Students who missed the Freshman Leadership Council debate between Swamp Party and Access Party expressed concerns when they found out no video recording was available.
About 500 students attended the Feb. 17 debate. Following the event, multiple students commented on the Facebook event page asking if there was a recording of the debate.
Then, an administrator of the FLC Facebook page published a post the day after the debate that read, “In order to protect the integrity of the debate and to ensure no footage would be used out of context, we did not video record the debate or allow any video footage whatsoever.”
FLC Chairman Shane Randel said his organization had no issue with students who wanted to record the debate. He declined to comment on the post.
“I don’t think social media is a reliable source,” he said.
Before the debate, a sign outside the auditorium said recording was prohibited. Jason Degen, the University Auditorium production services director, said the auditorium has a default policy when it comes to video recording and photography.
He said it’s up to the client whether he or she decides to change the default rule to allow recording.
Degen said clients sometimes forget to amend the default rule.
“(FLC) very may well have forgotten,” he said.
Randel said at the debate, members of FLC were reminded by a University Auditorium usher that no recording was allowed when the usher saw Student Government TV representatives setting up cameras. He said FLC respected the rules of the auditorium.
FLC then amended the rules to allow SGTV to film the opening statements of both candidates for future episode footage, Randel said.
Students had not voiced concerns about recording debates in the past, he said. Now that they have, he said the organization will look into video recording for future debates.
“We’re glad that students are speaking up and voicing their opinions. It’s great to see that in the Student Body,” he said. “Now that it’s been brought to our attention, it’s something we’ll consider.”
Regardless of which rules were or were not in place during the debate, Sandra Chance, executive director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, said political debates are protected by the First Amendment.
“Allowing as many students as possible to hear from the parties is an important aspect of the debate,” she said.
Students should hold SG to a higher level of accessibility and transparency, especially because student fees help fund SG, she said.
“Everyone benefits when more people are involved in elections and voting,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 2/24/2015 under the headline “Lack of FLC debate recording causes concern, confusion”]
