December 2009

Nielsen Speeding Up Single-Source Measurement Plan

Nielsen is fast-forwarding its plan to monitor viewers' Web habits in order to help clients understand, among other things, whether their advertising or TV promotion is working. The company announced Dec. 1 that it will complete a full roll out of Internet measurement as part of its existing TV panel by August 31, 2010. Separately, the measurement company will announce in the coming weeks a timeline for tracking Web video viewing that will ultimately help media companies and agencies see viewing behavior between the TV and Web more clearly.

ONC reorganizes for push on EHR, HITECH goals

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) announced it would reorganize the office to better reflect its role as a leading force in the adoption of electronic health records and other health IT, including closer oversight of privacy issues. Appointing a chief privacy officer is one of the main moves detailed in a notice published in the Federal Register. The notice is dated Nov. 20, but the changes are effective as of Dec. 1. The reorganization is part of the preparations called for in federal health IT stimulus legislation to support physicians and hospitals to become meaningful users of electronic health records and be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments starting in 2011. ONC's reorganization below the top leadership is designed to "more effectively" accomplish the tasks in the HITECH Act, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who signed the notice.

Seniors Who Use Internet Could Reap Health Benefits, Studies Show

A couple of recent studies indicate elders are beginning to appreciate and embrace the health benefits of information technology, a trend some predict will grow rapidly as the health industry gets up to speed with digital technology. According to research released in October, spending time online reduces depression and increases cognitive brain function among senior citizens. A study conducted by Washington (DC)-based Phoenix Center found that spending time online reduces depression by 20% for senior citizens. Along with improvements in quality of life, researchers say reducing the incidence of depression by widespread Internet use among older Americans could help trim the nation's health care bill. Meanwhile, researchers from Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California-Los Angeles found that surfing the Web for only a week stimulated areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning in middle-aged and older adults with little Internet experience. Tangible, measurable health benefits of technology, along with anecdotal evidence delivered word-of-mouth or through the media, will boost seniors' engagement, experts say.

Senate Healthcare Reform Bill's IT Provisions Make Sense

As the Senate begins debating its healthcare reform bill, there's several health IT related provisions that aren't likely to stir a lot of emotion on the Senate floor, but deserve some attention. Among the proposals of the Senate's "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" is the call to develop interoperable and secure standards to facilitate the electronic enrollment of individuals in federal and state health and human services programs. When it comes to funding, among other health IT-related grants proposed in the Senate bill is a provision for one or more demonstration projects on the use of health IT in skilled nursing homes. The bill also supports the use of health IT in the management of chronically ill patients in their own homes--especially to reduce hospitalizations.

A Dialogue on Accelerating the Innovation Economy

For the past day and a half, several Senior Administration officials and I joined leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors to discuss the role of innovation in achieving sustainable economic growth and quality jobs. We wish to extend our thanks to the Aspen Institute, Intel, the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, for bringing people together on this important Presidential priority, reflected in President Obama's Strategy for American Innovation. Much of the discussion centered around our national investments in the building blocks of innovation - increased support for basic research & development, a world-class educational system focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and a modern infrastructure that includes broadband alongside roads, high-speed rail, and airports. Demonstrating our commitment to this conversation, I was joined by six colleagues - National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, Staff Director of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Austan Goolsbee, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and his Executive Director for the national broadband plan Blair Levin.

FTC Will Team With FCC To Vet Journalism's Future

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz says the FTC will hold workshops in the spring on possible policy changes to help save journalism. They could include taxes, cross-ownership issues, changes in copyright laws, and antitrust treatment. Chairman Leibowitz said the FTC would work closely with the Federal Communications Commission on those issues and whether the government will need to step in, and how. He said that the commission was not out to undo the profound changes wrought on journalism by the Internet, "nor do we want to," he said. What he wants to find out, he said, is whether the "creative destruction" brought about by the Internet's impact on journalism represents more destruction than creation for journalism and what, if anything, the government needs to do about it.

FTC Panel On Future Of Journalism: Murdoch Advocates Paid Content

Media companies need to deliver compelling information on a variety of electronic devices and overcome readers' resistance to paying for material online, news executives said Tuesday at a government-sponsored journalism conference. Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.'s chairman and chief executive, sees a promising future for publishers that can adapt to the Internet age. Key to survival, he said, is giving consumers what they want, how they want it - be it on a computer, mobile device or e-reader - and then charging for it, as his company does with The Wall Street Journal. "We need to do a better job of persuading consumers that high-quality, reliable news and information does not come free," Murdoch said. "Good journalism is an expensive commodity." Murdoch's comments were echoed during the Federal Trade Commission's workshop, which explored the challenges facing media companies and ways the government can help them survive. Murdoch said that if the government wants to insure the survival of newspapers and other journalistic organizations, the best thing it can do is simply get out of the way. He called for the end of "arbitrary and contradictory regulations that actually prevent people from investing in these businesses" and he blasted the idea of government subsidies for journalists.

E.W. Scripps' Contreras to FTC: Help Newspapers Protect Online Content

Newspapers will have to figure out how to protect and license their content from online poachers -- but the government should support whatever solution is found, Mark Contreras, E.W. Scripps' senior vice president told a workshop sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission Tuesday. Contreras also said the federal government should support the evolution of behaviorally targeted advertising. "Many newspapers offer services which sell a specific audience to advertisers," Contreras said in prepared testimony distributed by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). "This is especially true in the online space as targeted advertising has become an essential part of the future. Because of longstanding relationships with local communities -- which are based on trust -- newspaper publishers are highly sensitive to consumer concerns about online privacy."

Steiger: Embrace Internet, But Protect Journalism

Former Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger said Tuesday the dwindling number of newspapers is "robbing" the country of its democracy, but added that those same news outlets need to embrace the Internet revolution in order to serve their audiences and survive. "We used to be able to count on robust metropolitan dailies to provide a steady flow of this valuable work," Steiger said in remarks to the Federal Trade Commission Tuesday. "Now, while many newspapers continue to do as much of it as they can, the destruction of the business model they once depended on and the resultant shrinkage and even shuttering of newspapers around the country are robbing the American people of an important bulwark of our democracy."

Journalism 2009: Desperate Metaphors, Desperate Revenue Models, And The Desperate Need For Better Journalism

[Commentary] I was asked to give a speech this morning at a journalism conference in Washington, DC sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission. The topic, as it so often seems to be these days, is what can be done to save journalism? Since Rupert Murdoch was scheduled to address the conference a little before me, I thought this would be a good time to take a look at Murdoch's increasingly bellicose war against new media sites that aggregate the news, the increasingly desperate revenue models being discussed for online news, and what, in fact, needs to be done to ensure that journalism will not only survive, but thrive.

Benton

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