George Orwell Would Have Been A Blogger
11/15/2005
The Ministry of Truth is alive and well and living in Orlando, FL. It's now called METROPlan Orlando.
Josh Hallett, hyku, presents an excellent case study of what can happen to a blog when it succeeds. The METROPlan blog provided an opportunity for people to exchange ideas and offer suggestions. Hats of to METROPlan for their innovation. Especially when part of its mission reads: "As the regional MPO, METROPlan Orlando provides the forum for local elected officials and transportation experts to work together to improve mobility for Central Florida residents, businesses and visitors."
But wait! Josh's post title, Death of a Blog, is a dead give away that in this situation success aint a pretty picture. I would guess that some of those comments were not always kind to the bureaucrats behind the scenes. Kill the blog! Kill the messengers! No more blog -except in caches, of course!
Similar to the mission of The Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's novel 1984, seems METROPlan wanted to control truths for its citizens. And to protect themselves from public critique and conversations. From the a disscussion about the METROPlan blog from a transcript of METROPlan Executive Meeting - September 14, 2005 Mayor Cutty: Why would we as elected officials on board open ourselves up to this and sometimes you don't have an email. I'm against it.
Perhaps METROPlan doesn't realize this is 2005 and not 1984? Perhaps they haven't heard of citizen journalism? So your blog or mine or anyone of a million others? The conversation will still take place. The only thing that has changed is METROPlan, you don't have the home court advantage any longer.