The Age of The Internet: Readily Available, Yet Overly Complicated

While the internet may be the "information superhighway," users may still have to take minor detours to find answers to their questions.

This week in Citizens and Media we were asked to use the internet to try and find answers to the following three questions:

1. What did Gov. Beverly Perdue’s last campaign finance report show for cash on hand?
2. How many voters are registered in NC–and what is the breakdown of R, D, and I?
3. Pick a prof–any prof at UNC–and find his/her salary.

For the question number one, I found little to nothing on Gov. Perdue's total campaign expenditures. I searched Google, The Raleigh News and Observer Web site, and NC.gov, and the only article that even hinted at final figures was this one about recent investigations into flights Perdue took during the campaign. However, the numbers in this article were somewhat confusing. You would think for a public figure like a governor, a spread sheet of some kind would be available, especially on a government Web site.

When searching for an answer to the second question, I finally found the answer to my first. Here on the State Board of Elections Web site, Gov. Perdue's expenses are clearly laid out-- if you have the time to wade through the countless links and multi-page PDFs of filings. As an average citizen I did not know where to look for this information initially, but rather stumbled upon it. Wouldn't it be simpler if this data was compiled into one document with ready totals and information?

Continuing my search for the answer to my second question, the number of registered voters in North Carolina and their political affiliations, I remained on the State Board of Elections Web site. This question proved quite simple to answer, as right under the header of the site there are posted voter statistics, including the total number and numbers by party. For a more detailed look at voter statistics, I went on to click the sidebar tab titled "Voter Statistics" and tabbed through the information available there. This data was much more accessible than any of the finance information for Gov. Perdue.

For the final question, I selected well-known economics professor, Ralph Byrns. I began my search on the UNC Web site, using the search bar. No luck. I then turned my attention to Google. Again, no luck. Lastly I tried the UNC system Web site. And once again, no luck. Thinking I must of missed something, I googled "Chancellor Holden Thorp," went to his webpage, clicked on "Departments" found "Accounting," then clicked again on "Facts and Figures," and finally on "Faculty and Staff Data" to finally wind up on this page. And even then I only got general information that was not professor specific.

If this is public information, why is it so difficult to find? Maybe I just don't know where to look, but I consider myself a fairly informed person and it took me at least an hour to answer three questions that at face value do not seem that complicated.

With all this information at our fingertips, why does it feel so out of reach?