Northwood News ♦ April 2016

Montgomery County’s Changing Information Landscape

By David S. Rotenstein

Last year The Gazette went out of print.  For about 60 years, the paper — through its various Montgomery County editions — provided a vital source of information for residents and policy makers.  The Gazette’s demise was a low point in local news that began more than a decade ago when The Washington Post began paring back its suburban news coverage.

Today, engaged citizens must rely on a wide array of information sources to learn about land use developments, schools, taxes, and law enforcement issues in our communities.  These sources include direct communications via news releases by agencies such as the Maryland-National Capital Planning Commission and elected officials in Rockville.

Increasingly, more information is flowing by way of citizen journalists:  bloggers and others who provide conduits to unedited official information as well as opinion-based material free of charge to anyone with a computer or a smartphone and an Internet connection.

As many people and organizations try to fill the news hole created by fewer traditional journalism sources, another phenomenon is taking shape in the world of civic engagement.  It’s no longer necessary to travel to Rockville or Silver Spring to attend public meetings.  Engaged citizens don’t need to file public testimony or write letters to county leaders to get attention focused on important issues.  Thanks to social media like Twitter and Facebook, every Montgomery County citizen has direct access to planning board members, county council, and the county executive.  So do bloggers and other citizen journalists.

We have entered into an information free-for-all where the rules of the game have not yet materialized.  As individuals and as a community at large, we need to be prepared to ensure that technology and 21st century cultural conventions don’t leave Northwood-Four Corners behind.

This point recently became crystal clear when county officials began addressing comments made by a Four Corners blogger who writes about transportation policy and urbanism.  This blogger has focused attention on our community by suggesting permanent lane reductions on University Blvd. and by suggesting that Four Corners needs “rebranding” and a new “identity” via some future placemaking effort.  He also has suggested temporary lane closures on Georgia Ave. in downtown Silver Spring during new building construction.

And then there’s the BRT issue.  Dan Reed’s “Just Up The Pike” blog has been a leading and influential source for opinions and information about BRT and its potential benefits to Route 29 neighborhoods.  It’s transit boosterism with a wide audience that lacks input from alternative perspectives, i.e., from folks concerned about the potential environmental and other social costs associated with adding BRT to Route 29 — essentially, many residents in North Four Corners.

So where does this leave us?  For one, it’s essential to know what is being written about our community and county online.  County leaders read this material and they react to it, sometimes instantaneously, as we saw with cleanup efforts following January’s blizzard.  Stay informed and stay involved.

Over the next few months, NFCCA will begin gathering a list of local blogs and online news sites that we will publish on our website.  We also will begin adding electronic contact information for our county leaders:  their Twitter handles, email addresses, and other public information so that contacting them is as easy as a mouse click or a screen tap.  If you have suggestions, please email them to me at [contact information redacted].   ■