MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Media Deals Going Down in Billings, Montana
Commentary: Fear Factor in Mergers
LIBRARIES
Commentary: The Underutilization of Public Libraries in Malta
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
UN Summit Tones Down Open Source Stance
INTERNET
AOL Launches Services for Spanish Speakers in the US
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
MEDIA DEALS GOING DOWN IN BILLINGS, MONTANA
Nexstar Broadcasting Group of Irving, Texas, is buying Fox affiliate KHMT-4
and the affiliated ABC station KSVI-6, in Billings, Montana. Brian Jones,
senior vice president for Nexstar, yesterday laid off 26 KSVI and KHMT
reporters and anchors. "The company decided to discontinue the news
operation here at the station due to the expense of producing quality local
news," Jones said. Fox-4's newscast scored only a three percent share in the
latest Nielson ratings. In the community, Fox News reporters were known for
their aggressive tactics. "They just went full-speed ahead with the story
for that day, not sometimes considering the aftershocks and repercussions
for their actions," said Billings Police Chief Ron Tussing. Billings station
KULR-8 and its sister station KFBB in Great Falls announced that they are
also being sold; however, their local newscasts are not in jeopardy. Max
Media of Virginia Beach, Virginia, will cover much of Montana when it
completes the purchase of the two stations. Since Max Media cannot own two
TV stations in Great Falls under current FCC rules, the company is banking
on the new rules allowing more consolidation to survive opposition in
Congress.
SOURCE: Billings Gazette; AUTHOR: Jan Falstad
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/10/01...
ld/local/34-tv.inc
FEAR FACTOR IN MERGERS
[Commentary] Billboard Editor-in-Chief Keith Girard writes that complaints
about the proposed merger between the Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. and
Univision appear to be driven by fears about motive and intent. The
controversy is centered around two different views of the market. In one
view, the Spanish-language market is considered separate and unique. In the
other, it is simply a component of the mainstream media market, with Spanish
networks competing with the likes of NBC, CBS and ABC. In the latter view,
the merger will give the company the ability to compete more effectively for
advertising, and through economies of scale, to offer better programming.
Girard argues that it's too early to predict the impact of the merger. If
Univision begins to exhibit anti-competitive behavior, it should rightly
draw the wrath of government regulators, he writes; but a vague sentiment
that bigger is never better should not be enough to stop the deal.
SOURCE: Reuters; AUTHOR: Keith Girard, Billboard
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3517247
LIBRARIES
THE UNDERUTILIZATION OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN MALTA
[Commentary] The public library is an essential component to community
literacy, especially in terms of increasing family literacy and lifelong
learning. Two conferences recently organized in Malta on these subjects,
however, did not include how to use public libraries to promote literacy.
Robert Mizzi of the Times of Malta questions why libraries were not included
in the strategy; but more so, he ponders whether Maltese public libraries
are equipped for the challenge. Whereas other countries have seen libraries
as core to literacy and learning, libraries in Malta are not meeting the
needs of its citizens. This situation is leading to the marginalization of
public libraries. Malta's public library system needs to rethink its role,
expand its IT resources and develop an interlibrary loan system. National
Literacy Trust and similar organizations should organize future activities
focusing on how to utilize public libraries more effectively.
SOURCE: The Times (Malta); AUTHOR: Robert Mizzi
http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=136567
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
UN SUMMIT TONES DOWN OPEN SOURCE STANCE
An August draft of the WSIS Plan of Action promoted open source awareness,
the creation of intellectual property mechanisms supporting open source and
the creation of a UN "Programmers Without Frontiers" body to support open
source software in developing nations. In the latest draft, this language
has been removed to make the document more palatable for business and
commercial interests. "Business has consistently stated that it is essential
for governments to ensure technologically neutral policy towards different
software models," said a delegate from the business lobby. In recent years
commercial software interests, notably Microsoft, have lobbied hard to keep
governments from openly preferring open source over proprietary software.
Other issues to be debated include the archiving of and access to government
information, access to wireless spectrum, government subsidies of Internet
access, Internet taxes and international cooperation on information
security.
SOURCE: Computer Business Review; AUTHOR: Kevin Murphy
http://www.cbronline.com/cbr_archive/fe901320d97a56ee80256db10018cfbd
INTERNET
AOL LAUNCHES SERVICE FOR SPANISH-SPEAKERS IN THE U.S.
America Online is launching a new service, AOL Latino, which will provide a
Spanish-language browser and additional Spanish content. At $23.90 a month,
the service will cost the same as regular AOL service. Last year, only 14
percent of Spanish-only households were online, compared with 38 percent of
Hispanics in bilingual or English-dominated households, according to the
Department of Commerce. AOL already has some 2.3 million English-speaking
Hispanic subscribers in the United States. "Now it's time for the second
phase," said David Wellisch, general manager for AOL Latino. "Language has
acted as a barrier that we are now ready to resolve." Recognizing that
America's Hispanic community is ethnically diverse, AOL has teamed up with
20 US providers of Hispanic content and created links with major
Spanish-language newspapers. "It's about issues Hispanic communities face -
immigration, issues about their countries," adds Wellisch, who emigrated
from Ecuador at 18.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-10-01-aol-en-espanol_x.htm
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