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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
NTIA Surveys Minority-Owned Broadcasters
Canadian Senate Doing One of the Most Ambitious Media Studies in History
RESEARCH
Call for Papers: Social Determinants of Public Policy in the Information Age
EDTECH
Training Keeps Teachers Ahead of Learning Curve
SPAM
Spam Summit Calls For Global Coalition To Fight Junk E-Mail
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
NTIA SURVEYS MINORITY-OWNED BROADCASTERS
The NTIA announced last week its plan to conduct a survey of minority-owned
commercial broadcasters in an attempt to assess their experiences entering
the industry or expanding operations. Assistant Secretary Nancy J. Victory
said the ensuing report, NTIA's ninth since 1990, will cover the period from
July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002 and will consist of data normally kept by
broadcasters. The survey may be completed via phone or filled out and
delivered by e-mail or fax. NTIA plans a fall release for the report.
SOURCE: National Telecommunications & Information Agency
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/opadhome/mtdpweb/2003survey/webnotice.htm
To view the survey, visit:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/opadhome/mtdpweb/2003survey/02finalcvr.htm
CANADIAN SENATE DOING ONE OF THE MOST AMBITIOUS MEDIA STUDIES IN HISTORY
In April, Canada launched the Senate Communications Committee to study a
range of media issues, including globalization, technological change,
concentration of ownership, convergence and the media's rights and
responsibilities. The relationship between sustainability and public policy
is also an issue of primary concern. "If you want to have a free press,"
Quebec Sen. Joan Fraser says, "then that free press has to be able to
support itself." Canada may already have the highest media concentration in
a western democracy according to Ian Morrison, spokesman for Friends of
Canadian Broadcasting. All of the things the US FCC was considering earlier
this month, "already exist in Canada," he said. When asked what could be
done in Canada now, Ken Rockburn, media-savvy host of Talk Politics, said,
"To be honest, I can't imagine what they could do. I think that the horse
has left the stable already." Some skeptics doubt the Committee's value,
questioning whether the government would actually act on the results of the
study. "Obviously they'll produce a report," said Peter Stockland, editor
of The Gazette in Montreal. "Will that produce a chain reaction or some kind
of catalytic event? Probably not."
SOURCE: The Hill Times; AUTHOR: Molly Amoli K. Shinhat
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/2003/june/30/shinhat/
RESEARCH
CALL FOR PAPERS: SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF PUBLIC POLICY IN THE INFORMATION AGE
The Information Society, a journal of the Indiana University School of
Library and Information Science, is preparing a special issue focused on the
underlying social determinants of public policy in the modern age. The issue
is meant to "encourage the development of revised conceptions of the public
interest appropriate to a transformed industrial and political environment."
TIS calls for interdisciplinary papers that will shed light on current
policy developments and consider them in a context relevant for the future.
Manuscripts are due October 1, 2003 and must be prepared in accordance with
TIS guidelines, which can be found at
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/TIS/contributors/authors.html.
SOURCE: The Information Society
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/TIS/contributors/CFP-determinants.html
EDTECH
TRAINING KEEPS TEACHERS AHEAD OF LEARNING CURVE
More than 16,000 educators are in Seattle this week for the 24th annual
National Educational Computing Conference. They are looking for ways to use
technology to make learning more interesting and directly related to real
life. "The question for us is, 'How do you sustain interest in technology
when the students know more than the teacher?'" said Anthony Gnanarajah,
assistant superintendent of the Archdiocese of Seattle schools. "We want to
use technology in a meaningful way. It shouldn't be a sideshow." In tough
economic times, educators are also looking for more affordable alternatives
to computers, said Martha Rolley, a spokeswoman for Palm. Don Knezek, CEO
of the International Society for Technology in Education, which sponsors the
conference said, "As students' use of technology continues to grow ... we
believe that students should have as much access to technology as they have
to a pencil."
SOURCE: The Seattle Times; AUTHOR: Nguyen Huy Vu
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/135144177_necc02m.html
SPAM
SPAM SUMMIT CALLS FOR GLOBAL COALITION TO FIGHT JUNK E-MAIL
At the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group's Spam Summit, government
officials and security firms from the U.K., the European Union, and the
United States called for cross-border cooperation, including legislation, to
stop the spread of unwanted e-mail messages. According to Francois Lavaste
of Brightmail, a spam filtering software maker, spam will soon reach the
50-50 mark, where one out of every two messages is spam. The 50-50
milestone "means spam has become a problem that has to be dealt with, not
just an annoyance, but a security issue that wastes enterprise time and
resources," he said. Many Europeans look to the US for a solution because
it is seen as the breeding ground for much of the world's junk mail. But
unlike the European "opt-in" approach, where mailers must receive prior
approval from recipients before sending e-mail, US legislation usually
involves the laxer "opt-out" approach, where end users must add their name
to a "no spam" list. The California Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to
the anti-spam movement by ruling that a barrage of disparaging messages does
not constitute trespassing.
SOURCE: Internet Week; AUTHOR: Gregg Keizer
http://www.internetwk.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=10817878
To read more about the recent US spam ruling, visit:
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-1022279.html
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