June 1, 2009 (Congress returns; Cybersecurity)
"America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity."
-- President Barack Obama
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY JUNE 1, 2009
AGENDA
Congress Returns to a Full Plate
CYBERSECURITY
Obama announces cyber-security czar
Contractors Vie for Plum Work, Hacking for US
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
K Street, watchdogs praise new lobbying rules
Still Too Many Secrets
Lawmakers Keep Expenses Off-Line
Valerie Jarrett: No. 2 Woman in the White House
The Obama Infatuation
BROADBAND/INTERNET
Obama Committed to Network Neutrality
FCC rural broadband report notes middle mile, consumer demand concerns
Was broadband stimulus really delayed? Perception may be reality
The Need for Speed: Why is the United States still waiting for the future to download?
DIGITAL CONTENT
Does hush-hush meeting of newspaper executives violate antitrust law?
Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships
Broadband-media consumers fall into distinct categories
Marketers try to capitalize on Social Media
Assessing Napster - 10 years later
TELECOM
Verizon, Frontier ask FCC to back license transfers
TELEVISION/RADIO
FCC's Chessen: Fairness Doctrine talk is 'conspiratorial'
Solicitor-General sides with Cablevision on DVR
Has TV Advertising 'Bottomed Out'?
A Revolution in Prime Time, but Will It Work?
QUICKLY -- California's Budget Propositions Lead a Diverse Online Conversation; Small, Rural Practices Can Adopt Health IT Effectively; Senate bill supports 21st-century skills; Starting NewJerseyNewsroom
AGENDA
CONGRESS RETURNS TO A FULL PLATE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Carl Huse]
Congress returns this week to face an agenda stuffed with difficult, high-profile issues that will test the ability of Democrats and the White House to deliver health care, energy and spending legislation while simultaneously contending with a Supreme Court nomination. Lawmakers say polls point to a sense of public readiness for major legislation, particularly on health care. President Obama remains popular and retains the momentum of his first months in office. A failure to achieve a breakthrough in some policy areas would be a significant setback, both politically and substantively, heading into the 2010 midterm elections. Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue say they expect to succeed and to enlist some level of Republican support in the bargain. But to do so, they will have to overcome disagreements within their own party on the details of complex legislation governing health care, climate change, taxes and overall federal spending.
http://benton.org/node/25621
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CYBERSECURITY
OBAMA ANNOUNCES CYBER-SECURITY CZAR
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Ian Swanson]
President Barack Obama announced a new cyber-security initiative Friday that will install a "cyber czar" in the White House to coordinate US defenses against high-tech hacker attacks. Protecting cyberspace will be a national security priority for his Administration, and to underline this importance President Obama said he would personally select a new cyber-security coordinator. The new official will have regular access to the Oval Office, President Obama said. The new official will be responsible for integrating and coordinating all government protections of cyberspace infrastructure, and will also lead US responses to any hacker attacks to US networks. The announcement follows a 60-day review by the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council of US cyberspace infrastructure that was intended to lead to a strategic framework to coordinate US security initiatives in the area.
http://benton.org/node/25601
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CONTRACTORS VIE FOR PLUM WORK, HACKING FOR US
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Christopher Drew, John Markoff]
The government's urgent push into cyberwarfare has set off a rush among the biggest military companies for billions of dollars in new defense contracts. The exotic nature of the work, coupled with the deep recession, is enabling the companies to attract top young talent that once would have gone to Silicon Valley. And the race to develop weapons that defend against, or initiate, computer attacks has given rise to thousands of "hacker soldiers" within the Pentagon who can blend the new capabilities into the nation's war planning. Nearly all of the largest military companies — including Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon — have major cyber contracts with the military and intelligence agencies. The companies have been moving quickly to lock up the relatively small number of experts with the training and creativity to block the attacks and design countermeasures. They have been buying smaller firms, financing academic research and running advertisements for "cyberninjas" at a time when other industries are shedding workers.
http://benton.org/node/25619
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
K STREET, WATCHDOGS PRAISE NEW LOBBYING RULES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kevin Bogardus]
Lobbyists and government watchdogs are applauding revisions made by the White House on Friday to lobbying restrictions on stimulus funds. After completing a 60-day review last week, the administration modified the rules to extend a speaking ban not just to lobbyists but to others who contact government officials about specific stimulus projects. But that ban only occurs now after a grant application has been filed for the project. Those interested in the project have to file their views in writing with administration officials, which will then be disclosed on the Internet. All contacts with lobbyists will still have to be disclosed, though. The changes were announced in a blog post by Norm Eisen, the special counsel to President Obama for ethics and government reform, on the White House's website Friday evening.
http://benton.org/node/25611
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STILL TOO MANY SECRETS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] President Obama announced the formation of a task force to review government policies that keep certain information out of public reach. He proposed the creation of a National Declassification Center to facilitate, when appropriate, public disclosure of once-secret information. In a memo outlining the task force's objectives, the president reaffirmed his commitment "to operating with an unprecedented level of openness." Yet, at the same time, the administration is supporting legislation that could increase secrecy. The Justice Department filed notice Thursday of its intention to challenge in the Supreme Court a New York federal appeals court ruling that ordered the administration to make public photographs allegedly depicting the abuse of terrorism suspects in US custody. In taking a step aimed at protecting the country's service members, President Obama runs the risk of taking two steps back in his quest for more open government.
http://benton.org/node/25616
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LAWMAKERS KEEP EXPENSES OFF-LINE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: T.W. Farnam, Louise Radnofsky, Elizabeth Williamson]
Lawmakers have demanded greater openness from companies receiving government bailouts but have yet to release online or electronic versions of their own office expenditures -- including taxpayer-funded tabs for leased cars and staff retreats at hotels. House and Senate lawmakers are given an annual allowance of $1.3 million to $4.5 million to run their offices. Most is spent on staff salaries, but money is also used for official equipment, office supplies and travel. The House and Senate say they are considering making lawmakers' spending records available in electronic form. Currently, the information is published only in printed volumes.
http://benton.org/node/25618
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VALERIE JARRETT: NO 2 WOMAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Lois Romano]
Valerie Jarrett is not simply the highest-ranking woman serving in the White House these days. She has the kind of power that comes with long history and deep friendship, a voice in the room that confidently reflects her 20-year Chicago-based relationship with Barack and Michelle Obama. The Obamas ate their first family dinner outside of the White House at her Georgetown apartment, and there are ample photos in Jarrett's office of her daughter, Laura, a student at Harvard Law School, with the president. "I think we have relied on each other at different points in our life," Jarrett said in an interview in her White House office last week. Officially, her job is senior adviser and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement. But sources say her reach is nearly immeasurable. In fact, Obama will often make his way to her West Wing office for a chat, and she regularly talks to the first lady. "To the degree people are looking for a barometer after all these years of knowing the two of them, hopefully I can give them that," she says.
http://benton.org/node/25617
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THE OBAMA INFATUATION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert Samuelson]
[Commentary] The Obama infatuation is a great unreported story of our time. Has any recent president basked in so much favorable media coverage? Well, maybe John Kennedy for a moment, but no president since. On the whole, this is not healthy for America. Our political system works best when a president faces checks on his power. But the main checks on Obama are modest. They come from congressional Democrats, who largely share his goals if not always his means. The leaderless and confused Republicans don't provide effective opposition. And the press -- on domestic, if not foreign, policy -- has so far largely abdicated its role as skeptical observer. The press has become Obama's silent ally and seems in a state of denial. But the story goes untold: Unsurprisingly, the study of all the favorable coverage received little coverage.
http://benton.org/node/25620
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BROADBAND/INTERNET
OBAMA COMMITTED TO NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
President Obama said Friday that the government was going to start treating the nation's digital infrastructure, broadband networks and computers as strategic national assets that should be "open and free." That came in announcing the release of a report on the state of the nation's cyber security, which he indicated needed to be beefed up in numerous ways (he admitted that his own campaign Web efforts had been hacked). The President pledged to protect privacy and economic security, and even gave a shout-out to network neutrality, saying, "Indeed, I remain firmly committed to net neutrality so we can keep the Internet as it should be--open and free." The new priority on cybersecurity will include creating an office in the White House led by a cybersecurity coordinator who will also be a member of the national security staff and work closely with new Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.
http://benton.org/node/25600
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FCC RURAL BROADBAND REPORT NOTES MIDDLE MILE, CONSUMER DEMAND CONCERNS
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The Federal Communications Commission's Report on a Rural Broadband Strategy includes issues involved with the "middle mile" that connects the last mile Internet service provider with an Internet backbone service provider. "In many cases, the rural broadband provider will need to obtain backhaul transport from more than one provider, often over facilities that were designed for voice telephone or cable television services," the report states. "Some of these 'middle mile' facilities may have insufficient capacity, causing the transmission speed on otherwise adequate last-mile broadband facilities to come to a crawl or stall before the data reach the Internet backbone. Overcoming this may require the construction of a dedicated facility, which drives up costs and can deter last-mile broadband investments. Moreover, even when the last-mile provider acquires access to adequate middle-mile facilities, that access may be prohibitively expensive." The report goes on to offer several possible solutions, such as "encouraging middle-mile buildout, revising universal service funding to help cover costs of the middle-mile and using current or potential infrastructure more effectively by coordinating with other infrastructure projects to shrink deployment costs, and reforming interconnection obligations."
http://benton.org/node/25598
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WAS BROADBAND STIMULUS REALLY DELAYED? PERCEPTION MAY BE REALITY
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
A recent report from the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), which triggered speculation that the federal broadband stimulus program has been delayed, is open to interpretation. But whether the schedule provided by the NTIA this month represents a delay or simply a clarification, it could drive service providers that hoped to obtain funds to push out their deployment plans even further than might be expected. Craig Settles, president of consulting firm Successful.com, points out a December award date is problematic for several reasons. "The practical impact is that if you have plans queued up and if you don't start in the next couple of months in New England or the Midwest, nothing will start until April of the following year," said Settles. "No one is digging up trenches in January in Minnesota." And for those who are not successful in their funding bids, a December decision point could complicate the ability to find other sources of funding. "If you don't get a grant, it's kind of late to put costs into the city budget," he said.
http://benton.org/node/25597
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THE NEED FOR SPEED: WHY IS THE us STILL WAITING FOR THE FUTURE TO DOWNLOAD
[SOURCE: Washington Monthly, AUTHOR: Nicholas Thompson]
[Commentary] For the United States to catch up in broadband, we need to figure out a way to get fiber lines all the way to our homes, instead of just to switching stations, where the information is then transferred to slow copper wires to get to us. There are four existing options for doing this: 1) Massively subsidizing the existing providers is the Asian model, 2) Creating competition is, in general, the way the Europeans have built their networks, and there are some great ideas that can be taken from the other side of the Atlantic, 3) Let customers own their own fiber connections instead of leasing them from the telecom companies, and 4) The government provides broadband itself, as Australia has recently announced. All these solutions would require massive government investment. But it's time for the country to stop thinking of high-speed Internet access as a useful luxury. Instead, we should consider it a crucial part of the infrastructure of the twenty-first century. And in the race to reap the benefits from this infrastructure, the United States has fallen abysmally behind, and only truly big and creative thinking will help the nation catch up.
http://benton.org/node/25610
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DIGITAL CONTENT
DOES HUSH-HUSH MEETING OF NEWSPAPER EXECUTIVES VIOLATE ANTITRUST LAW?
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Ben Sheffner]
On Thursday, top executives from major newspapers have gathered to plot the future of their business, including the possibility of charging for Web content. Antitrust law is complicated, but one principle is very simple: Competitors cannot get together and agree on price or the terms on which they will offer their services to their customers. It doesn't matter if the industry is ailing or if collusion would be "good" for society or necessary to preserve democracy. An agreement regarding pricing is "per se"—automatically—illegal under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, the main federal antitrust law. All but a few newspapers currently give away their Web content for free. Many would like to start charging but are afraid that if they're the first to make the leap, their readers will abandon them for the remaining free alternatives. One obvious solution would be for them to agree to make a collective leap behind a pay wall. But such an agreement would be blatantly illegal, says Kenneth Ewing, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson who, as head of his firm's antitrust practice, advises corporations on how to stay out of trouble. "It's Antitrust 101. If you're a competitor of another company, you violate federal and state law if you agree on the price or the general terms on which you are willing to compete."
http://benton.org/node/25607
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LEARNING, AND PROFITING, FROM ONLINE FRIENDSHIPS
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Stephen Baker]
Companies are working fast to figure out how to make money from the wealth of data they're beginning to have about our online friendships. They're finding that digital friendships speak volumes about us as consumers and workers, and decoding the data can lead to profitable insights. Calculating the value of these relationships has become a defining challenge for businesses and individuals. Marketers are leading the way. They're finding that if our friends buy something, there's a better-than-average chance we'll buy it, too. It's a simple insight but one that could lead to targeted messaging in an age of growing media clutter.
http://benton.org/node/25599
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BROADBAND-MEDIA CONSUMERS FALL INTO DISTINCT CATEGORIES
[SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: James Li]
A new Nielsen study focused on broadband-media consumers reveals that these folks are hardly a homogeneous group of gizmo geeks. Because who they are and how they get involved with broadband media can help advertisers and producers figure out how best to market their products, Nielsen did a deep dive into data and came up with eight distinct categories of such consumers. Far ahead of the tech-adoption curve is what the study terms "extreme techies": tech innovators at the forefront of adoption behavior. Watching as much as 91 minutes of online video content in an average week, they represent 8% of the adult broadband population in the U.S., or 4.6 million viewers. A good majority watch TV online in addition to regular TV viewing (64%) and have specific targets for online video content (60%). They also own an average of four cross-platform devices, such as console gaming systems and cell phones, to view TV or movie content, with 38% also having connected TV sets to their computers. These extreme techies are chiefly male (63%), with a mean age of 31 and an average annual household income of $67,000. Also, nearly half (47%) are married, and 57% have children younger than 18 at home.
http://benton.org/node/25608
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MARKETERS TRY TO CAPITALIZE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Theresa Howard]
Marketers are getting on board the social-media trend with their own networking sites for brand aficionados. They may also attract critics, but it's a risk marketers believe they need to take. The branded sites won't rival mega social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which already have millions of users, but complement them. Marketers spent about $1 billion to advertise their brands on such sites in 2008, according to eMarketer. The next step is creating destinations that people can leap to from those ads and form user groups about the brand.
http://benton.org/node/25612
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ASSESSING NAPSTER -- 10 YEARS LATER
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Benny Evangelista]
When 18-year-old Shawn Fanning released his Napster file-sharing program on the Internet 10 years ago this month, little did he know he was unleashing a digital revolution that would continue today. The teen simply saw a better way to share good music among friends. But within months, millions of people around the world were hooked. Although the original Napster was buried long ago by a copyright-infringement lawsuit, the program hastened the Internet's role in becoming a primary conduit for digital entertainment. It also dragged traditional media companies into a new era of changing consumer habits.
http://benton.org/node/25613
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TELECOM
VERIZON, FRONTIER ASK FCC TO BACK LICENSE TRANSFERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: John Poirier]
Verizon Communications and Frontier Communications on Friday asked the Federal Communications Commission to approve the transfers of phone line licenses as part of the companies' $5.25 billion deal. Under a deal announced earlier this month, Verizon would sell 4.8 million rural phone lines to Frontier, which would become the largest rural-only service provider in the United States. The deal came amid a wave of consolidation in the rural phone market, as providers seek to cut costs and more consumers cancel landlines. "The proposed transaction will not cause competitive harm and will bring significant public interest benefits, including the increased deployment of broadband to rural areas, which both the President and Congress have identified as a national priority," the joint filing said. In their filing with the FCC, the companies asked for a "favorable and expedited" action. They also reassured regulators that the change would be seamless for both retail and wholesale customers, and Frontier will honor existing tariffs and contracts.
http://benton.org/node/25609
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TELEVISION/RADIO
CHESSEN: FAIRNESS DOCTRINE TALK IS 'CONSPIRATORIAL'
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Bob Cusack]
Federal Communications Commission Acting Chief of Staff told House Commerce Committee Chief Counsel Roger Sherman earlier this year that concerns about reviving the so-called Fairness Doctrine are "conspiratorial." The two exchanged e-mail to coordinate a strategy of responding to an Internet report on reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which would force stations to make equal time for liberal and conservative talk radio.
http://benton.org/node/25606
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SOLICITOR-GENERAL SIDES WITH CABLEVISION ON DVR
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Yinka Adegoke]
The Solicitor General has sided with Cablevision in the cable operator's long-running dispute with several program-makers over the roll-out of its network-based video recorder. Solicitor General Elena Kagan on Friday denied plaintiffs including Time Warner, News Corp, CBS Corp and Walt Disney Co, their petition for a Supreme Court hearing. The media companies have argued that Cablevision's proposed service -- which, like TiVo's, would allow viewers to record any program on TV -- would infringe the copyrights of the movies and television programs they produce. They had been hoping to overturn a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York which would allow Cablevision subscribers to record and play back programs on the remote system based within Cablevision's own cable plant.
http://benton.org/node/25605
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HAS TV ADVERTISING 'BOTTOMED OUT'?
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Andy Fixmer, Brett Pulley]
Television advertising has "bottomed out" and broadcasters may post better-than-expected advance sales for the 2009-2010 TV season, NBC Universal Chief Executive Officer Jeff Zucker said. Zucker's comments echo those of CBS Corp., Walt Disney Co.'s ABC and Viacom Inc., owner of MTV and Nickelodeon, which have reported signs ad revenue is leveling off. Last week broadcasters released schedules for the 2009-2010 TV season, ahead of talks with big advertisers. NBC Universal also operates cable channels such as Bravo and USA. Broadcast network advertising will fall 10 percent this year to $12.8 billion, Michael Nathanson, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., projected in a May 26 note to investors. National cable advertising will drop 3 percent to $20.9 billion.
http://benton.org/node/25604
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A REVOLUTION IN PRIME TIME, BUT WILL IT WORK?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Carter, Brian Stelter]
On Monday night, when Conan O'Brien officially takes over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno, it will mark an unusually peaceful transition of power in Hollywood. Then comes the revolution. NBC's decision to move Leno to his own talk show at 10 p.m. in September is not only the signature television event of this season, it may be among the most pivotal changes since the network evening newscasts were expanded to 30 minutes, from 15, in 1963. If successful, "The Jay Leno Show" at 10 p.m. could reshape prime time by leading other networks to move to less expensive shows, pushing more programming to cable and rewriting the financial underpinnings of entertainment production. If it fails — as skeptics, including many rival network executives, predict — then NBC will be left scrambling to find fill five prime-time hours a week.
http://benton.org/node/25615
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QUICKLY
CALIFORNIA'S BUDGET PROPOSITIONS LEAD A DIVERSE ONLINE CONVERSATION
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: ]
From May 18-22, the No. 1 story in social media was the California financial crisis and the voters' rejection of ballot initiatives designed to deal with the problem. That subject generated 17% of the week's links, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Conservative bloggers in particular honed in on the subject, claiming the votes were a rejection of higher taxes and bigger government-and a message to politicians throughout the country.
http://benton.org/node/25596
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SMALL, RURAL PRACTICES CAN ADOPT HEALTH IT EFFECTIVELY
[SOURCE: iHealthBeat, AUTHOR: ]
Preliminary findings from the American Academy of Family Physicians' National Demonstration Project found that health IT such as electronic health records, Web portals and chronic disease registries can be implemented by a variety of practices, including small and rural offices. The evaluators said small and rural practices "may be better positioned to adopt technology because they are usually very nimble and self-sufficient." They added that these practices also might view health IT spending as a "personal investment" because the decision to implement EHRs was not imposed on them by a larger health system.
http://benton.org/node/25603
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SENATE BILL SUPPORTS 21ST-CENTURY SKILLS
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Maya Prabhu]
States offering students curriculum options that integrate key 21st-century skills would receive matching federal funds through an incentive bill introduced in the Senate May 13 by Sen John D. Rockefeller (D-WV). The legislation was developed using ideas generated from West Virginia educators and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which researched and surveyed the skills students need in the classroom to remain competitive for the future. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Sens Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and John Kerry (D-MA), suggests several areas where states could expand their curricula to encompass 21st-century skills, such as global awareness; financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; and health and wellness awareness. If passed, the bill would appropriate $100 million a year for the U.S. Department of Education to pass on to states that have developed a comprehensive plan for implementing a statewide 21st-century skills initiative and are able to supply matching funds for their initiative.
http://benton.org/node/25602
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CAST OUT, BUT STILL REPORTING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
Public libraries have become substitute offices for the recently disenfranchised, so it wasn't unusual that 40 bright, talented and unemployed people found themselves in a conference room on a dreary day at the Montclair Public Library last January. But they had something else in common: they were all refugees from The Star-Ledger, which had required deep layoffs to stay in business. And while journalism seemed to be done with them, they were not done with journalism. Less than three months later, NewJerseyNewsroom (newjerseynewsroom.com), a Web site owned and operated by journalists, is up and running. Last Friday, the site was topped with an article by Tom Hester, a longtime State House reporter, deconstructing the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court. It upheld Gov. Jon Corzine's decision to upend a 34-year-old formula that pushed the most public school financing to the poorest districts. Sitting last Friday at the same public library where the enterprise was conceived, Hester, 65, talked with wonder about the ability just to push a button and find an audience, bypassing the editors, printing and trucks that used to convey his work.
http://benton.org/node/25614
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