Virtualpolitik : an electronic history of government media-making in a time of war, scandal, disaster, miscommunication, and mistakes / Elizabeth Losh.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-397) and index.

Introduction: A fable of politics, community, and virtuality -- Digital monsters : show and tell on Capitol Hill -- Hacking Aristotle : what is digital rhetoric? -- The desert of the unreal : democracy and military-funded videogames and simulations -- The war from the Web : an atlas of conflict, government, and citizenship -- Power points : the virtual state and its discontents -- Whistle-blowers : traditional epistolary discourse and electronic communication -- Submit and render : digital satires about surveillance and authentication -- Reading room : the nation-state and digital library initiatives -- Waiting room : serious games about national security and public health -- The past as prologue : cultural politics and the founding narratives of information science.

This title reveals government media making, from official websites to whistleblowers' e-mails, and its sometimes unintended consequences.