Open Government Links of the Week – May 6, 2011

“NJ court: High costs is denial of access; awards atty’s fees” (The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

(HT Virginia Coalition for Open Government email)

“[Quincy] Massachusetts Turns on Camera for Court Proceedings” (GovTech.com)

• “The initiative, called “OpenCourt,” incorporates digital technology such as video streams and live broadcasts and makes the media available on the OpenCourt website. The Quincy District Court has set up a Wi-Fi network and a designated area for bloggers and citizen journalists to Tweet and use Facebook and other social media during court proceedings.”

“States Lead the Way on Contract Disclosure” (OMB Watch)

• See how the Federal Gov’t did in the article…

“Seeking Osama: Anatomy of a News Firestorm in a Cross-Platform Environment” (comScore)

“Here at comScore, we were curious to understand how others may have experienced this news, so we decided to do a little digging. Our analysis looks at the 24-hour period beginning at 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, May 1, and ending at 7:00 PM ET Monday, May 2. To understand Americans’ news consumption patterns in the aftermath of the news, we’re going to begin by gaining some overall perspective into how Osama Bin Laden (OBL) news coverage was consumed across various media, then we’ll examine some of the consumption patterns in relative terms.”

“Effectively Engaging the Public” (Governing)

• “The first step, of course, is finding out what the public really wants from its government. For years, we’ve talked to government officials who yearn to hear more from their citizens. Open hearings, though, are not necessarily the answer. They tend to draw small numbers, and those small numbers are often made up by the same people, with the same vested interests, regardless of what topic is being discussed.”

A Week to Celebrate: Public Servants & Municipal Clerks

Oklahoma, where the tech comes sweepin’ down the plain…

• There is a conference going on in Oklahoma related to government and technology…

A similar version of this was originally posted at the company that I work for’s product blog (Disclosure: the product deals w/ transparency, gov’t, & technology and we’re interested in accessibility for minorities).