*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** Web White & Blue 2000 is a few weeks into their "soft launch." In the very near future the Outreach Team will be launching a grass roots WWB Participating Site online icon campaign to promote this exciting and important initiative. While the election-oriented web climate is much more competitive than 1998, WWB has evolved in such a way that it will again push the envelope in a way that promotes collaborative online public service in the public interest. The Rolling Cyber Debate among the Presidential campaigns will be the big big deal. Read the About WWB page for project background and stay tuned for information on how your site can help promote the use of the Internet in elections and democracy. Steven Clift WWB Outreach Coordinator (Democracies Online Newswire - <http://e-democracy.org/do>) About Web White & Blue 2000: http://www.webwhiteblue.org/about/ Web White & Blue 2000 is a non-profit, non-partisan project of the Markle Foundation designed to highlight the ways in which the Internet can expand and enhance citizen participation in our nation's democratic process. The project builds upon the successful Web White & Blue collaboration during the 1998 election cycle. Web White & Blue 2000 has created a network comprised of 17 of the largest Internet traffic centers which together reach more than 85% of the American Internet audience. This network has come together in order to provide voters with a comprehensive view of the best online political information resources. THE BEST OF THE BEST Each weekday, Web White & Blue will provide links to the "Best of the Best" political content online, links to a Featured Nonprofit voter information resource, and an Interactive Events Calendar providing up- to-date listings of online political discussions. This shared content from Web White & Blue will be available at each of the Charter Participants' sites. We urge you to visit each of our 17 participating sites to see what they have to offer! ROLLING CYBER DEBATE AMONG THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS The centerpiece of Web White & Blue 2000 is an historic online debate among the presidential campaigns in the fall. Beginning on October 1 and continuing through Election Day, Web White & Blue will host a daily online exchange among the presidential campaigns. The debate will be carried here at WebWhiteBlue.org and simultaneously on the 17 Web White & Blue Charter sites. Designed to complement the traditional televised debates, the Web White & Blue Rolling Cyber Debate will not be a live, interactive "dueling keyboard" event. Rather, the Rolling Cyber Debate will consist of a daily exchange between the campaigns on topics provided by the campaigns themselves and citizens via the Web White & Blue network. Visit our Rolling Cyber Debate Section for additional information about the centerpiece of the Web White & Blue project. THE WEB WHITE & BLUE NETWORK The 17 Web White & Blue 2000 charter sites include: ABCNews.com America Online CNN.com allpolitics.com Excite@Home FoxNews.com iVillage.com Microsoft/MSN MSNBC.com MTV.com NetNoir npr.org (National Public Radio Online) NYTimes.com Oxygen Media PBS Online USAToday.com washingtonpost.com's OnPolitics Yahoo! Visit our Participate in WWB section to find out how your web site or organization can join Web White & Blue 2000 as a participating site. THE WEB WHITE & BLUE MANAGEMENT TEAM The Markle Foundation is being assisted on Web White & Blue 2000 by former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, a Democrat, and FreedomChannel.com/The Hotline founder Doug Bailey, a Republican. Jonah Seiger, co-founder of mindshare Internet Campaigns, is managing the Web White & Blue Internet strategy and implementation. Daily editing of Web White & Blue 2000 content is handled by Peter Orvetti, formerly of National Journal's Cloakroom and National Journal's Technology Daily. Steve Clift is leading the Web White & Blue outreach and grass roots site recruitment efforts. Barbara Fedida Brill serves as the Web White & Blue Project Director for the Markle Foundation. The Web White & Blue 2000 web site, content syndication system, and debate technology platform have been developed by mindshare Internet Campaigns, LLC. ABOUT THE MARKLE FOUNDATION Emerging communications media and information technology create unprecedented opportunity to improve people's lives. The Markle Foundation works to realize this potential and to promote the development of communications industries that address public needs. They will be working to expand the project across the Internet platform to include non-profit content resources and dot-com participants. Some of the most promising areas for Markle's work are in the following programs: Public Engagement through Interactive Technologies, Policy for a Networked Society, Interactive Media for Children, and Information Technologies for Better Health. To capture opportunities in our rapidly changing world that fall outside these priorities, Markle also maintains an Opportunity Fund. Markle pursues its goals through a range of activities including analysis, research, public information and the development of innovative media products and services. The foundation creates and operates many of its own projects-using not only grants but also investments and strategic alliances with non-profits and businesses. More information on the Markle Foundation can be found at http://www.markle.org. ^ ^ ^ ^ 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. ***
