Serious Ballsy reporter recounts experience in parliament press room

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

You might not know this, but the Parliament press room is a rather miserable place.

Around the size of a classroom, it has space for some 30-odd reporters. The temperature is arctic, there is no wi-fi and mobile phones are not allowed for parliamentary sessions that stretch up to nine hours. Very rarely are we given parliamentary speeches in advance either, which makes transcribing speeches that can go on for 45 minutes each very challenging.

This in turn makes the release of stories in a timely fashion exceedingly difficult. But only Singapore Press Holdings and Mediacorp outlets get a live feed of parliamentary proceedings, so everyone else has to huddle in that chilly room to watch proceedings. Foreign media outlets have requested a live feed from Parliament multiple times, but to no avail.

It is not possible to cover Parliament from the press gallery either since it hovers directly above the chamber, and literally everyone can hear you if you clear your throat. Given how loudly this reporter types, the Sergeant-at-Arms would throw me out within five minutes.

More at COMMENT: 'No space' in the Parliament press room


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