The Senate Judiciary II Committee promised fireworks in a hearing today. Instead, we got a dud.
Chairman Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, with the unanimous support of the committee, subpoenaed materials from UNC-TV for several news segments it was preparing to air on its “North Carolina Now” program on the debate surrounding Alcoa’s hydroelectric dams in central North Carolina and a bill in the General Assembly that would allow the state to seize the dams. The plan was to air footage at a 9 a.m. hearing.
You can read about the controversy involving the subpoenas here, and Carolina Journal’s full coverage of the Alcoa story here.
The hearing room was packed. A separate bill was discussed and approved, and then Hartsell announced a 7-minute recess. Which quickly stretched to 15. And then, Hartsell said that we would not see the video right away because, even though UNC-TV had voluntarily turned over 13 DVDs worth of materials (or possibly 13 hours worth of materials), and reporter Eszter Vadja had provided a single, edited disc containing the footage for broadcast, the committee didn’t have the technical ability to show the footage. (Note to the General Assembly: Betamax lost the format wars long ago.)
So we’ll be back this afternoon, 15 minutes after the Senate session ends, to try it all again. I hear Best Buy has great prices on DVD players.
For all you tweeps, I’ll be tweeting the action, as it were. Follow me @Deregulator.
