-- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Graeme Browning voice: 202-637-9800, ext. 275 email: gbrowning@cdt.org JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR GRAEME BROWNING JOINS THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY AS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR JONAH SEIGER TO ESTABLISH CAMPAIGN CONSULTING FIRM Washington, DC, December 9, 1997 -- The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a leading online civil liberties group, today announced that Graeme Browning, a former reporter for some of the country's most prominent newspapers and magazines, as well as author of a recent book on using the Internet to transform politics, has become the group's new Communications Director. Browning replaces Jonah Seiger, who is leaving to form a Washington-based Internet campaign consulting company with Shabbir J. Safdar, former director of the Voters Telecommunications Watch, a public interest group in New York City. With Browning's help the Center for Democracy and Technology will broaden its efforts to promote democratic values, free speech and privacy in the Digital Age. "Graeme's years of experience with both the print and the electronic media will be a valuable resource for us as we build on Jonah's excellent work and reach out to the rapidly expanding audience of citizens who use the Internet," said Jerry Berman, CDT's executive director. "Graeme shares our vision of the Net as the medium best able to nurture the many voices of a democracy. Her ability to articulate that vision will be of critical value to CDT." Browning, who holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University, joins CDT after six years covering Congress and high-tech issues for National Journal, one of the most respected political magazines in Washington. She has also been a reporter with the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, the (Baltimore) Sun, the (Nashville) Tennessean, and United Press International, and was also legal affairs reporter for the ABC network affiliate in Nashville. Last year Browning established herself as an authority in the Internet policy area with the publication of Electronic Democracy: Using the Internet to Influence American Politics (Pemberton Press, 1996), a guide to computer-based grassroots organizing that the Washington Times called "an essential book for anyone who wants to navigate the political dimensions of the Internet." Seiger, who has been a key staff member of the Center for Democracy and Technology since its founding in late 1994, "played a crucial role in developing CDT's pioneering use of the 'Net as a means of grassroots organizing and public education," Berman said. "Jonah was instrumental in positioning CDT as the leading voice on issues impacting civil liberties on the Internet. He has been a tremendous asset for us from the start." "I am confident that Jonah and Shabbir will be successful at bringing their considerable online organizing skills to a wider audience," Berman added, "and CDT looks forward to collaborating with them in their new venture." In the past three years, Berman said, Seiger has made major contributions to a number of CDT accomplishments, including: * the defeat of an important anti-encryption proposal before the House Commerce Committee, * the "blacken your Web page" protest of the Communications Decency Act in December 1996, * and the recruitment of more than 57,000 Internet users to a coalition supporting CDT's ultimately successful efforts to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Act. * Seiger also organized CDT's production of the first live cybercast of a congressional hearing on the Internet, * and launched democracy.net, a Web site devoted to cybercasting live "Town Hall" meetings with Members of Congress as well as hearings on such issues as encryption and the right to privacy online. Seiger and Safdar's new firm will provide strategic consulting and online advocacy management and campaign design services to help non-profits, associations and candidates use the Internet to advance public policy goals. Safdar founded the Voters Telecommunications Watch in 1994 and has collaborated with CDT on several major online campaigns. The Center for Democracy and Technology, a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington, D.C., works to advance civil liberties and democratic values on the Internet and in other interactive media. # # # # #