Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Hey, this could be a great idea: Congressional committees could post links on their Web sites to something called live webcasts of Hill hearings, allowing the press and public alike to watch and listen virtually from their homes or offices -- without spending time fighting traffic or contributing to greenhouse emissions.

I say "could be," because while many of the congressional committees in the House and Senate offer (and publicize) such video and/or audio streaming, the technology half the time doesn't work.

Take Wednesday morning, for example. The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a hearing on growing trade in (ironically) green technology. The link to the audio webcast posted on the site was broken, then removed, then reappeared after the hearing was all but over. The same happened a few weeks ago for a hearing on the Homland Security Department's Secure Border Initiative before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism. My colleagues have told me they have had similar experiences.

As someone who covers how the federal government uses information technology to improve government, as well as the Obama administration's open government agenda, the irony of the technical difficulties isn't easy to overlook.