October 2009

With the traditional TV newscast model knocked on its rear, and a generation who grew up amidst the cacophony of cable news and talk radio coming of news-viewing age, many station executives around the country see merit in exploring whether the provocative nature of those media might work on their air. Some see a sobering lesson in Fox News Channel and MSNBC surging on the backs of primetime partisan pundits while CNN continues to play it down the middle—and lose ground on the competition. Granted, cable news and local television news are vastly different animals, and stations don't have much airtime to let commentators bloviate. A station's take on a national issue such as health-care reform is typically centered on the regional angle, with lawmakers representing the area offering local perspective. Moreover, broadcast television is regulated by the FCC, while cable is not. Several general managers expressed concern about running afoul of the FCC by offering commentary that shades red or blue, though an FCC spokesperson suggests stations have a wide berth, stating that the FCC cannot require that a station's political speech be balanced.

The Obama administration is poised to issue a long-awaited open government directive as soon as two weeks from now that strikes a balance between new information technology and new policies, White House officials said. The Obama administration is poised to issue a long-awaited open government directive as soon as two weeks from now that strikes a balance between new information technology and new policies, White House officials said. One of the president's first official acts on Jan. 21 was to issue a memo directing the person in the new position of federal chief technology officer to recommend within 120 days steps agencies should take to foster collaboration, participation and transparency in government. But the recommendations did not arrive on May 21, because CTO Aneesh Chopra was not confirmed until that day. Office of Management and Budget spokesman Tom Gavin said on Thursday that Chopra has made his recommendations. "We are close," he added. "In the next few weeks at most. In the next couple weeks, at best," assuring that the document would be out by the end of October. OMB Director Peter R. Orszag will issue the formal guidance. "It will echo many of the recommendations made by the public," Gavin said.

However deeply computers may have embedded themselves into modern life, there are still millions of people for whom they remain a challenge. For these Americans, finding a new job during a time of high unemployment can be especially difficult. No one knows how many they are, because there is almost no credible research to assess Americans' overall computer skills. Economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, who highlighted the lack of data, lamented recently that researchers have, at best, "only cloudy information on technology use" and "levels and kinds of job skill requirements." That means it's impossible to quantify the impact of computer literacy on unemployment. But related research and anecdotal evidence suggest a significant link.

Less than half of Americans (45%) say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly -- on par with last year's record-low 43%. About 2 in 10 Americans (18%) have no confidence in the media at all -- which is also among the worst grades Gallup has recorded. Americans' views about bias in the news are also fairly steady over the past few years. Currently, 45% say the media are too liberal, while 15% say too conservative and 35% say they are just about right. None of these percentages have budged more than three or four points since 2005.