Advertising
WSJ: Nipped in the Bud
Arts
NYT: Across U.S., Brush Fires Over Money for the Arts
Campaign Finance Reform
NYT: Advocacy Groups Near A Showdown With The Senate
Competition
TelecomAM: FCC's Local Competition Task Force Stirs Up Controversy
Information Technology
TelecomAM: Freedom Fantasy: IT "Has Failed to Fulfill Its Promise"
WSJ: Some Shopping Tips for Families Buying a Back-to-School PC
Old vs. New Media
WSJ: Judge Rules Against Free-Lancers In Lawsuit
Over Electronic Rights
WSJ: Web Journalists Are Finding Themselves Out of the Loop
Radio
WP: C-SPAN Buys Radio Station From UDC
Religion
WP: Disney Boycott Escalated by Baptist Group
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* Advertising *
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Title: Nipped in the Bud
Source: Wall Street Journal (A1)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Sally Goll Beatty
Issue: Advertising
Description: While tobacco and liquor products are attacked, beer still
seems to a "feel-good" image for many Americans. Like RJR Nabisco's Joe
Camel, Anheuser-Busch has used warm, fuzzy characters that are appealing to
children: the "original party animal" Spuds McKenzie, ants, alligators,
penguins, and frogs. There has been no success to ban beer ads even though
surveys show it is more widely abused than distilled spirits. An
Anheuser-Busch spokesman said, "The public understands that beer is
different. Beer is the beverage of moderation" and can be part of a "healthy
lifestyle."
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* Arts *
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Title: Across U.S., Brush Fires Over Money for the Arts
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/arts/nea-localgrants.html
Author: Judith Dobrzynski
Issue: Arts
Description: "It's the new battleground," says Meg Phee of Americans for the
Arts. The conflict over financing the National Endowment for the Arts has
spilled to local support arts institutions. Opponents are disturbed by the
content of art that receives local public financing. [For more on the arts
see Open Studio: The Arts Online http://www.openstudio.org/]
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* Campaign Finance Reform *
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Title: Advocacy Groups Near A Showdown With The Senate
Source: New York Times (A1)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/081497fundraising-subpoenas.html
Author: Katharine Seelye
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: Twenty-six nonprofit advocacy groups have been subpoenaed by
the Senate committee investigating campaign finance. Many are angry at the
scope of documents the committee is asking for and they are implying that
they may not fully comply. Documents requested include confidential strategy
memorandums, correspondence with candidates, and all material related to
publicly debated issues. Subpoenaed groups include the Christian Coalition,
the National Right to Life Committee, the Heritage Foundation, the Better
America Foundation, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the National
Education Association, the Sierra Club, and Emily's List. Some Congressional
staffers are calling the subpoenas a "fishing expedition," looking for
possible new abuses. [For more information on Campaign finance reform see
Destination Democracy
http://www.destinationdemocracy.org]
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* Competition *
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Title: FCC's Local Competition Task Force Stirs Up Controversy
Source: Telecom AM http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Competition
Description: The Federal Communications Commission has received comments on
its Local Exchange Competition task Force. Not surprisingly, long distance
carriers and other entrants into the local service market think its a good
idea. But incumbent carriers seem to think its the work of satan: GTE
contends that the task force's mission is well beyond the commission's
jurisdiction because Congress charged the state commissions with the
responsibility for monitoring local competition . "Its creation reflects a
'sentence first, verdict later' prejudgement of the issues," GTE said. [For
more on phone regulation see http://www.benton.org/Policy/96act/#phone]
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* Information Technology *
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Title: Freedom Fantasy: IT "Has Failed to Fulfill Its Promise"
Source: Telecom AM http://capitol.cappubs.com/am/
Issue: Information Technology
Description: "The productivity gains of the Information Age are just a
myth," says Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley. "There's not a shred of
evidence to show that people are putting out more because of investments in
technology." Roach says a failure to re-design the workplace and educate
workers forms the crux of the problem. For computers to bring sustained
gains in productivity, he explained, they must allow employees to
concentrate more on value-added duties, such as product development,
customer relations, and corporate strategy. That hasn't happened.
Title: Some Shopping Tips for Families Buying a Back-to-School PC
Source: Wall Street Journal (B1)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Walter Mossberg
Issue: Info Tech
Description: Advice from Mossberg's Personal Technology column for people
looking for a decent mid-range PC that will last for at least three years.
Processor: Intel Pentium running at 200 MHz with MMX for games and video.
Memory: 32 megabytes. Cache: 512k. Hard disk: at least 2 gigabytes. Monitor:
17". Modem: 56kbps.
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* Old vs. New Media *
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Title: Judge Rules Against Free-Lancers In Lawsuit Over Electronic Rights
Source: Wall Street Journal (B9)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Frances McMorris
Issue: Copyright/Old vs New Media
Description: A federal judge has ruled that publishers can put free-lance
articles on online and on CD-ROMs without first getting permission from the
writers. A lawyer representing writers said the decision "deprives writers
of a valuable property right that once enabled them to make a living."
Title: Web Journalists Are Finding Themselves Out of the Loop
Source: Wall Street Journal (B5)
http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Rebbecca Quick
Issue: Journalism/Old vs New Media
Description: Journalists working on the Web have trouble getting press kits
and press credentials to major events despite their growing readership. Many
PR people are waiting for press standards to improve on the Web before they
will give these journalists first-class treatment.
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* Radio *
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Title: C-SPAN Buys Radio Station From UDC
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-08/14/155l-081497-idx.html
Author: Valerie Strauss
Issue: Radio
Description: C-SPAN, the cable network that covers Congress, will buy the
University of the District's all jazz station WDCU-FM for $13 million.
C-SPAN plans to change the format of the station to 24 hours/day public
affairs programming by October 1. "There won't be any commercials and there
won't be auctions and there won't be any on-air pitches for money," says
C-SPAN's chief executive Brian Lamb. The Media Access Project's Andrew
Schwartzman says, "This is not a satisfactory resolution." Currently, WDCU
has the fourth-largest black audience of any noncommercial radio outlet in
the country.
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* Religion *
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Title: Disney Boycott Escalated by Baptist Group
Source: Washington Post (A10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Reuter
Issue: Religion
Description: Protesting Disney's "Christian-bashing, family-bashing,
pro-homosexual agenda," a Southern Baptist Convention leader is asking its
15 million members to "refrain from spending at least $100 on Disney
products or services over the next 12 months."
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