Cable Cameras Changing Face of
Government

By CHRIS BURRELL

Amy Tierney never bargained on becoming a television celebrity. But
now when the top number-cruncher for the Vineyard public schools runs
out the door to attend yet another meeting, budgets and invoices
aren't the only things dogging her mind.

How about her make-up and wardrobe?

Suddenly, the Vineyard's public servants are starting to pay
attention to how they look and sound. The reason is they're being
watched like never before by television cameras broadcasting to an
Island community of eager viewers.

Over at MVTV, the new cable access organization, they call it
"gavel-to-gavel" coverage, and if you're one of the
8,000 subscribers to Adelphia cable on the Vineyard, you can easily tap
into the Island version of C-SPAN on Channel 15.

Ms. Tierney - who sports one of the longest job titles on the
Island as the assistant to the superintendent for business affairs
- could do without all the attention.

"I'm sick of people saying, ‘I saw you on
TV,' " she said last week as she waited for the start of an
all-Island selectmen's meeting. "It's changed
everything."

All over the Island - from selectmen to town meeting floors,
school committees and the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC)
- the cameras are rolling and the microphones laid out to catch
every word. Chilmark selectmen make their debut Monday, leaving Aquinnah
as the only board of selectmen on the Island, so far, to escape the
bright lights.

Meanwhile, the advent of such pervasive television coverage is
creating a buzz that's undeniable.

When Martha's Vineyard Regional High School principal Peg
Regan walked into a meeting at the library last week, someone asked her,
"Do you know Mike Donaroma?"

"Yes, I saw you on TV," she said immediately. Mr.
Donaroma is an Edgartown selectman and a commissioner on the MVC. The
interchange came with some laughter.

"Everyone is going to know everyone because of TV," Mrs.
Regan continued.

Not only have the television cameras lifted the veil of anonymity,
they have also changed the behavior of some politicians and possibly
tweaked the political landscape of the Vineyard. It's up for
debate whether that's a good or bad development.

For one thing, the feedback can be blunt. Mrs. Tierney said one
viewer came up to her and said, "I saw you yawning at a
selectmen's meeting."

But it's not just the visuals that are drawing comments. A
high-tech audio system is forcing some government officials to bite
their lips.

"You have to mutter under your breath. You can't make
corny jokes anymore," pointed out Mrs. Regan.

The whispering and sideline commentary that used to take place out
of earshot are now likely to bleed through the sound lines. That's
because MVTV camera operators are packing an arsenal of microphones:
so-called shotguns with 15 feet of range and tabletop cardioid condenser
mikes that will pick up any noise within a four-foot radius in a
180-degree hemisphere.

"We have so many microphones out," said MVTV training
and operations manager Melissa Carelli. "If someone across the
room has something to say and it's definitely not nice, we might
pick it up."

The name of the game is information, and the folks at the cable
access channel pride themselves on delivering an organic product -
nothing filtered, edited or censored.

"It's our job to put out whatever comes our way,"
said Ms. Carelli.

Some Island politicos are concerned that this brand of reality TV
could have a chilling effect on participants. Ms. Tierney said some
Islanders are too timid to speak up at a meeting knowing that the lens
will zoom in on them as soon as they open their mouths.

Oak Bluffs selectman Michael Dutton said others may just opt to stay
home and watch a town meeting on television rather than make the effort
to attend.

Others argue the result is simple math: mass communication equals a
better informed populace.

"Up to now, it's only been the newspapers," said
Don Amaral, a finance committee member in Tisbury. "I think
it's healthy. The community is starting to see things on TV and
become aware."

Robert Tankard, who sits on school committees for both Tisbury and
the regional high school and hosts his own show on MVTV called Tank
Talk, believes the cameras only make politicians more accountable.

"On television, you've got to watch what you say.
You'd better say something concrete or precise or people are going
to look at you and say, ‘What is he doing?' " said Mr.
Tankard.

Jonathan Revere in West Tisbury is inclined to agree. A longtime
political watchdog, Mr. Revere is now manning a camera at
selectmen's meetings in that town, but unlike most other camera
crews, he's not being paid by MVTV.

The reason: He wants to retain the right to participate in meetings,
lobbing questions at selectmen while keeping one finger on the record
button. "I'm doing this a private citizen," he said.

After roughly three hours of training in one of Ms. Carelli's
video boot camps, Mr. Revere earned his stripes for filming meetings.
He'll head to Chilmark Monday as a paid cameraman, agreeing to
keep his mouth shut there.

Technique helps. "You've got to keep it from being
totally stupefying," he said. " You pan and you zoom and you
try to follow a dialogue."

Even if it's not for the artful direction of Mr. Revere,
people are tuning in to Channel 15. When the regional high school
committee held its first public meeting to discuss the scandal in the
culinary arts department, the MVTV camera was there.

"The school committee is the latest, hottest thing,"
said station manager Stephen Warriner. "Every time there's a
hot issue, we see an uptick."

There are no Nielsen ratings for this cable channel, so they measure
interest by the number of phone calls from viewers asking when a meeting
will be aired.

"I'm really amazed how many people I wouldn't
expect to watch this thing are watching it," said Tisbury
selectman Tom Pachico.

Some have even planned a party where a televised meeting is the
focal point. One Island official said a viewer told her that he and some
friends bought beer and sat around the TV watching a school committee
meeting.

But what about Oak Bluffs selectmen? For the better part of the last
10 years, they had the limelight all to themselves, their meetings
virtually the only government show broadcast on cable TV.

"There's competition now, and it isn't good for my
television career," said Mr. Dutton.

Indeed, over in Vineyard Haven, Mr. Pachico is happy to see his
board grab a share of the ratings.

"It's the best entertainment on television," he
said. As for the Oak Bluffs selectmen, he added, "They're
boring compared to us."