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The Act makes no provision for recording or broadcast of meetings, but those means of public access have been employed, especially by the media. See Op. Att'y Gen. No. 95-126 (Dec. 28, 1995) (proposed city ordinance to ban video or photographic equipment at meeting of alderman would violate Tennessee Constitution and Open Meetings Act).
Whenever feasible, meetings must be recorded by electronic means. Any recording or transcript of an open meeting must be made available to the public for inspection. D.C. Code Ann. § 2-577.
The Open Meetings Act states that televising a meeting is sufficient to have it deemed open to the public. D.C. Code Ann. § 2-574(a). However, no provision specifically requires or permits the broadcasting of meetings.
A person in attendance may record all or any part of an open meeting by means of a tape recorder, video camera, or other means of aural or visual reproduction. § 551.023(a). However, the governmental body "may adopt reasonable rules to maintain order at a meeting" so long as the rules may not "prevent or unreasonably impair a person from exercising a right granted under Subsection (a)." § 551.023(b).
Although the Sunshine Law does not explicitly allow for the video recording of public meetings, refusal to allow such recording violates the “statute’s spirit, intent, and purpose” if the recording is non-disruptive. Pinellas Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Suncam Inc., 829 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002).
