COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION TO AIR WEEKLY TALK SHOW ON LEGAL ISSUES.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Staff Writer Channel surfers countywide coun·ty·wide adv. & adj. Throughout a whole county: found at locations countywide; a countywide search. Adj. 1. will soon have access to free advice on a range of legal issues with the click of the remote control. ``Law Talk,'' a public information show produced by the Ventura County Bar Association, recently made its debut on cable access Channel 6 in Ventura and plans to begin broadcasting countywide in one to two months. The weekly, half-hour show features a panel discussion with two area attorneys and a moderator moderator - A person, or small group of people, who manages a moderated mailing list or Usenet newsgroup. Moderators are responsible for determining which email submissions are passed on to the list or newsgroup. , offering what organizers want to present as objective analysis and information on the pertinent legal issues. ``Nowadays, every special-interest group is trying to put their own spin on whatever best serves their interests,'' said Dennis LaRochelle, chairman of the bar's public education committee organizing the show. ``It's our intent to present an unbiased position on these various issues. Let people decide for themselves whether it's good or bad or right or wrong.'' The 13-member committee has for years written newspaper articles, given community talks and offered students tours of the county courthouse in an effort to familiarize the public with the legal system. But LaRochelle said he devised the television show last spring because he believes his organization needed to reach a larger audience. ``I have long felt the bar association has been remiss re·miss adj. 1. Lax in attending to duty; negligent. 2. Exhibiting carelessness or slackness. See Synonyms at negligent. in doing what it can to educate the public,'' he said. ``If you go to a Lion's Club, you might have 25 or 30 people. That's it. If you go on TV, you might be broadcast to 33,000 households'' in Ventura alone. Producers use Channel 6's Ventura studio, which Avenue Cable and Century Cable offer free of charge as part of their licensing agreement with the city. Applications to cable companies serving east county cities and the other west county communities have been submitted. Three pilot episodes of ``Law Talk'' were taped last month, where product liability, right to privacy and health maintenance organization liability were discussed. Those shows aired in late October and last week. New shows will be taped every other week and broadcast at 6:30 p.m. Fridays, with each show running two consecutive weeks. Future shows are in the works to cover family law, elder abuse Elder Abuse Definition Elder abuse is a general term used to describe harmful acts toward an elderly adult, such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect, including self-neglect. , employment law and consumer debt. Panelists might periodically discuss the ramifications ramifications npl → Auswirkungen pl of a major verdict, such as the recent ruling mandating that General Motors pay funds to victims of a gas tank that was ruled improperly installed, organizers said, believing viewers would be interested in the broader discussions. ``You can't in eight seconds tell people what could be the basis for such a huge verdict,'' said LaRochelle, referring to nightly news Nightly News may refer to
n. A brief statement, as by a politician, taken from an audiotape or videotape and broadcast especially during a news report: "The box has been spitting forth maddening nine-second sound bites" . ``People start to wonder, How could that be?'' Committee members are assigned a show, and they create the topic and select attorneys most appropriate to sit on the panel. Matt Guasco, a Ventura-based arbitrator arbitrator n. one who conducts an arbitration, and serves as a judge who conducts a "mini-trial," somewhat less formally than a court trial. In most cases the arbitraror is an attorney, either alone or as part of a panel. and mediator mediator n. a person who conducts mediation. A mediator is usually a lawyer, or retired judge, but can be a non-attorney specialist in the subject matter (like child custody) who tries to bring people and their disputes to early resolution through a conference. , moderates all the shows. He meets with panelists a couple days before the taping to informally discuss that week's topic, allowing attorneys, most of whom have limited or no television exposure, to prepare their comments. ``My job is to keep (discussion) on track,'' said Guasco. ``That has not been hard to do with the quality of panelists we've had. They are not only knowledgeable in their fields, they communicate well. It's not a Jerry Springer springer a North American term commonly used to describe heifers close to term with their first calf. format.'' LaRochelle said the pilot shows alone enticed numerous attorneys to call requesting a spot on a future panel. The committee, however, carefully selects its panelists, sidestepping anyone who has a limited knowledge in the topic of the week or who wants to use the show to advertise a law practice. ``We can search out those who have good credentials and invite them,'' said LaRochelle. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (color) From left, attorneys Matthew Guasco, Diane Rowley and Rick Rabbin discuss family law issues on ``Law Talk,'' a cable-access talk show scheduled for broadcast from Ventura every Friday at 6:30 p.m. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion