Further underscoring an increasing acknowledgment of the validity of online journalists and bloggers, on 5/14/09, Illinois Senate Democrats held a blogger conference call to discuss ethics reform.  An advantage to hosting a call with bloggers, Daily Herald reporter and blogger John Patterson live blogged the event:

Getting ready to join a conference call with several Senate Democrats discussing the status of ethics reform in Illinois. The senators include Don Harmon, Jeff Schoenberg, Susan Garrett, William Haine and Kwame Raoul.

On the call,  Senators discussed the six areas identified by the Illinois Reform Commission including campaign finance, state contracting, enforcement, government transparency, government structure, and inspiring better government.  In the true spirit of a blogger conference call, Senator Harmon reviewed questions received via e-mail.  One put the spotlight on government transparency when it comes to technology.  From The Capitol Fax:

Q: ArchPundit question about the stability of State Board of Elections data links and making state agencies make their information more useable online.

A: Harmon said he’s glad to hear it’s not just him having technical difficulties. Said it could be a problem of not enough money to update technology and is something lawmakers need to make sure agencies have the resources to do properly.

Tech is an important, unavoidable, and beneficial component of government transparency.  While there is still work to do, at the very least, this call indicates policymakers’ movement toward utilizing digital media to communicate with a broader audience.

Anyone out there participate on the call and want to share their first-hand experience?

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