Video and written coverage have different scopes
Northern Ireland Assembly TV explains that all plenary meetings have a full written transcription, while committee sessions are reported by the Official Report when requested by the committee. Reported committee evidence is also called Minutes of Evidence. A video without an attached transcript is therefore not automatically an incomplete upload.
Begin by identifying whether you watched plenary or a committee, then retain the exact meeting date. A committee title repeated across many meetings is not enough to identify a particular evidence session.
Check the meeting’s transcription indication
The Assembly’s caption guidance points to the Business Diary: open the meeting, then its Agenda, where the Hansard column shows whether an evidence session is to be transcribed. This is the published route for establishing the intended written coverage; it is more informative than searching repeatedly for a transcript under a slightly different title.
If an official transcript exists, compare it with the same session and contributor. If it does not, use the available video for your viewing question and record the absence of an official written transcript accurately. Do not label an automatic caption transcript as Minutes of Evidence.
The Assembly warns that recorded-video captions can be generated automatically and can contain inaccuracies, particularly names. Those captions can help navigation, but they have a different production basis from the Official Report. Use the appropriate name for the text you actually consulted.
Make the reference useful even without a transcript
Record committee, date, evidence topic, contributor and an approximate passage reference. A short paraphrase in your own words can identify the section without suggesting a verified verbatim quotation. If a precise name or phrase remains uncertain, leave it open until it can be checked.
This approach preserves the footage’s value without inventing a written record. It also prevents a false conclusion that a public meeting did not happen merely because no transcript link appears beside its video. The research here read the Assembly’s guidance; no meeting playback, caption correction or diary interaction was tested.
Questions answered
Must every committee video have an Official Report transcript?
No. The Assembly says committee transcription is undertaken at the committee’s request.
Where does the guidance say to check the designation?
In the meeting’s Business Diary Agenda, the Hansard column indicates which evidence sessions will be transcribed.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.