DIGITAL TELEVISION
Nov 9 PIAC Meeting (NTIA)
Digital-TV Ads Aim to Shuffle Leadership (WSJ)
MEDIA & POLITICS
Traffic to Election Web Sites Increases (CyberTimes)
Cyber-Chat for Election Junkies (WP)
TELEPHONE
AT&T's Chairman Presses Cable Firms On Phone Ventures (WSJ)
EDTECH
Textbook Publishers Put Extras Online (CyberTimes)
JOBS
Tackling the IT Worker Shortage Crisis (NTIA)
ABC Workers Stage 24-Hour Strike; Lockout Is Response (ChiTrib)
ABC Locks Out 1,500 Strikers (NYT)
Dispute Ends In A Lockout At ABC Inc. (WSJ)
ABC Locks Out 2,200 Workers (WP)
NEWSPAPERS
Newspaper circulation stays level, in general (ChiTrib)
INFOTECH
Connecting the Global Community (NTIA)
ANTITRUST
Gates on Tape: Scant Memory of Key Details (NYT)
Gates Appears Sullen In Trial Videotape (WSJ)
Gates Denies Bullying His Competitors
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DIGITAL TELEVISION
==================
Nov 9 PIAC MEETING
Issue: Digital Television
The next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of
Digital Television Broadcasters is scheduled for November 9, 1998. The
meeting will be held at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center,
Polaris Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC. [For more
information on the Committee's deliberations, see
http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/piac.html including a summary of the last
meeting at http://www.benton.org/Policy/TV/meeting7.html
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/pubintadvcom/novmtg/
DIGITAL-TV ADS AIM TO SHUFFLE LEADERSHIP
Issue: Television
Using a variety of media, some of the major television manufacturers are
promoting television sets for HDTV. The rollout of HDTV programming means
people need special televisions to see the broadcasts, although recent
surveys indicate the public does not know much about the new technology.
This year with HDTV sets priced around $7000 only a few hundred thousand
will be sold compared to 30 million regular televisions. Major TV
manufacturers are creating big advertising campaigns for television or in
magazines in an effort to get a jump on the rest of the market and hoping
the technology will catch on quickly. Panasonic's advertising campaign, for
instance, is its largest in eight years. The two largest manufacturers,
Sony and RCA, are not joining the other companies in promoting HDTV. They
are waiting until they have HDTV sets to sell in a few months.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B16), AUTHOR: Evan Ramstad]
http://www.wsj.com/
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MEDIA & POLITICS
================
TRAFFIC TO ELECTION WEB SITES INCREASES
Issue: Media & Politics
With the growth of the Internet population and the availability of quality
candidate information online, political websites are seeing record-braking
traffic. Raney reports, In general, traffic to election-related Web sites
increases tenfold on Election Day and the day before. Even so,
administrators of several major Web sites that carry election-related
material said the number of visitors so far this year exceeded their
expectations. At America Online, the traffic in the election area was double
the amount predicted. For more information see The Democracy Network
http://www.dnet.org, Project Vote Smarthttp://www.vote-smart.org,
California Voter Foundation http://www.calvoter.org and America Online
http://www.aol.com.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Rebecca Fairley Raney]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/cyber/articles/03traffic.html
CYBER-CHAT FOR ELECTION JUNKIES
Issue: Politics/Internet
America Online and other Internet news sources are vying to provide election
coverage tonight that will be interesting and interactive. In addition to
Peter Jennings and Sam Donaldson, AOL will host online chats with John
Kennedy Jr. and Mary Matalin. Kathleen deLaski of AOL says, "It sounds
strange, but people want to talk about it while they're watching it." For
those who are anxious for content AOL is planning charts, graphs and a text
feed from National Public Radio [for non-subscribers, http://www.AOL.com].
The ABC website [http://www.ABC.com] will have simultaneous coverage of
the election reports. Other television networks and newspapers are also
making special plans for election information and analysis [
http://www.MSNBC.com, http://www.CNN.com,
http://www.Washingtonpost.com, http://www.nytimes.com]. People
preparing for this night's coverage remember election night 1996 when many
Web sites were brought to a crawl by digital traffic jams. [SOURCE:
Washington Post (D1), AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1998-11/03/050r-110398-idx.html
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TELEPHONE
=========
AT&T'S CHAIRMAN PRESSES CABLE FIRMS ON PHONE VENTURES
Issue: Local Telephone
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal prior to his first speech to a
major cable organization Monday, AT&T Corporation Chairman Michael Armstrong
was concerned about television cable companies entering the phone business.
His position was that either they will be partners of AT&T or they will be
rivals. If cable companies are not willing to work with his companies, he
promised to use wireless technology and the local phone lines of the
regional Bells to bring local competition to the market. AT&T is trying to
convince cable companies to sign on with them to create local telephone
service. One company which has already been negotiating with AT&T is Time
Warner, Inc. which has one of the most technologically advanced cable
networks in the country.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B19), AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
http://www.wsj.com/
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EDTECH
======
TEXTBOOK PUBLISHERS PUT EXTRAS ONLINE
Issue: EdTech
College textbook publishers are using the Web to supplement print products
and to increase sales. With online lesson plans, extra chapters, homework,
tests, interactive exercises and "course management systems" for professors,
the goal is to ease the burden on instructors and help students learn more.
Rick Leyh, who founded his own publishing company, Digital Springs Inc.
after 22 years of experience in college textbook publishing wants to use the
Web to publish content that can then be eliminated from the printed
textbooks, "dropping the production costs for the printed products and the
ultimate cost to the student consumer." For example, a publisher might use a
Web site to publish information that needs to be updated frequently. The
textbook can then refer students to the site at relevant points. The Web
"has the potential to improve profit margins, since publishers will not have
the printing, customer service and shipping costs associated with
traditional print instructor items," one publisher said.
[SOURCE: New York Times (CyberTimes), AUTHOR: Jamie Murphy]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/cyber/articles/03textbook.html
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JOBS
====
TACKLING THE IT WORKER SHORTAGE CRISIS
Issue: Jobs
From speech by Larry Irving at a conference on the Shortage of Information
Technology (or IT) Workers: "This conference comes at a critical time. It
was only a week ago that President Clinton signed into law a bill that will
double the number of foreign information technology workers that high-tech
companies can hire over the next few years. High-tech companies lobbied hard
for this legislation because they are facing a crisis. Currently, one out of
every ten (or 346,000) high-tech jobs remains unfilled, and high-tech
companies claim this is because they cannot find enough skilled workers in
America to hold these positions."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/102898itworkers.htm
ABC WORKERS STAGE 24-HOUR STRIKE; LOCKOUT IS RESPONSE (ChiTrib)
ABC LOCKS OUT 1,500 STRIKERS (NYT)
DISPUTE ENDS IN A LOCKOUT AT ABC INC. (WSJ)
ABC LOCKS OUT 2,200 WORKERS (WP)
Issue: Jobs
About 2,000 union employees of ABC have been locked out of their jobs after
they staged a one-day strike yesterday. The off-camera employees stuck
protesting the network's attempt to replace their existing health plan in an
effort to trim costs. ABC will not allow the workers to return until they
guarantee the network that they will provide notice before striking again.
For the past two years, members of The National Association of Broadcast
Employees and Technicians have been working at ABC without a contract. The
networked has pledged to continue broadcasting without interruption.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Jim Kirk]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,SAV-9811030294,00.html
[SOURCE: New York Times (A27), AUTHOR: Monte Williams]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/ny-abc-strikers....
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (C19), AUTHOR: Kyle Pope]
http://www.wsj.com/
[SOURCE: Washington Post (D7), AUTHOR: Lisa de Moraes]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/tv/features/ent001.htm
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NEWSPAPERS
==========
NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION STAYS LEVEL, IN GENERAL
Issue: Newspapers
In an increasingly competition media market, newspapers may be bragging over
just being able to hold their own. Chicago-area-based Audit Bureau of
Circulations released its latest figures on circulation on Monday. Newspaper
sales are down 0.3% for the six months ending Sept 30 when compared to the
same period last year. Sunday paper circulation is down 1%. Major news
events -- like the publication of the Starr report in many papers -- led to
dramatic sales increases, but the overall pattern is modest gains to modest
loses throughout the industry. The USA Today reported the biggest increases
(Hey, Mom, its like reading TV!) and the LA Times had a light increase, but
circulation was down at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.3), AUTHOR: Tim Jones]
http://chicagotribune.com/
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INFOTECH
========
CONNECTING THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
Issue: InfoTech
From speech by Larry Irving: "There is no question that in the last six
years, we have truly observed a revolution in the technological field that
promises to transform global communications and worldwide trade. What I'd
like to talk about tonight is the "evolution of that revolution" and how we
can harness this new potential to promote global goals. To quote Yogi Berra,
"If you don't know where you're going, when you get there you'll be lost."
While we are in the throes of technological change, it is important to
remember that technology is not the end in itself; it is just a tool, a
powerful means to achieve our ideals."
[SOURCE: NTIA]
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/speeches/102998cfr.htm
=========
ANTITRUST
=========
GATES ON TAPE: SCANT MEMORY OF KEY DETAILS (NYT)
GATES APPEARS SULLEN IN TRIAL VIDEOTAPE (WSJ)
GATES DENIES BULLYING HIS COMPETITORS (WP)
Issue: Antitrust
Bill Gates finally made his debut appearance in the Government's antitrust
case against Microsoft, talking on a giant video screen in the D.C.
courtroom. Yesterday, the prosecution showed two hours of taped deposition
in which Gates appeared uncomfortable and evasive. He responded with "I
don't recall" to many questions, and claimed to have no memory of email
messages that he both sent and received. He was vehement, however, in
denying that his company had engaged in any anti-competitive behaviors to
dominate or divide markets.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C8), AUTHOR: Steve Lohr and Joel Brinkley]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/biztech/articles/03soft.html
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: John Wilke and Bryan Gruley]
http://www.wsj.com/
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: Rajiv Chandrasekaran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
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OK folks, let's do it the Chicago way -- VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN!