"There is a canyon dividing people who understand technology and people charged with addressing the world's toughest [..] issues, and no one has built a bridge" (Cohen/Schmidt: The New Digital Age) The Governance Gap
Information travels around the globe in seconds reaching people in many ways, less and less via the morning paper and more and more through alternative cable "news" like the daily show or online and "on demand" journalism like Baltimore Brew or simply through blogs. Opinions and comments are written and published within minutes and an issue might thus become red hot or "viral" in hours.
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Meanwhile, the manner in which the political process articulates itself, has barely changed since Abraham Lincoln's time. Bills churn through first and second readers, hearings, committee votes while arms get twisted and the pockets of politicians swell from an ever growing torrent of cash. Often it takes months before a final vote is taken. The public has long lost interest in the machinations of the political class, on the local and national level alike.