April 1, 2009 (Happy April Fool's Day)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for APRIL 1, 2009 (Happy April Fool's Day)
THE STIMULUS
Verizon, AT&T May Tell U.S. to Keep $7.2 Billion Stimulus Money
FCC Seeks Input on International Comparison and Consumer Survey Requirements in the Broadband data Improvement Act
Sec Vilsack Testifies Before House Appropriations Committee
How Do We Turn The RUS's $2.5 Billion Into $25 Billion?
Lessons Learned from Municipal Broadband
'Getting Health IT Right' in the Federal Stimulus Package
New law helps open source
THE ECONOMY
Tech spending may fall more in '09 than post-dotcom
Fewer stars, fewer risks as networks tighten belts
MPAA stops disclosing average costs of making and marketing movies
TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC Approves Two Hardship Waivers For Early Analog Cut-offs
Boucher at NAB Conference
Senate Commerce Committee Not Looking to Make Retrans Consent Part of SHVERA
Hutchison's DTV concerns raised at NAB Conf
TV content owners resist less lucrative online ad model
Public Stations Push Envelope to Prosper
The Man Who Ate the GOP
JOURNALISM
Sun-Times Media files for bankruptcy
Chicago dailies tell different bankruptcy stories
Winds of Change in Chicago News
Minneapolis Star Tribune Withholds Select Print Content From Web
Financial Sector Rescue Plan Drives the Narrative
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Senate Legislation Would Federalize Cybersecurity
Public Interest Groups Decry Obama's Strict Lobbying Rules
AT&T, Verizon Business, 57 other businesses land $50 billion GSA federal agencies contract
ED TECH
Colleges Should Learn from Newspapers' Plight
Microsoft to close digital encyclopedia Encarta
Recent comments on the Rural Broadband Plan
THE STIMULUS
VERIZON, AT&T MAY TELL US TO KEEP $7.2 BILLION STIMULUS MONEY
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Molly Peterson]
Verizon and AT&T may not apply to broadband stimulus funds. Unlike the businesses that welcomed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act approved by Congress last month, the two biggest US phone companies have reservations. They're urging the government not to help other companies compete with them through broadband grants or to set new conditions on how Internet access should be provided. The companies have remained noncommittal as they lobby to shape rules for the grants. "I don't think there's much for them to gain financially from going after this money," especially if the government attaches strings to it, said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. The government will receive a "massive" number of applications, mostly from small companies, said former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. "If you're an entrepreneur or a businessperson, you're sitting in a room right now, figuring out every way to Sunday how to get this money -- and they're all coming," Powell, a Republican who headed the FCC from 2001 through 2005, said. Officials say more than 2,000 companies, local governments, community groups and consumer advocates have contacted them about the agency's rules for disbursing its stimulus money.
http://benton.org/node/24010
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FCC SEEKS INPUT ON INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON AND CONSUMER SURVEY REQUIREMENTS IN THE BROADBAND DATA IMPROVEMENT ACT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on how it should implement the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA). These sections impose new broadband data collection and reporting obligations on the Commission by requiring the Commission to include an international comparison in its annual broadband report and to conduct a consumer survey of broadband service capability. The FCC invites parties to comment on; 1) how it can effectively implement the international comparison of broadband service capability, including speeds and prices; 2) the criteria for the identification and selection of the communities to be included in the survey; 3) the enumerated indicators in the Act for the identification of "relevant similarities and differences in each community" as well as any additional indicators that commenters seek to propose; 4) all possible sources of data that the Commission should examine; and 5) any other factors or issues the Commission should consider. The FCC asks that commenters file comments on or before April 10; reply comments are due April 17, 2009.
http://benton.org/node/24017
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SEC VILSACK TESTIFIES BEFORE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack]
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture on Tuesday. Secretary Vilsack outlined the Administration's plans to bring reform to USDA and discussed how the President's budget will revitalize rural America. "It is one of my top priorities to work to rebuild and revitalize rural communities in this country," said Secretary Vilsack. "Starting with the implementation of ARRA and continuing through implementation of the Farm Bill, USDA will expand broadband networks in rural communities, increase investment in rural infrastructure, and develop renewable energy. The budget puts a strong emphasis on rural economic development, providing more than $20 billion in loans, loan guarantees, and grants to support rural development activities. Of great importance to me, this budget proposal is consistent with the Administration's efforts to ensure that all of rural America will have access to quality broadband service, which is essential to keeping pace in a world that relies on rapid telecommunications."
http://benton.org/node/24044
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HOW DO WE TURN THE RUS'S $2.5 BILLION INTO $25 BILLION?
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
There's lots of talk about how there's not enough money in the stimulus to lay broadband everywhere, and that's generally true. $7 billion doesn't go all that far when spread across the entire country. But unlike the $4.2 billion set aside for NTIA grants, the $2.5 billion allocated to RUS can be distributed as grants, loans, or loan guarantees. This is an important point to note as depending upon how much RUS sets aside for loan and loan guarantees they may have a whole lot more money to work with. The reason for this is that loans and loan guarantees don't count dollar-for-dollar against the budget. Instead because of the assumption that some portion of the loans will be paid back and/or some of the guarantees will never be cashed in you only have to count a fraction of the loan or guarantee value against the budget. If RUS were to focus all of its $2.5 billion on loans and guarantees rather than grants they'd actually have the ability to hand out at least $25 billion in government support, and potentially even more than that depending on how risky the projects they're investing in are. But RUS may follow NTIA's lead and focus most of its attention on giving out grants.
http://benton.org/node/24007
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LESSONS LEARNED FROM MUNICIPAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Jesse Masai]
Not all attempts to deploy municipal wireless networks across the country were failures, panelists said at a packed Monday afternoon session of the Freedom to Connect conference. Rather, the speakers said, an attempt must be made to appreciation of the nuances of the experience. Esme Vos, founder of the MuniWireless.com web site, said that public opinion had been too harsh on some of the city-sponsored networks in the United States. The failures of Philadelphia and Earthlink, she said, could still offer vital lessons for the future, and were not without value. Additionally, wireless automated meter reading in municipalities was a vital development, she said. Sascha Meinrath, research director at the New America Foundation, said that a more urgent question posed by the failures is "who will set forth a compelling alternative agenda to central mass media."
http://benton.org/node/24006
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'GETTING HEALTH IT RIGHT' IN THE FEDERAL STIMULUS PACKAGE
[SOURCE: iHealthBeat, AUTHOR: Kate Ackerman]
Health IT has long had support from Capitol Hill and the White House, but the recent injection of $19 billion in federal stimulus funding has heightened that interest and increased expectations for health IT to help reform the US health care system. The federal stimulus package includes about $17 million in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records and $2 billion for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. When you consider that ONC received $61.3 million in the fiscal year 2009 budget to pursue federal health IT efforts, it is no wonder that some experts are calling the new funding a "game changer." But not everyone's on board. Several recent opinion pieces in some of the country's top newspapers have questioned whether the government's investment in health IT was the right move.
http://benton.org/node/24005
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NEW LAW HELPS OPEN SOURCE
[SOURCE: Government Health IT, AUTHOR: John Moore]
The economic stimulus law mentions health information technology dozens of times, establishing an agenda to promote electronic health records, form standards committees and work out health information privacy and security impasses. However, the $20 billion package also contains a more obscure provision that has buoyed hopes among advocates of open-source technologies projects that have struggled to gain acceptance in the health IT marketplace. Tucked away in the law is a call to explore open-source technologies in the healthcare setting. The provision directs the Health and Human Services Department to conduct a report on the "availability of open-source health information technology systems." The study will look into the availability of heath IT open source systems and compare its total cost of ownership to proprietary systems. Congress must report on the progress of the study by Oct. 1, 2010. Although a relatively minor provision, open-source advocates consider it significant.
http://benton.org/node/24004
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THE ECONOMY
TECH SPENDING MAY FALL MORE IN '09 THAN POST-DOTCOM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
Global information technology spending will fare worse in 2009 than during the dotcom bubble collapse of 2001, industry research firm Gartner said on Tuesday in cutting earlier projections. Gartner expects spending on hardware, software, services and telecommunications to fall 3.8 percent to $3.2 trillion this year, compared with forecasts of an increase just three months ago and reversing a solid pace of growth for 2008. The anticipated decline would also be worse than the 2.1 percent drop in 2001. A worsening global recession is discouraging corporations and consumers from spending to get the latest in technology, eroding revenue for companies from chip maker Intel Corp to computer vendor Dell. Many analysts say they do not expect a turnaround until late 2009 or 2010. The US stimulus package is unlikely to affect growth or employment before 2010, Gartner said. Hence, it expects IT spending to rebound modestly in 2010, rising more than 2 percent, but to accelerate to 5 percent growth in 2011.
http://benton.org/node/24015
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FEWER STARS, FEWER RISKS AS NETWORKS TIGHTEN BELTS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Gary Levin]
A combination of declining network ratings, sharply lower ad revenue and escalating production costs have forced cutbacks in Hollywood. The new austerity is being felt most keenly during the spring "development season," when networks groom a new crop of shows they'll consider for fall lineups. Among the tactics: 1) Reining in star salaries — reduced by 10% to 50% from their previous paychecks — and hiring cheaper, unknown talent and fewer established big-name actors. 2) Filming in relatively inexpensive locales such as Atlanta, Boston and Detroit, thanks partly to tax breaks for television productions. All of Fox's drama pilots and many of NBC's will be filmed in Canada, where the stronger U.S. dollar and lower labor costs save $500,000 an episode. 3) Sharply reducing the layers of credited producers who collect paychecks but do little day-to-day work on series, and eliminating most penalty fees when sought-after projects don't get made. 4) Shooting many shows more cheaply by using digital video instead of 35-millimeter film, and emphasizing multicamera sitcoms with a studio audience (such as CBS' Two and a Half Men) over film-style comedies (such as NBC's The Office), which cost twice as much to produce.
http://benton.org/node/24040
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MPAA STOPS DISCLOSING AVERAGE COSTS OF MAKING AND MARKETING MOVIES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Richard Verrier]
Reversing a long-standing practice, the trade and lobbying arm of the Hollywood studios won't disclose the average costs of making and marketing movies. For years, the Motion Picture Association of America has annually released a statistical analysis showing average movie costs of its six members, made up of the major studios and their specialty film labels. But the data, closely watched in Hollywood and on Wall Street as a valuable tool to measure the cost trends of the industry, was conspicuously absent from the group's Theatrical Market Statistics report for 2008, which was released Tuesday. Grilled about the matter during a news conference at the annual ShoWest trade show in Las Vegas, MPAA chief Dan Glickman said the increasingly complex nature of film financing and distribution made it difficult to obtain reliable data. Nonetheless, Glickman's comments fueled speculation that the reversal came about as a result of pressure from his studio bosses, who have never been eager to cast a spotlight on how much they spend, particularly during a time of recession and layoffs. Actors also have been working without a contract from the studios since June, and detailing the cost of movies -- especially if they are shown to be increasing -- could undermine studio arguments that they are holding the lid on costs and that actors must follow suit.
http://benton.org/node/24039
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TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC APPROVES TWO HARDSHIP WAIVERS FOR EARLY ANALOG CUT-OFFS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission has quietly approved the requests of two TV station "hardship cases" to pull the plug on analog earlier than June 12, even though, technically, they don't meet the criteria for doing so. Since there were only four commercial station requests for waivers, that leaves only two more to decide. Reiten Television's KXMB-TV Bismarck-Dickinson (ND) (CBS affiliate) will end analog on May 28, only two weeks early. The station said it needed to cannibalize its analog transmitter to allow it to repurpose them in the digital equipment for a pair of its satellite stations, with which it is able to reach its sparsely populated market. Hoak Media's KAUZ-TV Wichita Falls (also CBS) will end analog broadcasts on May 21. Hoak had argued was necessary so it could move its DTV antenna to the top of its tower mast currently occupied by the analog antenna.
http://benton.org/node/24003
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BOUCHER AT NAB CONFERENCE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Communications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) spoke to the National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference in Washington on Tuesday. He said radio broadcasters are going to have to pay a per-performance fee, so it is in their interests to get together with not only music rights holders but cable, satellite and online distributors to figure out how much that should be. He addressed the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act before Congress this year saying broadcasters and multichannel video providers need to come up with a negotiated solution to the problem of delivering TV signals to so-called "split markets," or one will likely be imposed. Chairman Boucher also said, "Let me tell you this morning that our subcommittee has no plans to reinstate the fairness doctrine." [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24002
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SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE NOT LOOKING TO MAKE RETRANS CONSENT PART OF SHVERA
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Speaking at the National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference, Senate Commerce Committee senior legal counsel Jessica Rosenworcel said the Committee is not looking to make retransmission consent reform part of the review of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reathorization Act (SHVERA). "If you are in the course of retransmission consent negotiations and a significant number of broadcasters decide to pull their signals," she told a crowd of broadcasters Tuesday. "it will heighten the level of attention this issue gets on Capitol Hill if viewers are caught in the crossfire of [disagreements] that may be very legitimate that broadcasters are having with video programming providers."
http://benton.org/node/24013
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HUTCHINSON'S DTV CONCERNS RAISED AT NAB CONF
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Brian Hendricks, legislative counsel to Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) spoke at the National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference on Tuesday reporting "a couple of things" that concern her about the current state of the DTV transition, including that broadcasters weren't compensated for some of their costs in moving the transition date. Apparently Sen Hutchison, the Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce Committee, had hoped that the economic stimulus package that set aside $650 million for the coupon program and DTV education would have included some compensation for broadcasters who had to pay to keep their transmitters running that extra time. Sen Hutchison is also concerned the Senate Commerce Committee has not had a DTV oversight hearing yet. The House held its DTV oversight hearing last week.
http://benton.org/node/24014
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TV CONTENT OWNERS RESIST LESS LUCRATIVE ONLINE AD MODEL
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Carol Wilson]
An annual look at North American couch potatoes shows more people are watching video online, but very few are cutting off paid TV services. Given the $66 billion in traditional TV advertising revenue and $32 billion in programming fees that would be at risk if TV shows are offered for free online, content providers are not likely to let that happen, according to the The Battle for the American Couch Potato: New Challenges & Opportunities in the Content Market from Convergence Consulting Group. Certainly TV viewing habits are changing, as consumers expect to see more content on demand, but video service providers and content owners need to find ways to accommodate that change while protecting existing revenues, said Brahm Eiley, Convergence Consulting Group analyst and an author of the report.
http://benton.org/node/24001
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PUBLIC STATIONS PUSH ENVELOPE TO PROSPER
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
A Q&A with new Association of Public Television Stations CEO Larry Sidman. For more than a decade, Sidman has represented APTS on Capitol Hill and before the FCC and other regulatory agencies as an attorney/lobbyist with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. He knows the ins and outs of public broadcasting and its Washington issues. He describes an expansive role for public TV stations that may take them deeper into local news and public affairs and makes the case for $300 million in extra federal funding to offset shortfalls in state and private sources.
http://benton.org/node/24012
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THE MAN WHO ATE THE GOP
[SOURCE: Vanity Fair, AUTHOR: Michael Wolff]
In an ailing radio industry, with a graying audience and a pro-government landscape, Rush Limbaugh should be shuffling off into irrelevancy. Instead, his ever more outrageous attacks have everyone debating whether he's the GOP's de facto leader, while the party shapes its ideology to fit his needs.
http://benton.org/node/24000
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JOURNALISM
SUN-TIMES MEDIA FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and dozens of suburban newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday, making it the fifth newspaper publisher to seek protection from creditors in recent months. The step, brought on by a precipitous decline in advertising revenue, means both of Chicago's major daily newspapers are operating under bankruptcy protection. Tribune Co., the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 in December. The Sun-Times Media Group, which filed in a Delaware court, said it will continue to operate its print and online properties. The company listed $479 million in assets and $801 million in debt. The largest unsecured creditors are newsprint vendors. Three are owed more than $1 million each. The Sun-Times, unlike Tribune and some U.S. newspaper publishers, is not facing an overwhelming debt load.
http://benton.org/node/23999
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CHICAGO DAILIES TELL DIFFERENT BANKRUPTCY STORIES
[SOURCE: Crain's Chicago Business, AUTHOR: ]
All our Big Media is bankrupt. Chicago's two dailies are operating under bankruptcy court protection, but under different circumstances. Their paths to bankruptcy court are familiar. The print-based franchises of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune had been eroding for years, as traditional newspaper audiences —and the advertisers that target them — switched to cheaper online alternatives. Then the industry, like many other sectors, got socked by the credit crisis, the recession and the financial turmoil of late last year. To combat the triple-whammy of declining readership, falling advertising revenue and a lackluster financial climate, both papers cut staff and other costs. It wasn't enough. Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection in December, followed little more than three months later by Sun-Times, the fifth major newspaper publisher in the nation in recent months to seek court protection from its creditors. That's where the similarities end. For starters, Sun-Times is losing money — $14 million a quarter on average for the first three quarters of last year. That's eating into a cash cushion that stood on Sept. 30 at just $100 million. A $21-million payment earlier this year to settle a dispute with a Canadian company sucked out more cash. Tribune, by contrast, makes money, and plenty of it. A recent bankruptcy filing showed its net cash influx for the month of January was just north of $200 million. Its biggest creditors are J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. and other banks that loaned Sam Zell the $8 billion he needed to take Tribune private in December 2007. While Tribune generates enough money to cover its operational costs, the sudden decline in ad revenue that began shortly after Mr. Zell's purchase meant it no longer had enough to pay the banks, too.
http://benton.org/node/24016
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WINDS OF CHANGE IN CHICAGO NEWS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
With four reporters, four freelancers and 100 unpaid contributors, the Chitown Daily News is pioneering a new form of low-cost, street-level reporting, the need for which was dramatically driven home when the Chicago Sun-Times filed for bankruptcy protection. Whether Chitown and similar startup operations can match what newspapers have traditionally done remains an open question. Chitown Daily News, founded in 2005, doesn't cover sports or fashion or movies. For that matter, it doesn't cover the suburbs. Nor does the site carry many feature stories. It serves up a bare-bones menu of the meat and potatoes of municipal governance: "Health care disparities affect city women, minorities." "Public housing residents get help with utility bills." "South Side Census forum airs undercounting concerns." Chitown doesn't even cover Mayor Richard Daley. "We don't see any value in duplicating the Tribune's city hall coverage," says Chitown's Geoff Dougherty.
http://benton.org/node/24041
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MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE WITHHOLDS SELECT PRINT CONTENT FROM WEB
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Jennifer Saba]
In an effort to protect its print franchise, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis has begun withholding certain content from its Web site. In a note to readers published on March 28, editor Nancy Barnes explains that the Star Tribune had great success breaking news online and building up its audience. Indeed, the Star Tribune regularly ranks as one of the top 30 newspaper Web sites. In February, the paper's online home reported a 16% increase in unique users to 2.4 million year over year, according to Nielsen Online. The site also has a high average time spent per person, at a little more than 30 minutes in February, Nielsen reported. But Barnes wrote to readers that she has increasingly questioned the notion of free online content: "I also believe that we as an industry, have to drive more value into our printed papers so long as we continue to deliver more news that way."
http://benton.org/node/23998
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FINANCIAL SECTOR RESCUE PLAN DRIVES THE NARRATIVE
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
With Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner unveiling a financial sector rescue package and calling for stricter regulation, the economic crisis was once again overwhelmingly the top story last week. It filled 41% of the newshole from March 23-29 as measured by the Pew Research Center's Project in Excellence. While that represented a drop from the previous week's coverage (53%), it is in line with the overall level of attention to the crisis (43%) in the two months since Barack Obama was inaugurated. The No. 2 story last week, concerns over Mexican drug smuggling, was about one-seventh as big as the economy.
http://benton.org/node/23997
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SENATE LEGISLATION WOULD FEDERALIZE CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Joby Warrick, Walter Pincus]
Key lawmakers are pushing to dramatically escalate U.S. defenses against cyberattacks, crafting proposals that would empower the government to set and enforce security standards for private industry for the first time. The proposals, in Senate legislation that could be introduced as early as today, would broaden the focus of the government's cybersecurity efforts to include not only military networks but also private systems that control essentials such as electricity and water distribution. At the same time, the bill would add regulatory teeth to ensure industry compliance with the rules, congressional officials familiar with the plan said yesterday. Addressing what intelligence officials describe as a gaping vulnerability, the legislation also calls for the appointment of a White House cybersecurity "czar" with unprecedented authority to shut down computer networks, including private ones, if a cyberattack is underway, the officials said.
http://benton.org/node/24042
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PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS DECRY OBAMA'S STRICT LOBBYING RULES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dan Eggen]
President Obama's war with K Street is escalating, this time over stringent new rules on lobbyists attempting to land federal stimulus money for their clients. An unlikely alliance of groups -- including one co-founded by Obama's chief ethics adviser -- argue that the restrictions will penalize those who play by the rules while doing nothing to curb the influence of large corporations and campaign donors. Leaders of the groups, which include Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the American League of Lobbyists, also said yesterday that they are preparing to challenge the guidelines on First Amendment grounds if the administration does not agree to revise them. The restrictions come as lobbying firms report a boom in business from local governments, clean-energy companies and others hoping to cash in on the $787 billion in stimulus money contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Many cities and smaller companies rely on private lobbyists to navigate Washington, and they fear that they will be hampered in securing stimulus funding because of the new rules.
http://benton.org/node/24043
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AT&T, VERIZON BUSINESS, 57 OTHER BUSINESSES LAND $50 BILLION GSA FEDERAL AGENCIES CONTRACT
[SOURCE: FierceTelecom, AUTHOR: Doug Mohney]
AT&T and Verizon Business are among 59 businesses that will provide IT and professional services to federal agencies for up to 10 years under a US General Service Administration (GSA) contract award that has a total value of as much as $50 billion. The Alliant program authorizes winners to negotiate with government agencies to serve as a services and solutions integrator and to provide a variety of services, including business process consulting and application development, communications applications and application management, data-center services, communication integration and management, networking, and secure-application optimization.
http://benton.org/node/24008
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ED TECH
COLLEGES SHOULD LEARN FROM NEWSPAPERS' PLIGHT
[SOURCE: GrownUpDigital, AUTHOR: Don Tapscott]
[Commentary] Newspapers are dying. Are universities next? For many, the answer could be yes, says Kevin Carey, policy director of Education Sector, a Washington think tank. Writing in the current issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Carey argues that both industries are in the business of creating and communicating information. So far there is no Craigslist equivalent in the education industry, says Carey. That's because teaching is more complicated than advertising, and universities are sitting behind government-backed barriers to competition, in the form of accreditation. "Anyone can use the Internet to sell classified ads or publish opinion columns or analyze the local news. Not anyone can sell credit-bearing courses or widely recognized degrees." Doubtless universities today are as confident as newspapers were ten years ago. The confidence by some is justified. "Tony liberal-arts colleges and other selective private institutions will do fine, as will public universities that garner a lot of external research support and offer the classic residential experience to the children of the upper middle class." But less-selective private colleges and regional public universities, by contrast - the higher-education equivalents of the city newspaper - are in real danger. To survive and prosper, says Carey, universities need to integrate technology and teaching in a way that improves the learning experience while simultaneously passing the savings on to students in the form of reduced tuition.
http://benton.org/node/24037
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MICROSOFT TO CLOSE ENCYCLOPEDIA ENCARTA
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR:]
Microsoft's digital encyclopedia, Encarta, might have pushed its printed competitors off the shelves in some homes. Now Encarta itself has fallen victim to changes in technology, made all but obsolete by the likes of Web search and Wikipedia. Microsoft said it would shut down the online version of Encarta in October and would discontinue sales of the PC software by June. The company said customers with subscriptions to its premium Encarta service, which had cost $4.95 per month or $29.95 per year, will get a refund for fees paid beyond April 30.
http://benton.org/node/24038
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