Tag Archive: YouTube

Senate Changes Franking Rules for Web Sites

by Paul Blumenthal Sep 24, 2008 12:05 pm

Last year, the Open House Project proposed the loosening of rules governing what lawmakers can post to their official web... View Article

YouTube Citizen Journalism Challenge!

by Nisha Thompson Sep 9, 2008 12:41 pm

YouTube is offering a $10,000 fellowship with the Pulitzer Center for “high-quality video pieces focused on stories that are not... View Article

Friday YouTubes: Earmarking in Congress

by Paul Blumenthal Sep 14, 2007 3:44 pm

Check out this Bill Moyers expose on earmarking in Congress (unfortunately this is not the whole video). Steve Ellis, from Taxpayers for Commonsense, is interviewed and the Sunlight Foundation's earmarking data is used in a graph at the beginning of the video.

George Miller Taps Web 2.0

by Paul Blumenthal Jun 27, 2007 3:04 pm

As David All and I have written, the rules governing member Web sites are not fit for the 21st Century Web. If the rules were enforced with any regularity, instead of used as a scarecrow to keep members from innovating, then some of the best practices by members on the Web wouldn't be happening. Case in point: Rep. George Miller (D-CA).

Today, George Miller announced a new campaign, called "Ask George," calling on citizens to send videos, through video sharing sites like YouTube, to Miller's office regarding the War in Iraq. Miller's office describes "Ask George" as a "distributed, virtual town hall". Miller also suggests that participants in this conversation "tag" their videos "askgeorge" so that his office can go and find the questions. This way, Miller is the one going out to seek the conversation rather than the citizen or constituent who is usually the one seeking out the congressman.

Rep. Markey Takes to YouTube

by Paul Blumenthal May 10, 2007 5:40 pm

In a first for Congress, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) took a video camera and filmed the first user created video from the perspective of a Congressional Committee Chairman. This is an amazing step in the right direction for Congress as they grapple with adopting to new mediums of communication and new technology. Also, I'm glad that Rep. Markey has decided to embed his YouTube video on his member web site and push the envelope as David All and I suggest in the Open House Project section on Member Web Use Restrictions.

Democratizing Political Reporting

by Ellen Miller Nov 3, 2006 1:10 pm

This article in the Washington Post is the political class' (e.g. media, politicians, consultants, pollsters') lament that they've lost control of their candidate's message. But in fact it should be a celebratory piece about the fact that citizens are increasingly using the democratizing world of technology to spread the message about what candidates say and really think. Wouldn't you rather rely on YouTube clips, excerpts from speeches, and candid moments filtered by citizen journalists than political advertisements to tell you what a candidate really believes? No contest in my mind.

The Season of Sleaze

by Larry Makinson Oct 27, 2006 12:43 pm

Here’s another double-edged benefit of the internet: this year, thanks to YouTube and other sites that let users post and share videos, the whole world can see the sort of sleaze that passes for political advertising as Election Day draws near.

In fact, the one-two-three punch of Google, YouTube and a broadband connection means that anyone can do in a few seconds what I did yesterday – learn about offensive ads in a newspaper story, then take a look at them yourself.