Awhile back in this space I groused about Minnesota officials resurrecting the “confessional style” of public hearings.
That’s the one where the public shows up and one at a time people privately give comments about controversial issues to representatives of the decision makers.
My beef is that such a process robs people of interaction and the synergy that real discussions often produce. It also insulates decision makers from the people affected by their decisions.
Now the magic of digital communications has apparently created an electronic version of this wayward attempt to generate input into crtiical public decisions.
Want details? Check out Jane Elder’s frustration with giving input on the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. It’s a great read about how the exploding revolution in communications technology can sabotage rather than improve communications.
Want relief? Great Lakes Echo tries to provide it here. We’ve set up forums that allow you to comment on what could be the greatest binational policy adjustment on the Great Lakes in 23 years.
Better yet, you can also read what others think of your ideas. And you can also publicly respond to the ideas of others.
That’s different than the system set up by the U.S. and Canadian governments. There you can only send off your comments without bouncing them around with others. (That said, regardless of its interactive deficiencies, the government-sanctioned system is a route to getting your voice before decision makers. So after you hone your perspective with reaction from others on the Echo forums, make sure you also submit the resulting brilliance on the governments’ system.)
Is this an improvement? I think so, but I’ll also admit a penchant for an old-fashioned standing room only hearing where face-to-face exchanges are passionate if not heated.
This is a bit of an experiment in finding out if such passionate interaction can be duplicated electronically.
Whether it can depends on you.
Echo Editor David Poulson is the associate director of Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism