If Mike Easley is really serious about reforming a closed system and re-building trust in state government he’ll name a blogger to his email policy panel.

Nothing against Ferrel Guillory, noted and justly honored author and journalist, but academics are not on the front-lines of wringing information from reluctant bureaucrats and politicos. Bloggers — at least ones trying to deal in hard facts — are.

Email is their reporter’s notebook. It conveys and confirms important info, especially from government officials who are otherwise impossible to reach or impossibly vague when they are. Bloggers also understand the importance of mail attachments — be it a photo, a PDF, or a Power Point. Especially a Power Point.

We’ve already discussed how important it is for the public to have access to those kinds of important decision-making documents if the 21st century political process is going to be open and transparent. Email is clearly part of the electronic “paper trail” that allows us to understand what our government is doing — or has done — with our money, in our names.

This is really a no-brainer for the governor. Put someone like Greensboro blogger Ed Cone, an independent, honest guy, on the email policy panel and be an actual change agent. For a change.

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