What Do You Think About This Idea?
Would you be interested in who your local representatives are, why they wanted their jobs, and most importantly, what they're doing in your name?
I'm talking about school board members, the local political party apparatus, circuit judges, your city councilman/woman, your state senator, and so on. We may read a paragraph about these folks around election time, but what does that really tell us?
What if there were a website that had 2-5 minute video interviews with these people, the ability to comment on the interviews, the ability to submit questions in advance of the interview, and quick summaries of their votes and public statements? It would start off small - maybe Park Slope or New York City. But it would eventually expand to the national level. And it would be powered by citizens. Individually, no one has the time or desire to do this, but collectively, we do.
Would that be compelling?
Would that be a good public service?
Can I get a grant to do this?
Would you be interested in who your local representatives are, why they wanted their jobs, and most importantly, what they're doing in your name?
I'm talking about school board members, the local political party apparatus, circuit judges, your city councilman/woman, your state senator, and so on. We may read a paragraph about these folks around election time, but what does that really tell us?
What if there were a website that had 2-5 minute video interviews with these people, the ability to comment on the interviews, the ability to submit questions in advance of the interview, and quick summaries of their votes and public statements? It would start off small - maybe Park Slope or New York City. But it would eventually expand to the national level. And it would be powered by citizens. Individually, no one has the time or desire to do this, but collectively, we do.
Would that be compelling?
Would that be a good public service?
Can I get a grant to do this?
Labels: Politics
posted by isaacjosephson at 9:41 AM
4 Comments:
Yawn. This would fly when pigs do so allow me to spice it up a bit...
Give out a few hundred camcorders (not free, just extended on terms) to a representative local population of ordinary people. Have them report on local government affairs in thier own words. Then, have them hunt down, in the street, paparrazzi-style, local officials responsible for the good and bad decisions (heroes and villians) that directly affect our lives. Then, open the doors to comments, forums and all manner of citizen journalism and punditry and let the fur fly. Sell ads and popcorn and run contests. Then syndicate branded content to news organizations to flesh out their local tabloid fare and you're in business.
People would go for that and we'd probably have better, not worse government for it.
Skip the grant and appeal directly to VC money who have an appetite for this kind of stuff...
...or not.
Any chance you'll let us in on your identity?
What you suggest is an obnoxious and funny version of my pitch, and might actually work really well.
That said, I'd like to go the public service/grant route because I'd be in it to make myself feel good.
Of course, since I have a day job, I'd have to convince Sarah (and Pinko) to run it from home.
Pinko is on board.
It is a bit of a yawner, but some of us watch the most boring stuff known to man- c-span and book TV.
However, I don't watch them any more because I don't watch much TV in general. I like most of the stuff on C-Span but you never know what you are going to get. That is why the web is better, you control what you watch/read.
I like anons take on it too, to spice it up a bit. Relevance doesn't have to be boring; it has wit potential.
The idea is appealing because you could access the material at your leisure, and assuming the site had a good archive, you could devote as much or as little time to it as you needed.
My first reaction though was to think of the Stephan Colbert spots called "Better Know a District" funny stuff; too bad its on TV and I never remember to watch it.
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