NS columnist Laurie Taylor reviews the "Stand" website and Rachel Munro attempts to "Discover Hertford"
About the awards
The New Statesman's New Media Awards were launched last December to promote the effective use of the Internet in government, the private sector and related organisations as a tool for enhancing democratic and social inclusion. The New Statesman is keen to ensure that individuals and organisations that use the Internet to encourage civic participation and public debate, and to provide greater access to public information, should receive the appropriate recognition. With a panel of judges drawn from national and local government, industry and the press, the New Statesman plans to highlight - and reward - the best current work in new media, and to explain the role of new media within the political process.
Nominations for the awards have closed but a complete list of nominations is available on-line at http://www.newstatesman.co.uk.
NS columnist Laurie Taylor reviews the "Stand" website
http://www.stand.org.uk
At first glance the title of this website, "Adopt an MP", is enough to worry even the most socially committed citizen. So it's reassuring to discover on the first page that we are not being asked to take MPs home but only to "help them understand".
We're told that the average member is quite unable to grasp the issue of encryption on the net or the threat posed by the government proposal to store copies of private encryption keys so that they tap into your computer if they suspect you of dealing drugs or peddling porn. According to the libertarian authors, this would mean that "on the nod of a police inspector all your e-mails could be monitored". And who are authors? "We're 30 individuals (of various political hues) who happen to spend enough time on the net to worry about it being ruined by a bunch of well-meaning bureaucrats."
They're not as dilettante as they sound. Their lobbying technique, which depends upon getting intelligent, well-argued letters to each MP from constituents, has worked very well. So far 634 MPs have been adopted, and the site claims to have influenced the Trade and Industry Select Committee which recently declared that "we see no benefits arising from the government proposals".
Like a tin of Ronseal, www.stand.org.uk does exactly what it says. No classy graphics, no hype: a model for other interest groups. If you want to take part, there are still a few MPs waiting for an adopter. No one, it seems, has yet chosen the member for Antrim North, Dr Ian Paisley.
Rachel Munro reviews the "Discover Hertford" website
http://www.hertfordtown.co.uk
You can access all sorts of stuff on the Internet, whether you are in Aberdeen or Abu Dhabi - it is truly global. However, it can also be a great resource at a local level. "Discover Hertford" is an example of this. Its range is vast: the only restriction in terms of content is geographic. Otherwise, everything is covered, from health and housing through to line-dancing and the fact that a man called Ridley Scott plays guitar in local band called Wyld Thyme.
The site is refreshingly lacking in gimmicks and easy to use. It provides a wealth of local information, much of it genuinely useful - lists of local businesses, doctors, health centres and travel times. It also hosts discussion forums so that people can exchange views about local issues. The idea is to create a "community" on the Internet.
Traditionalists might debate the notion that a sense of community can be created when individuals are sitting in front of computers in their own homes, but communities clearly exist on the Internet. The Hertford site is a commendable attempt to create a virtual community that could complement a real-life one.
The problem, though, is that surfing the site is comparable to being the only person watching an enthusiastically performed play. It's sad to see a great effort being made in the absence of any audience. The discussion forums are almost empty, and there is no indication that anyone actually "uses" the site, so this virtual Hertford is no more than a ghost town, filled with eerie reminders of the minutiae of life in an English town in the 1990s, but unvisited and empty.
Rachel Munro is a journalism student at City University, London
Meet the judges: Michael Wills MP
As the DTI minister with overall responsibility for the Internet, Michael Wills will shortly be piloting the Electronic Commerce Bill through the Commons.
A former diplomat, Wills worked in television for many years, and was one of the Weekend World team in the 1980s. He ran his independent production company from 1985 until his election in 1997, and brings his wide experience of "old" media to the panel of new media judges.
Although he is minister for small firms, trade and industry, Wills is concerned with more than the economic aspects of the net. In looking at the nominations he will be asking how we can use IT to empower people, to encourage social inclusion and to strengthen community ties. As he says, "access to IT is not an end in itself but a powerful means of delivering services, conquering isolation, empowering individuals and bringing people with similar interests together".
Bill Thompson, Nexus
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