MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Few Shows for Younger Set?
INTERNET
Chinese Web Site Operator Sentenced
WIRELESS
Senate to Hold Rural Wireless Technology Hearing
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Internet Connectivity Drive for Rural Schools
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
FEW SHOWS FOR YOUNGER SET?
A recent study supports the fear that media consolidation will result in
fewer programs on broadcast TV aimed at children. Children Now, an Oakland,
CA organization, will release a report today detailing the effects of media
consolidation in Los Angeles on the amount of time and number of series
dedicated to young viewers. The group found that local broadcasters air 50%
less children's programming than they did five years ago, a trend blamed in
part on government regulations restricting advertisements to children.
Furthermore, the study notes that stations in a duopolistic ownership
structure where twice as likely to make such cuts. Network executives
suggest that the decline in broadcast programming for youth is simply a
reflection of the move of such content to cable, which has specialized
children's networks such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network and is less
concerned about ad revenue.
[SOURCE: SunSpot.net; AUTHOR: Edmund Sanders (LA Times)]
http://www.sunspot.net/features/bal-artslife-more-kidstv20,0,5168408.sto...
oll=bal-features-headlines
INTERNET
CHINESE WEB OPERATOR SENTENCED
A Chinese computer engineer was sentenced to five years in prison for
subversion after a court held him responsible for politically sensitive
articles posted to his Website. Huang Qi, who has been in police custody for
the last three years, started the www.6-4tianwang.com site in 1999 with his
wife as a resource for information on missing people. The site quickly
became a forum for sensitive topics such as the forming of an opposition
party and the banned Falun Gong movement. Huang and his wife argued that
they could not control what was posted to their site. According to the
Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, the ruling party issued a
secret order in April to suppress "enemy efforts" within China, which they
believe led to Huang's sentencing.
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: The Associated Press]
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-19-chinese-sentenced_x.htm
WIRELESS
SENATE TO HOLD RURAL WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY HEARING
The Communications Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science
and Transportation will hold a hearing on the subject of rural wireless
technology this Thursday, May 22, at 2:30pm in room 562 of the Dirksen
Building. Members will hear testimony on the various proposals to use
spectrum to enhance the availability of broadband services in rural areas.
The witness list can be found at the link below.
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=772
DIGITAL DIVIDE
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY DRIVE FOR RURAL SCHOOLS
In the rural South African province of Limpopo, an effort to bridge the
digital divide in schools has also created an opportunity for
sustainability. With the help of telecom giant MTN, high schools in Limpopo
are receiving technology learning center, equipped with PCs, peripheral
hardware and Internet access - standard fare for such efforts. However, MTN
has also built in public phone shops, which has proven a boon for both the
schools and the local residents. Limpopo, like much of rural South Africa,
is starved for telecommunications infrastructure. With the introduction of
the phone shop, residents can go to the school, pay a nominal fee and place
calls. The schools benefit from the revenue - 40% goes to operating expenses
and the rest is funneled back into the school. Additionally, the shops have
created jobs for local residents. As one school's principle enthused, "Our
lives will never be the same."
[SOURCE: AllAfrica.com; AUTHOR: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200305190454.html
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