MSM Could Do A Better Job Bringing Legislature’s Votes To Public’s Attention
By Vince Leibowitz on Jan 16, 2007 in 80th Legislature
I was only slightly amused by an article in today’s Austin American Statesman about how tracking the Texas Legislature can be “not always easy.”
While I agree and disagree with various points of the article (I do, for example, think that the new Texas Legislature Online is user friendly and I am addicted to the RSS feeds for new bills), I find it most interesting that the MainStream Media is bringing to light a problem they could actually do something about: making it easier to find votes. To wit:
For lobbyists and anyone else willing to pay up to $3,500 for a two-year subscription to GalleryWatch or to subscribe to other private services that track the Legislature, getting information is relatively easy.
Nancy Walker, legislative director for state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, said that raises questions: “Is what we’re providing to the public adequate? Or do you have to have money to get something specific for what you need?”
Personally, I think the state should offer all the services of Gallery Watch to its citizens (fat chance). In the interim, however, the MSM could sure do something about that.
Many of you may be familiar with the Washington Post’s Congress Votes Database. The Washington Post manages to keep track of all of the votes of the U.S. Congress—even on motions to committ, etc.
While Congress has a more “user friendly” way to find votes, evidently services like Gallery Watch are able to navigate the Lege’s voting without waiting for the House Journal and Senate Journal to come out the next day.
If the Statesman, or any other newspaper, was so inclined, they could partner with Gallery Watch to acquire their services and pay for the rights to publish votes in a database similar to what the Washington Post has done.
While the responsibility for making it easier to track down votes ultimately falls upon the shoulders of the Legislature itself, the media could do more (given its resources) to make votes more easily accessable to the public.
Meh. That’s what blogs are for.
I just don’t care any more whether the corporate media does their job or not.