Please remember to vote today. And for those of us in Chicago, remember to
vote early and often.
POLITICAL DISCOURSE/JOURNALISM
Too Early To Call? A Close Race Presents Challenges to the Media (WP)
Anchors, Away: Web Offers Election Data, Minus TV's Filler (WSJ)
Dwindling TV Coverage Fell to New Low (USA)
E-COMMERCE
Internet Experts Dispute Yahoo Claim That Limiting
Access Is Impossible (WSJ)
PRIVACY
Trade Group Challenges Rules on Data Sales (WP)
FCC
Technological Advisory Council (FCC)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE/JOURNALISM
TOO EARLY TO CALL? A CLOSE RACE PRESENTS CHALLENGES TO THE MEDIA
Issue: Journalism
Part of tonight's election suspense will be based not on who wins the
races, but whether and when network anchors will declare the victors. A
declaration of the new president could come as early as 9 or 10 p.m.
Eastern time, angering much of the West, where the polls will still be
open. Or today's election coverage could be a horse race until as late as 1
a.m. tomorrow. Expect hints along the way, however. "One of the things to
look for is the Aesopian language that broadcasters use," says CNN
commentator Jeff Greenfield [see link to his Op-Ed below], author of "The
People's Choice," a novel built around the Electoral College. "If it's
close, it's 'tight as a tick in Granny's corset,' or whatever Dan Rather
says. If it breaks, it's 'looks like it could be a really big night for
George W. Bush'..." California Secretary of State Bill Jones last week
urged news organizations not to project a presidential winner before 11
because it could depress turnout in the West. Control of Congress could
hinge on the outcome of key House and Senate races in the Pacific time zone.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C01), AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27428-2000Nov6.html)
See Also:
WHAT VOTERS KNOW EARLY WON'T HURT
An op-ed in support of television networks making predictions before the
polls close on the West Coast.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A29), AUTHOR: Jeff Greenfield, CNN]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/07/opinion/07GREE.html)
(requires registration)
ANCHORS, AWAY: WEB OFFERS ELECTION DATA, MINUS TV'S FILLER
Issue: Online Journalism
Instead of watching TV, Internet users can get results of each of today's
election decisions online. Visit such sites as: 1) America Online
(www.aol.com), which has set up a war room to coordinate election coverage,
will offer its members "Results Tracker," a small window they can keep open
to receive news flashes about big races while roaming elsewhere on the
service; 2) Voter.com (www.Voter.com) will spotlight 30 ballot initiatives
around the country in addition to tracking candidate battles; 3) All the TV
networks will post news on their Web sites, but ABC (www.abc.com) is making
a special push to entice viewers to surf while they watch; or 4) if you
tastes run more to fiction, see www.jedbartlet.com. (For an encyclopedic
guide, check out the State Watch section of Elections U.S.A. at
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6228).
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B1), AUTHOR: Thomas Weber (tom.weber( at )wsj.com)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB973548918650007912.htm)
(requires subscription)
DWINDLING TV COVERAGE FELL TO NEW LOW
Issue: Journalism
Some observations about TV election coverage. 1) The flagship broadcast
news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC have given us the fewest minutes of
campaign news in their history. 2) The incredible shrinking sound bite has
shrunk some more (now 7 seconds). 3) TV continues to be negative;
two-thirds of news evaluations of Al Gore and George W. Bush have been
negative. 4) "Strategy over substance" more than ever defines TV news: it
is not about who the candidates are or what they stand for, it is just
who's ahead. 5) Network news leadership is passing from evening to morning
programs.
[SOURCE: USAToday (8A), AUTHOR: Generic]
(http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20001107/2812886s.htm)
E-COMMERCE
INTERNET EXPERTS DISPUTE YAHOO CLAIM THAT LIMITING ACCESS IS IMPOSSIBLE
Issue: International/E-commerce
Internet experts told a judge that it would be possible to block some French
Web surfers from Yahoo! Inc.'s auction site. Several months ago, two
Paris-based antiracism groups sued Yahoo! of the U.S., angry that French
people had access to more than 1,000 objects of Nazi memorabilia on the site
(auctions.yahoo.com). A Paris judge asked a team of experts to search for
ways to filter French users from the site and all other sites deemed racist.
Yahoo's lawyers have argued that it would be impossible to keep French
people off the site. American Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's founding
fathers, testified that it would be possible to detect and block 70% of
local surfers who use an easily identifiable French Internet-service
provider, but that it would be impossible to block every racist site from
French users.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Online), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB973549173716155181.htm)
(requires subscription)
PRIVACY
TRADE GROUP CHALLENGES RULES ON DATA SALES
Issue: Privacy
Several large information agencies, collectively represented by the
Individual Reference Services Group (IRSG), are asking a federal judge to
overturn new privacy regulations that could impede the growth of the market
for people's names, addresses, Social Security numbers and other personal
information. The regulations in question were written by Congress into the
financial services deregulation bill it passed last year. The information
broker groups are concerned that they will not have access to "credit
header" reports - reports that contain personal data that credit bureaus
sell to information brokers, who then resell them to private investigators,
law enforcement authorities, newspaper researchers and others. However, the
reports are increasingly available on the World Wide Web. Concern about the
availability of the reports caused Congress and the Federal Trade Commission
to adopt new rules. The IRSG filed in federal court arguing that the
FTC overstepped its authority in issuing the regulations. The rules are set
to take effect July 1.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Robert O'Harrow Jr.]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27373-2000Nov6.html)
FCC
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
Issue:
The FCC is requesting nominations for membership on the Technological
Advisory Council. The Technological Advisory Council, which held its first
meeting on April 7, 1999, was designed to provide a mechanism by which a
diverse array of distinguished technologists can meet and provide "cutting
edge" advice to the FCC on technological innovations that are likely to
affect electronic, optical, and radio communications and related industries.
Nominees and applicants for membership on the Council should have national,
or international, reputations as leading technologists in their areas of
expertise. In the case of nominees or applicants who are affiliated with
private sector companies, nominees will frequently hold the title of Chief
Scientist, or Chief Technology Officer; and in the case of academic and
other research organizations, applicants and nominees will frequently hold
an endowed professorship, or fellowship, or senior management or technical
position within that research or development organization. Individuals may
apply for, or nominate another individual for, membership on the Council.
Each nomination or application must include:
(1) the name and title of the applicant or nominee and a description of the
area, or areas, of expertise possessed by the applicant or nominee; (2) the
applicant's or nominee's mail address, e-mail address (where available),
telephone number, and facsimile number; (3) reasons why the applicant or
nominee should be appointed to the Council; and (4) the basis for
concluding that the applicant or nominee has achieved peer recognition as a
technical expert.
[More at the URL below]
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Public_Notices/2000/da002
490.html)
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