Posted by David Utter

Podcasts have went from grass roots to mainstream to Pennsylvania Avenue, as government podcasts become available.

Did you miss the President's weekly radio address? Now you can drop it right alongside Al Franken's latest on your iPod. Research Buzz notes a government podcast web site (which seems to be running slowly this morning) has a few federal and state podcasts available.

NASA, NOAA, the State Department, and the Air Force represent the federal agencies with podcasts. California and four other states have podcasts, and the DC mayor's weekly press conferences have been listed too.

Podcasts can be very useful to government agencies. They provide a method for delivering a spoken message directly to the public; the message can be easily archived for future review, and isn't subject to the creativity of a news anchor or editor with a personal agenda.

People may not be ready to clear space on their media players for government podcasts. Many podcast fans like the venue as much for information as for entertainment. But can the House Democrats Podcast be entertaining to anyone besides Rush Limbaugh?

About the Author: David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.