FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STATEMENT BY THE UPTAKE

Video news site clarifies MN GOP Chair’s statements

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ST PAUL [12/30/08] – Earlier today Ron Carey, Chair of the Minnesota GOP, called The UpTake, an online video news gathering organization, the “Official Communicator” for the office of the Minnesota Secretary of State.   Mr. Carey’s statement warrants a small clarification.

The UpTake is not the “Official Communicator” for the Minnesota Secretary of State. The UpTake is currently providing an unedited switched video feed of Minnesota State Canvassing Board proceedings.  The UpTake is also webcasting the feed live at its website, http://theuptake.org.  The feed and webcast are free, public and available to any organization interested in obtaining it. 

Many press organizations have already taken advantage of our pool feed.  Outlets from the Pioneer Press to Fox News have requested the code for our live webcast. The UpTake is providing this service because the Capitol staff who normally provide both the video feed and webcast were not available. The UpTake volunteered to contribute equipment and technical personnel to continue to provide both. The office of the Secretary of State accepted our offer.  This conversation was transparent and also streamed live online.

Jason Barnett, Executive Director of The UpTake, commented, “We are extremely pleased that the Chair of the Minnesota GOP watches The UpTake and was able to enjoy today’s State Canvassing Board hearing through our live coverage.”  

About The UpTake ———————- The UpTake is a citizen-fueled video news gathering organization that uses the Internet as its broadcast medium.  Since its inception, The UpTake has explored the frontier of social media and news gathering.   The UpTake is a 501(c)4, non-partisan, non-profit organization that focuses on video news gathering, production and publication.  The UpTake Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit, focuses on training people in the practice of participatory journalism. Our video coverage has been seen on CNN, MSNBC, PBS and has been prominently featured on You Tube.  Donations to either organization can be made through our website at http://theuptake.org ###

HOW TO EMBED THE LIVE FEED: Our live feed of the Minnesota Canvassing Board proceedings is available to anyone.  Go to  http://www.mogulus.com/ theuptake, click EMBED in the lower left hand corner and you can change the initial volume and player size.  It produces a 400 by 400 pixel player that starts at full volume.  Note this is a JavaScript player.  Please consult with your webmaster.  If you know HTML you can see a variety of different options to customize the player. This embed code will continue to loop related coverage even after the live coverage ends so no rush to take it down.  We often stream Franken, Coleman and Ritchie press conferences soon after the meeting concludes.

If you see any future UpTake coverage you would like to use, feel free to embed our player using the same code again.   Please email info@theuptake.org with a notification on where you are embedding it so we can track usage and improve our service in the future.