One of President Bush’s last signatures of 2007 was on a bill that will give the media and general public greater access to governmental goings-on.

According to the Associated Press:

The legislation creates a system for the media and public to track the status of their [Freedom of Information Act] requests. It establishes a hot line service for all federal agencies to deal with problems and an ombudsman to provide an alternative to litigation in disclosure disputes.

The law also restores a presumption of a standard that orders government agencies to release information on request unless there is a finding that disclosure could do harm.

This raises further questions as to how this status-tracking system might evolve. There have been attempts in the recent past to implement web-based means to improved government transparency. These were met with skepticism by senatorial old guard (think Ted “Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens of Alaska, who wanted no part of a requirement to create an online database of government spending). It looks like this effort will fly for the new year, however. The media is understandably pleased, and government agencies must be gearing up for what amounts to a very real opening of the books.

Transparency might be the as-yet-untested campaign buzzword for the forthcoming elections. A change of administration is inevitable, and as we move in to the second decade of the 21st century, federal agencies should get comfortable with the unprecedented informative and communicative power of emerging media.

The next administration has the opportunity to embrace and help define the means of transparency for its agencies and its electorate. If that helps them keep staff, media, and the general public informed while keeping operations on the up and up, so much the better.