Personal Democracy Plus Our premium content network. LEARN MORE You are not logged in. LOG IN NOW >

Malamud: Standing on the Shoulders of Gus

BY Nancy Scola | Tuesday, March 10 2009

skitched-20090310-095004.jpgUnder the banner of "Yes We Scan," open-access/public domain advocate Carl Malamud is running a well oiled campaign for the office of Public Printer that's not short on creativity or gumption. Nope, the directorship of the Government Printing Office isn't an elected post. But while Malamud's path to Washington office might be less traveled, he's happy to point out that he's not the first to go down it. In a Twitter-based rally yesterday, Malamud pledged to channel "channel Gus" and "create nomination book" of tweets and the other messages of support pouring in. That's Augustus "Gus" Giegengack, the 13th head of the Government Printing Office. Gus, a working printer, traveled the lecture circuit collecting letters to support which he then presented to FDR. He got the job.

Malamud points to a 1943 New Yorker series on Giegengack that describes him "an efficient and forward-looking man," who "not only has kept up with increased demand but anticipated it." (It's a cruel twist that the Geigengack profile is behind the New Yorker's pay wall.) Giegengack printed a devastating book of photographs to convince Congress to up funding for GPO. Malamud has created a handsome timeline of his decades of accomplishments in freeing public data.

Giegengack is further described as "a man who wears spats whenever the temperature falls below forty." No word yet on when Malamud trots out his spats.

News Briefs

RSS Feed yesterday >

City of Joplin, Mo. Launches New Online Center Ahead of Tornado's Anniversary

The city of Joplin, Missouri launched its new web site over the week-end ahead of the May 22 anniversary of the massive tornado that devastated the city and killed 161 people. The new site enables Joplin citizens to sign up for emergency alerts via text message, e-mail and RSS. In addition to those alerts, individuals can also sign up for ... GO

In Virginia, City Council Debates to Include Questions Posed Online

The Alexandria Democratic Party in Alexandria, Virginia has partnered with online civic engagement platform ACTion Alexandria to include questions solicited in an online forum in the final Democratic primary debate for a City Council election there on June 4, ahead of the June 12 election, according to a statement released by the group. ACTion Alexandria hopes to work with both parties during the general election.

Participants in the project can add questions to the forum, or vote on questions that have already been posed, although each user is only given three votes to distribute. Users are also encouraged to use their real names. Questions submitted so far hit on topics ranging from broadband access to a ban on food trucks in the city.

GO

Motion Picture Association Names Marc Miller As Its New Online Copyright Cop

The Motion Picture Association of America on Monday named Marc Miller its vice president of online content protection. Miller comes to the MPAA from Nintendo of America, where he was the company's anti-piracy counsel for the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. GO

friday >

Google to Charlie Rangel: You Are Dead to Me.

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) might be facing particularly challenging reelection odds this year, at least acording to Google: based on its new Knowledge Graph interface, the search engine says that the very-much-alive Congressman died on November 20, 2004, as Colin Campbell first reported for Politicker via Azi Paybarah and Anthony Adragna. GO

Roemer to Americans Elect: Thanks Anyway

Americans Elect announced recently that it would suspend its online candidate selection process, leaving organizations in several states with an open slot on the ballot. Naturally, potential candidate Buddy Roemer is not enthused. "I am taking the next few days to review with supporters how best to proceed from here," he says. GO

Chris Anderson Says That Nixed TED Talk Was Rated "Mediocre," Links To It Anyway

TED's Chris Anderson responds to criticism of how his idea-spreading operation handled a talk about inequality — and posts video of the talk online. GO

Was the "Ricketts"/Fred Davis Obama-Wright Ad Pitch a Good Deal?

As if the content of the now-discarded plan for a new Super PAC-funded attack campaign against President Barack Obama wasn't controversial enough to grab attention — it would revive attempts to link President Obama to the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright just before the beginning of the Democratic National Convention this summer — the now-discarded plan featured a two-page pitch for a pricey social media component meant to boost its exposure. GO

Facebook's Growing Political Importance, Visualized

To commemorate Facebook's impending IPO, the Sunlight Foundation's* reporting group has a new story chronicling Facebook's increasing political spending. Accompanying the story, though, is an instance of their Capitol Words tool that shows Facebook's increasing relevance in Congress as well. GO

More