*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 13:50:02 -0700 From: Sally Falkow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: TalkToGov.Com Sally Falkow Director of Public Relations http://www.talktogov.com The site has launched - find out how to become a Founding Subscriber!! E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] for Details!! PLUG IN TO WASHINGTON The last 50 years were the era of mass media - radio and TV broadcasting a one-way, "few to many" process of communication. TV affected the democracy process by giving Government officials access to our living rooms. They could deliver their messages to us, but there was no method for interactive feedback. Then came the Internet! Hundreds of millions of people are on the Net and they are plugging in directly in to the government. References to how democracy is moving on line abound on the Internet. At the Democracy Online hearings held in Washington there were many different groups with a web presence directly promoting the concept of participating in government using the Net. Talktogov.com, a new online service, recently released the results of a year-long survey about citizens participating in the process. This survey showed that although the majority of people were not participating, this was caused by a lack of information and understanding. The survey revealed some fascinating facts: The biggest problem elected officials have with e-mail from the people is the overwhelming volume they receive. They have no check on whether the person sending the communication is a constituent. 68% of the people surveyed said they felt they would like to communicate with their representatives, but were confused by the data on issues and were skeptical of whether their e-mails made any difference at all. President Clinton has embraced the Internet and believes that it is not only a way to communicate with the electorate, but a full-blown forum for conducting the country's political affairs. [EMAIL PROTECTED] receives up to 5000 e-mails a week and interns are tallying this data by issue and opinion expressed. They see interaction with the public via the Internet as a positive force. Congressmen and Senators have their e-mail set up to filter out any traffic they regard as "spam". Less than 25 percent of the representatives are currently using e-mail as a resource for public opinion. They are interested in using the medium, if e-mails are sent in the format they value. The survey showed that over 80% of people would take action and communicate with their representatives if they really know what the issues were all about and they had an easy way to communicate with them. Using the Internet to find your information and communicating directly with the government performs the perfect "end run" around the media. Many issues get filtered in the media; polls giving government information on pubic opinion are similarly filtered. Direct interaction between Federal Government and the people is highly significant - bypassing the polls and the media counteracts the distortion that these entities add. The Net is providing the first opportunity for direct communication on this scale to occur in the history of our nation. "Instant knowledge of decision maker's actions, with the opportunity for instant feedback from angry constituents, will necessitate backbone for many of our politicians before tough decisions get made." Varn Plug in now - talk to your government! Kay Proctor, Executive Director of www.talktogov.com - A web site that is restoring the communication line between the people and the Government. ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
