Legislation Blogging Is Deemed A Success

BROADBAND BLOGGING IS DEEMED A SUCCESS
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 8/2, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
When readers of a Republican blog got the chance to talk candidly with Senate Majority Whip. Richard Durbin (D-IL) last month in a bill-writing experiment, the discussion that resulted from the exchange was more productive than most of the political shows aired on television, the event's organizers said. Open Left co-Editor Matt Stoller said, "I challenge you to find any cable news show that's as civil as what we did" on Open Left and RedState. "Actually, there's power here," he added, because soliciting input online broadens who can participate. "I'm just blown away by the level of participation we had on the site," Robert Bluey, a contributor to the conservative RedState blog, said in referring to the more than 240 comments posted to help Sen Durbin craft high-speed Internet legislation. Bluey said it is "remarkable that there are that many people talking about public policy [on blogs]." The dialogue began while Sen Durbin was conversing with the "netroots" on the liberal blog Open Left about the same subject. Bluey expressed the need for a two-sided discussion and invited Sen Durbin to "speak" on RedState. Next, Sen Durbin will use the feedback to compose the bill, post a draft of it online and again seek public comment through Open Left and RedState. The goal is to introduce legislation in September, Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/2007/08/broadband_blogging_is_deemed_a.html