Hill Staffers Join Blogerati, Twitterati
Members of Congress have finally embraced the Web, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube, and they are hiring new-media experts to help extend their reach. The trend reflects many lawmakers' growing awareness of the Internet's importance to campaigns and of their constituents' increasing desire to connect and gather information on the Web. Further driving the change are an influx of Capitol Hill freshmen familiar with the new tools, and fresh rules that allow members to post on third party Web sites, National Journal magazine reported Friday (subscription required).
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and John Kerry, D-Mass., have recently hired staffers specifically to handle new media. For more on Collins' new media director, see Tech Daily Dose entry here. Brad Bauman, communications director for Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said his office was one of the first personal offices to have a designated new media person. Ryan's online communications assistant, Eric Sanchez, has been instrumental in moving the new media operation forward, Bauman said. Sanchez also works with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's"30 Something" working group to advance new technologies. He focuses on the "broader picture of how we can modify traditional media messages to get the biggest bang for the buck we would want from new media."
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has a press secretary that is charged with, among other responsibilities, having a focus on new media, according to Beth Pellett Levine, a spokeswoman for the senator. New media use "has become more of a focus in every office" with members using Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube, Levine said. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader John Boehner directed his staff to work with ranking members to implement guidelines for their Web sites. It is part of a larger effort to "raise the bar conference-wide in terms of how we're utilizing the web and new media tools," said Nick Schaper, Boehner's new media director.
New rules adopted by the committee in October allow members to maintain Web sites in addition to their official House.gov site and post material on third party Web sites so long as it complies with federal law and House rules and regulations applicable to official communications. The Senate also updated its official rules regarding third-party sites. House Education and Labor Committee spokeswoman Rachel Racusen said the rules have "made it easier for us to directly speak to and hear from more Americans." Her office has an outreach team that oversees new media and is continuing to expand its efforts to bloggers. Chairman George Miller often posts statements on sites like The Huffington Post and Daily Kos. -- Winter Casey
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