Shorenstein Center Unveils Election Site

Accessing information about the upcoming November election just became more convenient.

Yesterday the Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and the Markle Foundation unveiled a Web site named "Web White & Blue" whose purpose is to inform the American public about politics. The address of the site is www.webwhiteblue.org.

"Participation in our democracy just became easier," said Markle Foundation President Zoe Baird. "Web White & Blue will insure that the vast array of political information on the Web is as accessible and user-friendly as possible."

The site's purpose is to facilitate access to Web pages already available on the Internet which are related to politics and voting.

Links to Web sites with information on voter participation and political groups are organized into six categories: voter information, state organizations, issues, campaigns, election news and participation.

According to the project's Web site, Web White & Blue "is an icon-awareness campaign that seeks to give Internet users a more informed and authoritative voice in the 1998 [November] elections."

Organizers recruited over 350 companies and organizations, including Microsoft, ABC News, the League of Women Voters and Yahoo!, to provide links to the new site from their own Web pages.

The online campaign marks the first time in the Internet's history that commercial, non-profit Web sites will work together in order to inform the American public about politics.

"We hope everyone will take advantage of the Web page," said Nancy A. Palmer, assistant director of the Shorenstein Center.

"I've been using it myself," Palmer said.

The impetus for the Web White & Blue campaignstems from the current all-time low rate ofpolitical participation in the U.S., say itsfounders.

According to the Federal Election Commission,less than one-half of the voting-age populationvoted in the 1996 elections.

However, 60 percent of "connected"Americans--those who use the Internet--vote,according to a study conducted in 1997 by Wiredmagazine.

Web White & Blue organizers said that 35percent of the adult population of the U.S. usesthe Internet.

They also report that an estimated 25-30million Web users will see the new site's iconbetween now and the Nov. 3 general elections.

The Shorenstein Center, a research institutiondedicated to studying the intersection of thepress, politics and public policy, will use datafrom the Web White & Blue project in a futureresearch project studying voter participation,Palmer said.

Added Director of the Shorenstein Center MarvinL. Kalb '53, "What we learn from Web White & Blueabout educating voters online in 1998 will help usmake the Internet more effective for voters in thepresidential election in 2000."

However, some interviewed yesterday questionedthe site's usefulness.

Darryl Li '01, one of four founders of theundergraduate online magazine Icon, said thatwhile the Internet is a new way to conveyinformation, resources on the Web cannot solve theproblem of voter apathy.

"There's a growing faith among some [people]about the democratizing nature of the Internet,"Li said, "but providing information doesn't changethings."

"There's a difference between having resourcesavailable over the Internet and having a localblock captain knocking on your door," Li added.

However, Steve Case, chair and CEO of AmericaOnline, which is donating services to help makethe Web White & Blue project possible, stressedthe value of the Web as a tool for voters.

"[The Internet] can fundamentally change ourpolitical process by empowering people to educatethemselves," Case said.

"[It] can provide a depth and breadth ofinformation in one place that is simply impossibleto duplicate in the traditional media."

The Web White & Blue site will remain activethrough the Nov. 3 election

"I've been using it myself," Palmer said.

The impetus for the Web White & Blue campaignstems from the current all-time low rate ofpolitical participation in the U.S., say itsfounders.

According to the Federal Election Commission,less than one-half of the voting-age populationvoted in the 1996 elections.

However, 60 percent of "connected"Americans--those who use the Internet--vote,according to a study conducted in 1997 by Wiredmagazine.

Web White & Blue organizers said that 35percent of the adult population of the U.S. usesthe Internet.

They also report that an estimated 25-30million Web users will see the new site's iconbetween now and the Nov. 3 general elections.

The Shorenstein Center, a research institutiondedicated to studying the intersection of thepress, politics and public policy, will use datafrom the Web White & Blue project in a futureresearch project studying voter participation,Palmer said.

Added Director of the Shorenstein Center MarvinL. Kalb '53, "What we learn from Web White & Blueabout educating voters online in 1998 will help usmake the Internet more effective for voters in thepresidential election in 2000."

However, some interviewed yesterday questionedthe site's usefulness.

Darryl Li '01, one of four founders of theundergraduate online magazine Icon, said thatwhile the Internet is a new way to conveyinformation, resources on the Web cannot solve theproblem of voter apathy.

"There's a growing faith among some [people]about the democratizing nature of the Internet,"Li said, "but providing information doesn't changethings."

"There's a difference between having resourcesavailable over the Internet and having a localblock captain knocking on your door," Li added.

However, Steve Case, chair and CEO of AmericaOnline, which is donating services to help makethe Web White & Blue project possible, stressedthe value of the Web as a tool for voters.

"[The Internet] can fundamentally change ourpolitical process by empowering people to educatethemselves," Case said.

"[It] can provide a depth and breadth ofinformation in one place that is simply impossibleto duplicate in the traditional media."

The Web White & Blue site will remain activethrough the Nov. 3 election