What's On TV?
WP: A Bit of Bill in Every Box
NYT: Cable Chief Tries to Bring Cool Into Disney Children's TV
WP: Seeking a Word From Their Sponsors
WP: Broadcast the Truth to Bosnia
What's On the Web?
WP: A Reporter's Net Loss
NYT: Museums See Images On the Web as Dicey
Media Strategies
WP: How to Face-Off With the Enemy...Er, Media
Privacy
NYT: Digital-Age Wiretapping Plan By F.B.I. Draws Opposition
Arts
WP: Museum of American Art Takes High-Tech Leap
Business News
WSJ: Where Is the Information Technology Payoff?
B&C: Station-rich owners get richer
WP: Good news for "McPaper"
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* Television *
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Title: A Bit of Bill in Every Box
Source: Washington Post (8/10/97) (H1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/10/022l-081097-idx.html
Author: Elizabeth Corcoran
Issue: Convergence
Description: Now that Microsoft's has won the computer wars (as signaled by
last week's investment in Apple), CEO Bill Gates is turning his attention to
electronics boxes that are in even more homes than PCs -- televisions an
telephones. "As these instruments are rendered smart -- packed with computer
chips that can store commands and data -- they will need software. Microsoft
wants to crate that software. And to get kids use to seeing Gates so much,
look for "Mr. Bill in a Box" in store this Christmas season (free with
purchase of MS Office)
Title: Cable Chief Tries to Bring Cool Into Disney Children's TV
Source: New York Times (D1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/nick-laybourne-media.html
Author: Lawrie Mifflin
Issue: Children's Television
Description: Starting September 1, broadcast television networks will be
required to air three hours of educational/informational programming for
children. The former head of Nickelodeon, Geraldine Laybourne, has moved to
Disney to handle the ubermouse's children's programming. Disney shows had
been cool with moms, but not so much with kids. Ms. Laybourne has a
reputation of listening to kids, discovering what they like, and giving them
a wide variety of choices. [For more on new children's television
regulations see http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/kidstv-sum.html]
Title: Seeking a Word From Their Sponsors
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/11/009l-081197-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Public Television
Description: Public television needs money. In the past, individual stations
have trampled over each other to find corporate underwriting for shows. Now
PBS, WETA-TV (DC), WNET (New York), KCET (Los Angeles), and WGBH (Boston)
have formed the PBS Sponsorship Group to coordinate the search for corporate
support. Although Congress has approved $250 million annually for public TV
and radio in 1998 and 1999, the money crunch is on because corporate support
has not grown over the past few years. [For more info see
http://www.cpb.org/future/index.html]
Title: Broadcast the Truth to Bosnia
Source: Washington Post (A17)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/11/028l-081197-idx.html
Author: Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)
Issue: International
Description: Senator Levin writes that the US military should use the
EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft to broadcast television and radio programming
directly to the Bosnian people. The state-controlled Bosnian Serb media has
been misinforming the people there and causing ill-feeling toward the
NATO-led Stabilization Force. The US has used this technology before: in
Grenada to inform people there of the US military action, in Desert Storm to
persuade Iraqi soldiers to surrender, and in Haiti.
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* World Wide Web *
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Title: A Reporter's Net Loss
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/11/064l-081197-idx.html
Author: Howard Kurtz
Issue: Old vs New Media/Journalism
Description: While working on a story, one of Newsweek's Michael Isikoff's
colleagues leaks key details of his work to Matt Drudge. Drudge posts them
to the Drudge Report, his gossip website. Suddenly "half of official
Washington is talking about the story he hasn't finished writing." [The rest
of us were at the beach that weekend] Needless to say, Isikoff is not happy:
"He's rifling through raw reporting, like raw FBI files, and disseminating
it. He doesn't conform to any journalistic standard. This is not harmless
fun; it's reckless and ought to be condemned. He ought not to be treated as
an impish character. It's hard to do real reporting in an atmosphere that's
been polluted like this." "I outed the story," boasts Drudge. [see
http://www.drudgereport.com/]
Title: Museums See Images On the Web as Dicey
Source: New York Times (D5)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/081197museums.html
Author: Geanne Rosenberg
Issue: Old vs New Media/Arts
Description: The rise of the Internet is throwing off another balance: the
mission of museums. On one hand they want to make art available to the
public. On the other, they want to protect the value and integrity of art.
So, museum directors must decide whether or not to post works of art on the
Internet which makes copying so easy. The new medium raises concerns of who
controls art in cyberspace. [For more on the arts online see
http://www.openstudio.org/]
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* Media Strategies *
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Title: How to Face-Off With the Enemy...Er, Media
Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/11/002l-081197-idx.html
Author: Saundra Torry
Issue: Media Strategies
Description: A group of judges met during the recent American Bar
Association meeting to discuss relations with the media. Most judges feel
that, "No matter what you tell them, their main mission is to screw you to
the wall." Media consultant Clarence Jones tried to help the judges get past
this Nixonesque view of reporters. He suggested some simple tactics: don't
point the finger of blame at people you must work with/deal with later; use
"feeling words" -- the media evaluates its subjects' level of humanity, and
be honest -- the "seven deadly sins" that can ruin a public official "are
all some variation of lies."
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* Privacy *
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Title: Digital-Age Wiretapping Plan By F.B.I. Draws Opposition
Source: New York Times (D2)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/081197eavesdrop.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Privacy
Description: The Government is trying to define standards for digital voice
and data networks in a way to allow law enforcement agents to eavesdrop on
suspected criminals. The Center for Democracy and Technology
http://www.cdt.org and the Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org plan to petition the Federal Communications Commission
http://www.fcc.org challenging the proposed standard. They argue that law
enforcement will be able to listen to messages when they are authorized to
intercept addressing or signaling data.
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* Arts *
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Title: Museum of American Art Takes High-Tech Leap
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/11/060l-081197-idx.html
Author: Ferdinand Protzman
Issue: Arts
Description: The National Museum of American Art was the first
federally-funded art collection. But he had gotten the reputation of being
more about art history than art's present and future. This summer, however,
the museum has added technology-based exhibits by David Hockney and Nam June
Paik, "the godfather of cyberspace." [see http://www.nmaa.si.edu/]
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* Business News *
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Title: Where Is the Information Technology Payoff?
Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/(A15)
Author: George Melloan
Issue: Info Tech
Description: Modern information technologies -- like ATM machines -- are
becoming commonplace and intranets, extranets, and the Internet are becoming
valuable business tools. But why aren't these gains showing up in
economists' statistics? One theory is that it takes a while for a new
technology to provide big gains -- it took 40 years for boom caused by the
transition to electricity. The author proposes that government taxes and
regulations are eating up the gains brought on by info tech. Or, perhaps IT
is just virtual reality.
Title: Station-rich owners get richer
Source: Broadcasting&Cable (p.31)
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/
Author: Elizabeth Rathbun
Issue: Ownership/Radio Economics
Description: The message on Wall Street is that "the rationale for
consolidation makes sense." The Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened the
door for radio broadcasters to own up to 8 stations in a major market. "The
consolidation that's been taking place...has created clusters of stations
that have been able to compete much more efficiently," says Richard
Rosenstein of Goldman Sachs. By dominating markets, the new clusters are
enjoying higher ratings and, therefore, higher advertising revenues.
Title: Good news for "McPaper"
Source: Washington Post (WashTech p.12)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/11/034l-081197-idx.html
Author: Paul Farhi
Issue: Newspapers
Description: The paper that brought use cooler color graphics and shorter
stories is about to celebrate its 15th anniversary. Once called McPaper, USA
Today "has become more serious, more mature -- more, it seems,
conventional." The paper ranks as the most expensive start-up ever is now a
solid, profitable company. [See http://www.usatoday.com/]
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