Launched by the City Council it provides short videos on local issues including the arts, education, and local government.
As far as it goes as a concept, it is probably the closest we have come to broadcasting local news on the internet. It reaches its target audience of those who have an association with Kent, and easy navigation around the sight means people can select the information they want, making individual news-gathering direct and easy.
If the aim of internet news is to instigate a sense of community, then Kent TV seems to achieve this, as every aspect of Kent life appears to be covered on the site.
However, the general concept of a news service is to provide objective information - can an internet channel maintained by a council be considered completely neutral? It is likely and understandable that Kent City Council leans on the service to promote their achievements rather than including articles which shows their management in any poor light.
The sight does employ a Board of Govenors to ensure impartiality, regularity and good value to the consumers but it’s interest will always default back to the City Council and what they are trying to achieve.
Ultimately, while Kent TV seems well regulated there is the concern that the channel lacks diversity and will always have a political leaning. This risks causing the information and freedom of the channel to become stilted, and highlights the importance of regulation and the difficulty in maintaining that across the internet.
Another factor to consider is how the service will attract its audience and the viability of it. Kent TV has a huge amount of content, and with that comes dedicated workers with the majority seeking payment. Although other sources can be pooled to gain content, local internet news would have to be interesting and exciting enough to draw people away from their televisions and radios to ensure that the expansion was cost effective.
LOCAL INTERNET TV = CONTENT + COST / VIABILITY?
1 comment:
I think Internet TV like Kent serves a very small monority and like you said who regulates it when a lot of the content is about/from the council etc? I wouldn't want to go out of my way to look at this sort of thing, even if I was a local person from the wrong side of the water (that's Kent to you and me ;) )
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