What I learned from being profiled in the newspaper: There is almost nothing fun about being interviewed by a reporter. Members of Congress must have a special neurotransmitter that lets them enjoy answering questions about themselves. I can say now that it is a lot more fun asking the questions than having to come up with answers. Lucky for me, Betsy Rothstein, who edits The Hill’s Capitol Living section, took the edge off of the experience.  We sat down one day in the Speaker’s Lobby in just off the House floor to do the interview, and basically laughed our way through it. To be honest, I had forgotten how much time I used to spend listening to the radio late at night, or that I spent a stint as an illegal immigrant in Canada, before Betsy asked me about it.

And also lucky for me, I only had to answer enough questions to fill a 450-word sketch. Now the photo session, that was another matter.

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July 17, 2008 -- This hasn’t been Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-NY) week. The Washington Post accused the Congressman of seeking donations from businesses with issues before his committee for a new public policy school that bears his name. Separately the New York Times alleges that Rangel, the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has been paying cheaper rent than his neighbors.  read more »

It tells you how tight we covering the Congress are. As I was walking to lunch with a press secretary, I spoke with CBS producer Jill Jackson. She was writing a blog on recess at the Capitol. Congress members call it a “district working week”, but I like “recess”.  read more »

'Internet for Everyone' launches today here in New York City to try to close what has become a gaping, yawning, "Grand Canyon' of a digital divide. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein says it's a disgrace that the country that founded the Internet is falling so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to access to broadband. "I'm a frustrated policy maker: What we are doing in Washington is not working," Adelstein told the Personal Democracy Forum. "We have a shortsighted policy that has ensured the U.S. is way behind...in access, openness and speed."  read more »

Miss your flight? There's always skype! Elizabeth Edwards never quite made it to New York, but from the comfy confines of her living room in North Carolina she parried questions from citizen journalists, accountability activists and pollitical operatives. She says - wait for it - online journalism has been good. Some issues, she says, are just "too big" for the mainstream media: Whether Iraq or healthcare, the "mainstream media will shortchange it because the issue is too big for the package."  read more »

It tells you how tight we covering the Congress are. As I was walking to lunch with a press secretary, I spoke with CBS producer Jill Jackson. She was writing a blog on recess at the Capitol. Congress members call it a “district working week”, but I like “recess”.  read more »

Winning the rural vote has usually been a safe bet for Republicans. This election, pollsters say Democrats are likely to do better in rural areas in battleground states, making it a much more competitive environment.  read more »

It's conference season and it seems that over the last few months and over the next few months Melinda or I (or Eric, or Katie, or Ari) have been or will be attending quite a few of these events focused on public radio, non-profits, or web development. Sometimes exhausting, sometimes exhilarating, these conferences -- like Beyond Broadcast and Netsquared -- are a great place to meet people and track developing trends.  read more »

While attempting to walk on water, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) ended up making a splash. Earlier in the day, on a conference call with reporters, Dodd denied knowing he was part of a special loan program within Country Wide Financial.  read more »

People from around the public broadcasting world descended on DC today to discuss the future of their industry. Particularly, radio and television broadcasters, content producers, and social benefit groups were talking about how the ever increasing presence of the Internet is changing what and how they do what they do. 

The theme for this year's Beyond Broadcast conference was mapping public media. This theme played out in a number of ways: most concretely one panel looked at how public content sites are using maps (like the NewsHour's) to channel information; and in the more abstract one panel mapped web-based distribution models for content. The consensus seemed to be that the descriptor 'public broadcasting' is becoming increasingly irrelevant as media creation and distribution collide on the Internet. A more apt term suggested by some panel members was 'public media', which includes media created by traditional content creators as well as the public.   read more »