A new web site called AirCongress has popped up in Washington, and it hopes to be "the one place where people can go to hear and see the latest news of, by and about Congress."

K. Daniel Glover, the publisher and executive producer, sees the site as a kind of aggregator of already-produced but difficult-to-find content produced by lawmakers, trade associations, advocacy groups, government watchdogs, journalists and bloggers, and they also plan to produce original content.

Congressional Web sites offer a treasure trove of audio and visual content. Several lawmakers have “multimedia” centers online, and the number of them who are creating podcasts is increasing regularly. The innovators in Congress also have started using sites like YouTube to campaign, provide video glimpses into their legislative routines and even to improve constituent service.

All of those developments, and more to come, offer the promise of a better-informed citizenry but for one problem: Few citizens have the time or inclination to seek the needle of democracy in what is fast becoming the world’s largest haystack of online government.

If successful, the site could encourage lawmakers to continue to post to their blogs, since the material could reach an audience outside of politicians' core constituents. While the AirCongress is clearly a work-in-progress -- there's no about page or any other readily available information; users have to search within the "AirCongress" category to find that -- it has an admirable non-partisan approach that will serve citizens well.

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Tags: aircongress, congress, lawmakers, washington

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