CLINTON WEIGHS TAKING POLICIES TO COMPUTER TOWN HALL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993                   TAG: 9303180069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
CLINTON WEIGHS TAKING POLICIES TO COMPUTER TOWN HALL
President Clinton, whose computer screen name is "Clinton Pz," may sit down soon at a White House terminal for a live "on-line town hall" with home-computer buffs.
The suggestion from White House officials comes as Clinton's team of young, high-tech specialists ponders new ways of communicating directly with Americans.
Another innovation being explored is a voice mail system that would allow subscribers to punch various buttons and listen to presidential addresses or messages on their home answering machines.
And, down the road, perhaps a White House cable operation with 24-hour programming focusing on the executive branch of government.
"Diversity is such that we have to look for new ways to deliver information," said Jeff Eller, Clinton's media director.
Subscribers to three popular on-line services - CompuServe, America Online and MCI Mail - can receive information on their computers directly from the White House and even can send the president electronic mail, known as e-mail. There are more than 1.3 millions subscribers among the three services.
Hooking up to an on-line computer service is just one of the ways the Clinton White House is extending the electronic reach of a politician who made televised town halls and talk-show appearances a staple of his campaign.
"It's a constituency you can't ignore," Eller said.
Eller, who signed up the Clinton campaign with CompuServe and America Online last spring, said that getting Clinton to chat directly with other computer users is being considered.
"It's something we want to do, to have him get on line and do the electronic version of a town hall meeting," Eller said on Wednesday. "It was something we almost did during the campaign."
Online computer service subscribers can dial up a variety of presidential documents and messages uploaded daily by the White House. They can also engage in "forums," chatting with other computer users about White House policies. Or, they can send e-mail to the president. In CompuServe, the command to hook up is: Go WhiteHouse. MCI Mail users type "VIEW WHITE HOUSE."
America Online users can call up Clinton's profile under "Clinton Pz" and send him computer mail under that name. His computer profile lists his occupation as "President of the United States of America" and his hobbies as: "family, politics, religion, saxophone, reading, golf, jogging."
"We're pushing the envelope," said Jock Gill, a White House high-tech communications specialist who oversees the computer on-line programs. "It seems clear that radio, television, telephone and computers are all converging on an information device that will be in the home."
And Gill said when that day comes, the Clinton administration wants to be there to take advantage of it.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB