Congress' Best (And Worst) Committee Web Sites

The Congressional Management Foundation awards Gold Mouse prizes every few years to the best Web sites maintained by committees and individual congressmen, but its next report isn't due until January 2010. Given the uneven landscape of offerings, NationalJournal.com commissioned a panel of new media experts to grade 16 Senate and 20 House committee Web sites and offer their criticisms and suggestions. The judges reviewed standing committee Web sites only and did not look at joint or select committees. House committee sites fared better in the review. The top-rated sites featured legislative calendars, effective use of YouTube and social media, FAQ pages, up-to-date committee news and crisp, clean homepage designs. Some of the lowest-rated sites recalled Leo Tolstoy's quote that each unhappy family is "unhappy in its own way."