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In an increasing number of municipalities and provinces, meetings are being broadcast live over the internet ('webcasting'). It is believed that this can make politics more lively and closer to the citizens. Additionally, audiovisual recording offers new possibilities; for instance, audiovisual clips can be indexed by topic and speaker, and played at any time, thereby increasing accessibility of this information to the public.
One potential disadvantage could arise: written reports are expensive, and municipalities and provinces that use audiovisual recording may potentially cut costs by reducing traditional written reporting.
This research provides a quantitative and qualitative overview of the impact of using audiovisual recording by municipalities and provinces on their written reporting. The study particularly focuses on the effects of a potential shift on the quality of the governmental information provided.
The central research question is formulated as follows:
Does the use of audiovisual recording by municipalities and provinces lead to a deterioration or improvement in the accessibility of government information compared to a situation where only written reporting was used?
