Radical solution to e-mail exposure

The Journal Sentinel reports that some elected officials have quit e-mailing, because government e-mails are subject to the open records law. One example is New Berlin Ald. Paul says

he won't allow his words to become fodder for his political enemies.

"I'm not going to put something in an e-mail that can be forwarded on and used in a negative political way," said Gallagher, who has in the past found himself in the middle of testy e-mail arguments. "The best way to avoid that is to avoid e-mail altogether."

Denying yourself e-mail communications is an extreme measure. Rather than confine all of your communications to verbal exchanges, in person or on the telephone, there is another solution that is simple in concept but sometimes hard to adhere to.

If you work for the government, don't put anything in an e-mail that you wouldn't want to see in the newspaper. (And don't be quite so quick to hit the "send" button.)

Given how e-mails get forwarded around these days, that's not bad advice even if you don't work for the government.