JOURNALISM
High Drama Unfolds on Anchor Desks (NYT)
Internet had Chance to Shine, but Faced Same Pitfalls as TV (SJM)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
Theater Owners Promise Controls on 'R' Previews (WP)
'Sesame Street' Creator Aims to Reach Older Kids
With TV Series, Products (WSJ)
China Issues Stiffer Internet Rules On News Reports and
Chat Rooms (WSJ)
INTERNET
Advertising: Measuring Online Visibility (NYT)
Educators Turn to Internet for Advanced Placement
Classes (CyberTimes)
Wiring City Streets, Via the Sewers (WP)
MERGERS
FTC Near Vote on Merger (WP)
JOURNALISM
HIGH DRAMA UNFOLDS ON ANCHOR DESKS
Issue: Journalism
A number of broadcast television networks and cable news channels were
locked in competition yesterday and enjoying the close presidential race.
Yes, Dan Rather did not fail us: The presidential race in Florida, he said,
was "hot enough to peel house paint." The Senate contest in Virginia was
"nasty enough to gag a buzzard." Gov. George W. Bush has "run through Dixie
like a big wheel through a cotton field." But Rather and the networks were
all eating crow after calling Florida for Gore and then having to retract
and say the race there was "too close to call" (the most often heard words
of the night). The state's outcome was actually declared before all the
polls in the panhandle (in a latter time zone) were closed, angering
Republicans. If you weren't channel surfing, get a recap at the URL below.
[SOURCE: New York Times (B1), AUTHOR: Peter Marks]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/08/politics/08POL-MED.html)
(requires registration)
INTERNET HAD A CHANCE TO SHINE, BUT FACED
Issue: Online Journalism
This election year was the Internet's chance to shine, but the medium faced
the same pitfalls as television declaring who won the presidential race.
News organizations continued updating sites in the early morning hours.
Many prematurely declared Texas Gov. George W. Bush the winner over Vice
President Al Gore, even after TV networks rescinded projections for Florida
and its key 25 electoral votes. At ABC News, the headline "Campaign
continues" linked to a page that says "Bush Elected President." Still,
records of Americans turned to the Internet to followed the nail-biting
elections. "This year, perhaps TV is doing a better job providing a
summary, but to get minute-by-minute blows, no other media can compete,"
said Kourosh Karimkhany, senior news producer at Yahoo!
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: David Plotnikoff]
(http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/039420.htm)
See Also:
TWO WEB SITES OFFER EARLY RESULTS BASED ON EXIT-POLLING INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Jason Anders]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB973682007240523980.htm)
MEDIA & SOCIETY
THEATER OWNERS PROMISE CONTROLS ON 'R' PREVIEWS
Issue: Media & Society
The nation's theater owners have agreed not to show previews for R-rated
movies to audiences waiting to see G- and PG-rated films. This is being done
in response to a recent Federal Trade Commission report that said Hollywood
is marketing violent entertainment to young children. The National
Association of Theater Owners made the pledge along with other promises
to limit children's exposure to violent films. The FTC responded
with cautious praise. "It is clearly a step in the right direction," said
agency spokesman Eric London, adding: "The real test for any self-regulatory
proposal is the breadth and depth of its implementation." An FTC report
released in September found that the movie, music and video-game industries
are regularly marketing violent entertainment to children, despite
labeling the products as suitable for adults. The report cited the example
of one movie studio using a 10-year-old child in market research for a
violent R-rated film. One theater owner said parents must share
responsibility in keeping their children from violent films, as well. "I get
the most calls from parents who are mad that we haven't let their kids in an
R-rated movie," one owner said.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E01), AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37692-2000Nov7.html)
'SESAME STREET' CREATOR AIMS TO REACH OLDER KIDS WITH TV SERIES, PRODUCTS
Issue: Children's Television
Sesame Workshop (formerly called Children's Television Workshop), a
not-for-profit company, is developing educational programming for older
kids, branching out beyond its traditional relationship with the Public
Broadcasting Service and forging commercial alliances. "Most of the
programs for six-to-11-year-olds are entertainment-based and not as rich
educationally as the offerings to preschoolers," says Gary Knell, a
longtime Workshop executive who became chief executive in January. Along
with new shows, Sesame Workshop intends to provide educational toys and
products. But educational toys that address the developmental issues of
older kids have to compete with squirt guns, video games and the Internet.
As a result, "there has not been a merchandising play like there is for
preschool," Mr. Knell says. "We want to use our nonprofit status to take
advantage of" the void.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sally Beatty (sally.beatty( at )wsj.com)]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB973642735123143432.htm)
CHINA ISSUES STIFFER INTERNET RULES ON NEWS REPORTS AND CHAT ROOMS
Issue: International/Media&Society
China strengthened its censorship over the Internet Tuesday, clamping
restrictions on Web sites offering news reports and requiring chat rooms to
use only officially approved topics. The new regulations would likely create
more headaches for Chinese Web sites, already reeling from tough competition
and a shortage of investment funds. But it could boost government-controlled
media struggling to enter the Internet age. The rules require general portal
sites to use news from state-controlled media, seek special permission to
offer news from foreign media and meet strict editorial conditions to
generate their own news. Only state media would be allowed to set up news
sites and even then only with government approval, the rules said. Chinese
leaders have been ambivalent about the Internet since its first explosive
growth in China in the mid-1990s. They want to harness it for business and
education while preventing it from becoming a tool of political discontent.
Chat rooms, even those run by staid symbols of state media like People's
Daily, are often lively sites of political discourse. When Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic was forced from power last month, Chinese
turned to the Internet to debate democracy even while state media was
silent. "The government makes various efforts to get a grip on the
Internet," said Ted Dean with BDA China Ltd., a media and Internet
consulting firm. "But that just hasn't come to pass."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (Interactive), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB973603418226699576.htm)
INTERNET
ADVERTISING: MEASURING ONLINE VISIBILITY
Issue: Advertising
Word of Net is introducing a system meant to measure the various points at
which computer users are exposed to Web sites, wherever those exposures may
occur. Measuring these "points of presence" is intended to provide
information beyond the tracking of traffic to a site by tracking the
exposure to sites through search engines, keyword inquiries, listings,
links from other sites and category listings in online directories. "This
is a key marketing competitive-intelligence tool because it highlights
exposure all over the Internet," said Astrid van Dorst, senior analyst for
the e-marketing intelligence group at the Gartner Group. "You will see more
of this as Internet metrics reaches the next level of maturity." The Web
site ranked first in the initial visibility index, with a score of 973, is
www.aol.com, from America Online. The rest of the top five are
www.zdnet.com, from CNet, with a score of 936; http://members.aol.com, also
from America Online, 925; www.msn.com, from Microsoft, 922; and www.go.com,
from the Walt Disney Company, 915. "The real value of our technology is
that it provides a way to measure return on investment for your marketing
campaigns," said Eric Sanders, chief executive at Word of Net. "Online
advertising is a $5 billion to $7 billion industry, and it's not nearly
accountable enough," he added. "You can use our data to determine which of
your marketing spends generate sales."
[SOURCE: New York Times (C12), AUTHOR: Stuart Elliott]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/08/business/08ADCO.html)
(requires registration)
EDUCATORS TURN TO INTERNET FOR ADVANCED PLACEMENT CLASSES
Issue: EdTech
Officials in Kentucky, New Mexico, Washington, Wisconsin, Utah, Milwaukee
Public Schools and the Houston Independent School District have all
contracted with Bellevue, Wash.-based Apex Learning to offer online
Advanced Placement courses in schools that are unable to afford them.
Started in 1997 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Apex Learning has
offered the courses to smaller private schools for some time, but only this
year is the company making a big push to expand into public education.
"Schools have an increasingly difficult time offering a full complement of
courses," said Apex Learning President and CEO Keith Oelrich. "We're not
saying computer instruction is better than classroom instruction. Our
offering is about extending access to students who otherwise wouldn't have
had access." "When you have a course online, you offer students options,"
said Gaye Lange, project manager for the Houston Independent School
District's Virtual School program. "You can't have a class with five kids
in it. It's not cost effective. Instead of having a class with five kids,
now we can do it without all the hassle that goes with it."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Rebecca S. Weiner (rweiner ( at )nytimes.com)]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/08/technology/08EDUCATION.html)
(requires registration)
WIRING CITY STREETS, VIA THE SEWERS
Issue: Infrastructure
Digging up city streets has been a very real cost of building the nation's
virtual superhighway. But now one telecommunications company, CityNet
Telecommunications of Silver Spring, MD., is trying a different strategy in
laying the nation's data pipes: the sewers. Robert G. Berger, owner of
CityNet, is investing $75 million in 100 cat-size robots that troll around
sewer pipes, laying fiber-optic cable. The sewer strategy could save many
cities the cost and hassle of the Internet's development: buckled streets
and crippled traffic. " While fiber-optic cable currently carries most
Internet traffic through the nation's network, copper wires carry data
between telephone-company central offices and the homes and businesses they
serve, a span known in the telecom industry as "the last mile. "The holy
grail of telecom is the last mile, and all carriers great and
small--everyone needs that physical last mile of fiber," Berger said. In
DC, where Mayor Anthony A. Williams imposed a moratorium on network
companies digging up the streets to lay fiber-optic cable, CityNet is in
"active discussions" to deploy its sewer-access modules, Berger said.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E05), AUTHOR: Yuki Noguchi]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37705-2000Nov7.html)
MERGERS
FTC NEAR VOTE ON MERGER
Issue: Mergers
A vote ratifying the merger of Time Warner with America Online could come as
early as tomorrow. Negotiators for both companies are working to clinch an
agreement with federal regulators this week. The FTC is scheduled to meet in
private session today and tomorrow on undisclosed enforcement matters. AOL
and Time Warner officials had set Friday as their internal deadline for
reaching a deal with the FTC, but the companies now are hopeful of doing it
by tomorrow, sources said. Difficulties still remain around the language of
an agreement to give rivals access to the combined companies' high-speed
Internet service. Regulators are concerned about the technical and
contractual aspects of an open-access agreement, sources said. Even if the
companies' agree to open Time Warner's cable pipes to competitors,
regulators want assurances that AOL and Time Warner will not impair the
speed or quality of rivals' access.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E03), AUTHOR: Alec Klein]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37612-2000Nov7.html)
See Also:
FTC DEMANDS NEW CHANGES IN AOL-TIME WARNER MERGER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: John R. Wilke]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB973642148271770321.htm)
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