Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gateway Opens On Corridors Of Power

During the past three years, the executive branch of federal government has spent $349 million establishing a presence on the Internet. Government Internet sites are an investment in better democracy and an increasingly popular source of reliable information. For instance, the day after the Pathfinder landed on Mars, NASA’s Web site (www.jpl.nasa.gov) logged more than 40 million “hits,” or connections by World Wide Web voyagers.

These government Web sites have begun a profound power shift in favor of the ordinary people government serves and represents.

For the moment, some lack easy access to this new medium. But that will change. Digital television, for instance, will bring Web surfing to the family room. As occurred with other devices - radio, television, pocket calculators, videocassette recorders - Internet technology likely will become cheap and commonplace.

The consequences for our political system will be huge. Throughout the history of American politics, information about what agencies and officials are up to has traveled slowly and passed through a series of filters. Among them were reporters, who sometimes let biases show. Plus, politicians and their aides, who spoon-feed news to the media, giving it a self-serving spin. Even the best reporters have had to dig to get raw information.

But on the Internet, crucial facts about our government are more available than ever before. From an eighth-grader writing a report to a business person threatened by ill-conceived legislation, ordinary Americans now can get the straight story for themselves in seconds.

On the Web, the public can obtain meeting agendas for legislatures, Congress, city councils. The text of draft legislation, once hard to find, is instantly available. So are Supreme Court decisions, presidential speeches, General Accounting Office reports, census data, trade statistics and more. For example, check out the following sites: www.fedstats.gov, www.thomas.gov, www.wa.gov, and splnet.spokpl.lib.wa.us

Obviously, Internet data is an overwhelming flood that lacks context and perspective. That’s where news media come in, and they can do a better job now with access to unfiltered, timely source material.

Still, the Internet is profoundly empowering for all whom government affects. It can equip anyone to contact public officials with informed - and, therefore, credible - criticism or praise. This also can speed up the process of governmental innovation. City Council members in Spokane, for instance, can read about privatization in Indianapolis.

Where might this lead? Potentially, to a democracy better informed than any democracy in history. Accurate information doesn’t guarantee wise judgment. But it’s a start.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board