The relationship between government and the media has grown more distant and less trusting. A modern government operates like a powerful hose, designed to get the message out in a forceful, directed and managed way. Leaks are anathema, and the system is strongly reinforced to prevent them. When I arrived in Canberra in the 1970s, says Grattan, “it wasn't hard to get to know a lot of bureaucrats and obtain basic background.” Now, most bureaucrats “run a mile from the most innocuous media call.” The problem is not so much that the bureaucracy has been politicised, but that it's ”had the fear of God put into it”, turning many professionals “into mice, afraid of what should be a useful and non-controversial role in helping inform what the media convey.’ The answer? The media, she says, should push for more access to information and explain how the media operate. Watching the watchdogs
The Blog, The Press, The Media: Bloggers add spice to UK poll
Be it personal rant or party propaganda, blogging has taken its place in public debate in Britain's election campaign, forming a powerful internet forum that could help shape Thursday's polling outcome.
Some media observers have compared Britain's online debate to the mass blogging that emerged as one of the most dynamic elements in the US presidential race last November. A multitude of internet sites have also animated the political debate, and sometimes given a helpful shove to the undecided voters.
• A chatty first-person "diary" of the campaign trail [They're masters of technology and innovation. They're global thinkers driven by strategic vision. They're nimbler than Martha Stewart's PR team. They're The Wired 40 The Wired 40 ; Doc Searls' closing keynote at Les Blogs, Paris, 25 April 2005 What blogs are vs. What they are not ]
• · "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" —A. J. Liebling; Shel Israel and Robert Scoble Chapter 4—Direct Access - Huge Chapter 4 ; Access to and knowledge of the legislative process further enhances the development and respect for democracy Monitoring Congress: A Revolution in Access
• · · After years selling another baker's pastries, Wendi Chocholak thought her birthday and wedding cakes were good enough for her to start her own business and succeed. In this instant-communication world, buzz means business! And one of the greatest ways to get customers and potential customers buzzing about your business is with a Media Dragon of Google Fame How "search" is redefining the Web — and our lives ; Bill Ives: I Guess Its Still Okay to Blog
• · · · CzechInvest improves automated system for evaluating structural funds Digitally tracking eligibility ; Outside firm loses Time Warner employee data Information on 600,000 current, former Time Warner workers missing
• · · · · GOOGLE has plans that will dramatically improve the results of internet news searches, by ranking them according to quality rather than simply by their date and relevance to search terms Google searches for quality not quantity ; Like Google Feast your eyes on the visual display of Census data at Social Explorer (US)
• · · · · · In response to Carmen Lawrence’s call for members to get off their backsides - or words to that effect - and be pro-active when it comes to structural change, I would suggest it is time to get rid of meetings in classrooms with nobody present and replace them with conversations over the internet Labor's latest 'what's wrong with us' blather ; Webdiary on Leadership Struggle: Media and the PM & His Deputy
