I’m a big fan of Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech, better known as TWIT, one of the top independent podcasts. The crew onhand for episode 137 is an entertaining one: PC Magazine’s John C. Dvorak, Mahalo’s Jason Calacanis, and Guardian reporter Wil Harris. But they got it wrong with the contempt they heaped on “Evolution of Security,” the new blog from the Transportation Security Administration.

The TWIT guys spent nearly 10 minutes sniping at the blog. Here’s the segment:

It’s not that any of their points were inaccurate. The videos on the site were in the Windows Media Format. But they must have been listening because today, less than a week later, the bloggers have replaced those videos with YouTube embeds. The video is a bit stiff. But c’mon; the site has been up and running only since January, adn the critique doesn’t acknowledge any of the points for which the TSA deserves some credit.

Let’s start with the obvious: A security-focused government agency is making an attempt to have an open dialogue with members of the traveling public. This isn’t something they have to do; it’s not like travelers disastisfied with the TSA can take their business to a competitor. On top of that, the agency is widely criticized. It would certainly be easier to just keep on doing their work and avoid the extra scrutiny.

The blog is authored by authentic employees. One is from the administration’s communication office, but the other four are front-line employees: an airport worker, an air marshal, real people doing the real work, and speaking with their real voices. These bloggers respond quickly to issues that arise. For example, it was less than a day after a controversy hit the news. (The passenger was made to remove nipple rings with pliers because the hardware set off the metal detector.) The post concluded:

The bottom line: the security officers followed the procedures for when someone alarms the metal detector and did nothing wrong. But, after looking at the procedure the officers followed, it was determined that the procedures should be modified. An official statement has been posted on our website.

“Evolution of Security” works just the way an institutional blog is supposed to work. Readers alerted the authors to an inappropriate practice; they advised the proper authorities who put an end to it. Even the MacBook Air video—the subject of most of TWIT’s ribbing—was produced because one of the bloggers read in the blogosphere about problems travelers were having getting their MBAs through security. Sure, the TSA should know about new computer models in advance, but that’s not the bloggers’ fault. Besides, one of the comments to the post made that very suggestion. Another comment pointed out that not all MBAs have solid state drives, more intelligence for the TSA. Again, I’d argue the TSA should know this, but again, the responsibility for those processes lie outside the bloggers’ purvue.

Laporte noted that there were 667 subcribers to the blog. There were 123 comments to the MacBook Air post, including both praise and criticism in addition to the genuine conversation, and it received 23 Diggs.

Does all this make “Evolution of Security” perfect? It has been around only since January, and what blogger had it all figured out after less than three months? Come to think of it, what blogger has it all figured out after three years? But if every institution to consider making the effort to reach out to its publics through a blog knew it would be greeted with this level of snark and insult, who would ever even try?

You may recall that Dell’s Dell’s Direct2Dell blog was greeted with the same kind of derision. Today, it’s held up as a shining example of how an organization can engage its customers. Given time, “Evolution of Security” could be a model for government participation in the social media space.

Go ahead and tell the TSA how it can improve its blog. But at the same time, let’s give credit where it’s due.