DIGITAL DIVIDE
States Bypass Rural Internet Obstacles
HEALTH & MEDIA
New EU Guidelines for E-Health Web Sites
Alcohol Ads on TV Find a Young Audience
DIGITAL DIVIDE
STATES BYPASS RURAL INTERNET OBSTACLES
As more US rural residents get online, they are still less likely than their
urban counterparts to have access to high-speed Internet connections.
Barriers such as high cost, low demand, a lack of awareness and
infrastructure, and low return on investment still hinder broadband
deployment in many rural areas. Several state governments have begun to
offer tax incentives, low-interest loans and grants, even allowing local
public-sector entities to enter the broadband business itself, in an attempt
to overcome some of the roadblocks. Virginia, for example, has recently
passed a law that permits local governments to offer telecommunications
services in rural areas where there are no competitive local exchange
carriers. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has
reported that Internet use among rural households grew 24 percent on average
annually from 1998 to 2001, and the percentage of Internet users in rural
areas is 53 percent -- almost even with the national average.
[SOURCE: Federal Computer Week, AUTHOR: Dibya Sarkar]
(http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2002/1216/web-rural-12-19-02.asp)
HEALTH & MEDIA
NEW EU GUIDELINES FOR E-HEALTH WEB SITES
In response to the rapid growth of e-health services across Europe, the
European Commission has released a new set of quality criteria for Web sites
providing health information to EU citizens. The over-arching principle is
that a health-related Web site must state clearly its target audience and
take care to "ensure that both the style and nature of the information, and
its presentation, are appropriate for the chosen audience". According to the
Commission, national and regional health authorities, relevant professional
associations and private medical Web site owners are now expected to
implement the criteria in a manner "appropriate to their Web site and
consumers."
[SOURCE: Europemedia.net]
(http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=14264)
ALCOHOL ADS ON TV FIND A YOUNG AUDIENCE
Young people see more television commercials for alcoholic beverages than
they do for jeans, sneakers or acne creams, according to a new study from a
health policy group. Although the liquor industry says its television ads
are aimed at those aged 21 and older, a report from the Center on Alcohol
Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University found that teenagers are
receiving a disproportionate share of those messages. Alcohol ads, according
to the study, appeared during 13 of the 15 most popular shows among
teenagers. Of the 208,909 alcohol commercials on television in 2001 studied
by the researchers, they found that nearly a quarter of them were more
likely to be seen by teenagers than by adults, despite the voluntary
guidelines minimizing the number of ads viewed by minors.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/18/business/media/18ADCO.html)
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