Open Government: September 2007 Archives

This is Edward again. I may restart posting in tandem with Kate, but I'm still trying to figure it out. Also reader comments might be a bit slow posting because of a spam attack.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out this story on how one town deals with the media:
1. Submit your questions, in writing, preferably via e-mail, to Judith Frazier, La Plata's town clerk.
2. Frazier will forward your questions to the appropriate town official. She also will notify the mayor and all council members of the media inquiry.
3. By the next business day, Frazier will send the official's prepared response via e-mail.

- I've reported on cities that hired a pr person; we jokingly call them flaks, as in flak jackets, because many times they are hired to protect elected officials from the media or the public. In rare cases, the pr person forces you to funnel everything through them so they can manage the media. It rarely works, because pols can't help themselves, and the $80,000 plus that pr people get hired for seems a bit high to budget hawks. I don't mean to bash all public information officers. Many take their jobs seriously and as a public trust. Some, not so much.