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July 29, 2008 by
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Scott White from continues to document his difficulty in convincing the Suffolk, VA press office to send him routine press releases. In his follow-up post, he includes email correspondence from Dana Woodson, Suffolk city (and taxpayer-funded) FOIA officer. Since Debbie George (old media communications professional) continues to rely on the crusty “bloggers aren’t real media” argument to escape her duty to send the press releases, Mr. White was forced to request the public information via FOIA.
Scott was able to purchase June pressers for an excessive $15 and can only receive them via snail mail on CD. Additionally, Woodson refused to email the press releases to any blogger. I thought I would check out the to learn more on their communications policies. This is what I found:
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Oh really? Rapport? Goodwill? I’m not sure that’s how I would describe Suffolk’s current communication with the public. Now, I’m not in the habit of predicting the future, but it doesn’t take a genius to see “public service” employee difficulties becoming a hot topic next election cycle.
- you might want to check out Suffolk for some responsive activists…
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July 25, 2008 by
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When is government transparent enough? Is it enough for a city or county to send press releases to newspapers, hope to get covered, and think that’s enough information for the taxpayers to know? And who makes the decision on when enough information has been distributed- The person hired to disseminate information, or the taxpayers funding the city employee’s salary?
Deme Panagopulos from Suffolk, VA seemed to have a when he asked Debbie George, the Suffolk City Communications Director, if he could join the city mailing list to receive press releases. Panagopulos wished to post the information on his blog, , which exists to urge greater transparency within city government. Unfortunately, Ms. George replied that she didn’t consider blogs to be news sources, and if she added one blog, she would have to add other blogs that requested the information.
phentermine online Someone had the audacity to ask a city communications person to communicate information to more than the mainstream media??? Outrageous!
Ultimately, this standoff is not about whether a blog is a credible source of information (in most minds, that fight was won years ago), but it is about having an open, transparent government that is responsive and accountable to taxpayers.
Dave Forster from quoted Panagopulos: “First of all, we have a city that claims to be open and transparent. I question that at this juncture.”
Alarmingly, blogger Scott White from had a similar experience:
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New media or old- it’s the responsibility of government employees to keep taxpayers as informed as possible on all the ways their money has been/will be/might be/could be/should be spent. Less information available = less citizen oversight and involvement. And we all know the result of that.