What Happened To Our E-Government?
from the it's-all-about-promotion dept
A good opinion piece from Hal Plotkin wondering whatever happened to the idea that government agency websites should be useful to the constituents they serve. Instead, they all seem designed to be useful for whoever is currently holding office. Instead of providing information that is useful to the public, the sites are often campaign brochures. He points out that the public really does "own" these websites, and we should take back control of them - and turn them into something useful. Have an opinion on an issue? A website should tell you how to link up with other, like-minded people. Want to run for office yourself and kick out the bums who are already there? The websites should explain that, too. But they don't - because the incumbents would rather use it to protect their own position.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
