This week, we've twice taken you to the National Assembly Building to cover House and Senate Meetings. Tonight though, we'll have a little fun and show you what happens with the media behind the scenes of those meetings. Here's what our team captured on just another day at the House on Wednesday:
Jules Vasquez reporting
While you are used to seeing these guys take center stage at house meetings, behind the curtain are these guys, US, the media trying to compress hours of house floor hyperbole, grandstanding and effrontery into digestible sound bytes, all while sitting on the floor. It's a day of physical and mental stress, interspersed with boredom and blown deadlines:
Norma Ruiz, CTV-3
"Definitely not my favorite, especially coming all the way from Orange Walk to Belmopan for this, the uncomfortable seating, as you can see, here, sitting all over the place, definitely not my favourite thing to do, especially rushing to do all your work."
Reporter
"That's the only inconvenience you have here?"
Norma Ruiz, CTV-3
"Not being able to eat until you are outside? Yeah."
Aaron Humes, Breaking Belize NEws
"It's always challenging always interesting. But, the thing is, the conditions aren't the best. IT's a fight in the morning when we get here to get proper seating."
Edson Dubon, KREM TV
"Well, to be honest, it really kinda messed up because we need to get wah lee water, waH lee proper placement for our cameras, we can't get good facial expressions from them when they are debate and stuff. But, that alright."
Reporter
"Like, when you hear house meeting today what is your reaction?"
COURTNEY MENZIES, LOVE TV
"Whenever we get that Communique email all I say is "ugggh", because then I know it will be me coming to the house, sitting on hard floors, like you said, and all day. And then we still have to get back and still have to write stories for the 6:00 news! We don't have 6:30! We have six o'clock!"
Paul Lopez, Plus TV
"It's definitely a lot of waiting, it's, ah, yeah, it's a lot of waiting. It's a lot of listening. It's boring, for sure to some extent."
Reporter
"If there is one thing you would want to change from the House Meeting, what would that be?"
Paul Lopez, Plus TV
"Ahm, seating for the media, for sure."
Jules Vasquez, 7News
"It's a day of a lot of stress, and a lot of boredom, and a lot of, fast driving on the road late, and sitting in uncomfortable, incredibly uncomfortable positions, although I have the king's chair, it's still uncomfortable, because I'm very fat."
But, apparently, it's not all bad.
HIPOLITO NOVELO, CHANNEL 5
"We're not mistreated in the house. I don't feel mistreated. I feel welcomed. I feel welcomed. I feel very much welcomed in here."
And that you're been sitting on a concrete floor all day?
HIPOLITO NOVELO, CHANNEL 5
"I'm used to it, I wasn't born in a bed."
Aaron Humes, Breaking Belize NEws
"As I told the clerk, I'm holding my breath waiting for the day that, as he says he's going to resolve the issue. I await that day with bated breath."
And those changes should come soon. The National Assembly says it has secured the funds and is just waiting for disbursement to renovate the media gallery and install a state of the art shared video streaming system.
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