DIGITAL DIVIDE
Report: Tune Out, Turn Off, Drop Offline
Nonprofit Nurtures Ways to Wire Low-Income Areas
JOURNALISM & THE INTERNET
White House Officials to Conduct Web Chats
New Online Genre Supplies Lessons on the War in Iraq
PUBLIC MEDIA
Bringing the PEG Principle into the 21st Century
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
Best Wishes to Headlines Diva Rachel Anderson
DIGITAL DIVIDE
REPORT: TUNE OUT, TURN OFF, DROP OFFLINE
The traditional notion of Internet haves and have-nots does not paint a
complete picture, says a new study from the Pew Internet and American Life
Project. Seventeen percent of those surveyed report having been Web users at
one point but have since "dropped out," while 25 percent said that though
they use the Web now they had stopped for a lengthy period of time. The
reasons vary, but respondents typically cite faulty service, broken hardware
and complicated tech manuals as their motive for tuning out. Others report
having access to the Internet but choosing not to make use of it, a
situation characterized by lack of feeling personally empowered.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Kristen Philipkoski]
(http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58498,00.html)
Read the report:
(http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=88)
NONPROFIT NURTURES WAYS TO WIRE LOW-INCOME AREAS
Rey Ramsey, former director of Oregon's Department of Housing and Community
Services, is the co-founder of One Economy Corp., a nonprofit that provides
incentive for low-income people to buy computers and hook up to the Net.
With financial backing from some of the nation's largest technology
companies and foundations, the three-year-old organization helps residents
of affordable housing connect to the Internet at a low cost, and employs
tech-savvy teenagers to help their elders become comfortable with computers.
A full interview with Ramsey is available at the URL below.
[SOURCE: The Oregonian, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Kosseff]
(http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/10504
94241104180.xml)
JOURNALISM & THE INTERNET
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS TO CONDUCT WEB CHATS
In response to complaints from viewers that media questions at press
conferences were too benign, the White House has announced a plan to bring
the role of questioning to the American people. In a series of Web chats
entitled "Ask the White House," senior Bush administration officials will
respond to questions from the public. White House Chief of Staff Andrew
Card, who has declined interviews in the past, will lead off the lineup
tonight at 7pm. Questioners can file their queries via an online form from
the www.whitehouse.gov site. White House Internet Media Director Jimmy Orr
noted that "inappropriate" questions would be discarded.
[SOURCE: The Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dana Milbank]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33906-2003Apr15.html)
NEW ONLINE GENRE SUPPLIES LESSONS ON THE WAR IN IRAQ
Students' demand for information about the conflict in Iraq has spawned a
new breed of educational material on the Web. Described as "part daily
journalism, part education," media companies have teamed with educators to
compose news stories and lesson plans to help teachers initiate class
discussions about current events. PBS' News Hour Extra site
(www.pbs.org/newshour.extra/) has been a leader in this new online genre,
but several companies have been offering online educational materials over
the last decade, including Discovery Channel and CNN.
[SOURCE: The New York Times, AUTHOR: Sam Dillon]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/nyregion/16LESS.html)
PUBLIC MEDIA
BRINGING THE PEG PRINCIPLE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
San Francisco's new digital cable infrastructure must serve public interest
programming in the same new and innovative ways as it will commercial
broadcasters. This was the theme of a statement by the Center for Digital
Democracy's Gary Larson before the city's Land Use Committee of the Board of
Supervisors on Monday. Larson argued that the city should think of the 18mHz
of public, education and government (PEG) channels as more than just one-way
video channels. Creating a high-speed institutional network to link schools,
municipal agencies and libraries while providing Wi-Fi access to underserved
areas is an attainable goal; having providers dedicate some of their new
service offerings, such as video-on-demand, to local non-commercial
productions is also feasible.
[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]
(http://www.democraticmedia.org/resources/filings/SFPEGprinciple.html)
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
BEST WISHES TO HEADLINES DIVA RACHEL ANDERSON
Today marks Rachel Anderson's last official day as Headlines coordinator
here at the Benton Foundation. Rachel has been a key member of the Headlines
team for five years now, and has also served as manager for the Digital
Divide Network and Benton's Sound Partners for Community Health program.
Rachel is leaving Benton to pursue what we know will be a successful career
as a social worker. The entire staff of the Benton Foundation would like to
wish Rachel the best of luck - Headlines won't be the same without you! :-)
[SOURCE: The Benton Foundation Headlines Crew]
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