for Toft to put forward proposals for cuts in streaming. – I think that we have to find other areas where we can reduce our operating level, as opposed to being available and showing what we actually do. So I have no plans to suggest that. I think it is important that we continue with this, says Toft. Published 16.09.2024, at 17.30
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Municipalities in economic crisis are considering dropping live meetings – news Troms and Finnmark
