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new WWW service on American government
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Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 11:29:29 -0500
From: H-Pol Moderator Peter Knupfer
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Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 01:14:50 -0600 (CST)
From: "H-Net Central: Humanities On-Line"
press release 05/09/95 NATIONAL JOURNAL, AMERICAN POLITICAL NETWORK TO CREATE CUTTING-EDGE WORLD WIDE WEB SERVICE ON POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON, May 9 -- The American Political Network and National Journal, two of Washington's most respected political publishers, are joining forces to create a cutting-edge World Wide Web service on politics and government. PoliticsUSA will provide a rich blend of news and information, a dynamic platform for the serious discussion of issues and politics, and an online home for the political parties, presidential campaigns, congressional leadership, news media and interest groups. The service will be launched this summer to provide full coverage of the 1996 election cycle. "PoliticsUSA will be the online home of American politics," said Doug Bailey, chairman of the American Political Network, which publishes the Hotline. "This service is truly the beginning of interactive democracy." "PoliticsUSA will provide the one-stop shop on the Internet for all interested voters and political activists," said John Fox Sullivan, president and CEO of National Journal. "The service will create the online community of interest for the 25 million Americans who participate in the political and policy process or are interested in it."
PoliticsUSA is currently in discussion with Digital Equipment Corporation to provide leading edge technical capabilities to PoliticsUSA so that subscribers will be able to take advantage of the latest technical advances on the Internet. "Political enthusiasts need to collaborate and build communities of interest," said Roseanne Giordano, vice president of Digital's Internet Business Group. "The Internet provides electronic, geography-free collaboration. Political communities can depend on Digital and its partners, like National Journal and American Political Network, for the most functional and interesting Internet environments." Executives from National Journal and the American Political Network joined in the announcement of PoliticsUSA at a press conference Tuesday afternoon (May 9) at the National Press Building. Launched in phases starting this summer, PoliticsUSA will be available to users for free for the rest of this year. Starting Jan. 1, 1996, parts of the service will be available for free; users will pay a modest monthly subscription fee to access most of the service. Other sources of revenue for the service will include sponsorships, advertising and transaction fees.
Content on PoliticsUSA will include:
* Up-to-the-minute political and legislative news from NJ, APN and other sources. Primary and general election results from around the country. Forums, updated daily, on the latest news, views and schedules from the presidential candidates and political parties.* More than a dozen moderated discussion groups on issues and candidates.* A daily "Voter Booth" so that PoliticsUSA users can register their opinions on key issues of the day.* A directory of other Internet sources of political information and a daily "newsletter" of what's new and what's hot on the Internet on politics.* Comprehensive databases of information on candidates, issues, polling data and Congress.* "Daily Headliner" interviews in which PoliticsUSA users can pose questions to office holders, candidates and other movers and shakers.* A "Virtual Congress" in which PoliticsUSA subscribers can simulate the role of a member of Congress. Advocacy group forums from across the political spectrum. An online "Marketplace" where users will be able to buy books, subscriptions and political memorabilia.* A classroom for high school civics and college political science classes.
Participation and interactivity will be the guideposts for the development of PoliticsUSA. "The service is intended to connect elected officials to their constituents, candidates to voters, interest groups to interested citizens and citizens to citizens," said APN's Bailey. "PoliticsUSA will help make citizens better informed and the country's leaders more accessible and accountable." PoliticsUSA is being designed to provide the "front door" to the Internet for people interested in politics and government. "At last count, there were some 1,400 political and government sites on the Internet -- and that number will double in the next year," said NJ's Sullivan. "Today, it's time consuming and frustrating to find the information you're looking for -- if you can find it at all. PoliticsUSA will make order out of chaos. The service will organize and index the thousands of sources of information and point people to the best sites." PoliticsUSA will take full advantage of the World Wide Web's capabilities to "link" related information. Stories on a particular subject, for instance, might be linked to a discussion group on that subject, to the presidential candidates' views, to legislation in Congress and to other sources elsewhere on the Internet.
National Journal and the American Political Network will bring complementary strengths and experience to PoliticsUSA. "Both companies cover politics and policy, but APN focuses more on politics and NJ on policy," said Bailey. "There are no two companies that make more sense to launch such a service." National Journal, based in Washington, D.C., publishes National Journal, the weekly on government and politics; CongressDaily and CongressDaily/A.M., daily newsletters covering the latest news from Capitol Hill; Government Executive, the monthly business magazine for senior federal executives; The Almanac of American Politics, the "bible" of American politics; the Capital Source, a directory of the 7,000 most important people in Washington; the Federal Internet Source, a directory of federal, state and political Internet sites; and National Journal Convention Daily, daily newspapers published every four years at the national political conventions. National Journal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Times Mirror Co. The American Political Network, based in Alexandria, VA, publishes four daily, computer-delivered news summaries that are "must reading" for Washington decision makers and political professionals. The news summaries are: The Hotline, a 20-page briefing of political coverage from more than 100 newspapers and broadcast media; The American Health Line, a 12-page briefing on coverage of healthcare reform; Greenwire, a 12-page briefing on environmental coverage; and The Abortion Report, which covers both sides of the abortion issue.
/CONTACT: Steve Hull of the National Journal, 202-739-8475, shull@clark.net; or Karl Eisenhower of American Political Network, 703-518-4600, karl@apn.com/ ```
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