Internet Use is Up!

Stephen Ohlemacher:

Internet usage increased with education, income and the presence of school-age children at home, the report found. It was lowest among adults who have not graduated from high school.

School-age children are most likely to use home computers to play games or do school work. Adults are most likely to use home computers for e-mail, to search for information about products and services, and to read news, weather and sports information.

The report is based on data from the bureau’s October 2003 Current Population Survey, the country’s primary source of labor statistics. It is the bureau’s latest information on computer and Internet use, though it is two years old and experts say Americans’ computer habits are quickly evolving.

“We actually think the (Internet) penetration in households is higher,” said Greg Stuart, president and CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau, which helps online companies increase revenue.

Media “Titans” An Interview with GE/NBC’s Bob Wright

John Battelle:

nd he might not even be done yet: In July the New York Post reported that NBC Universal is in talks to acquire DreamWorks SKG, a move that would beef up its movie portfolio.
So far, sticking with content looks like a smart bet. Even as NBC plummeted to fourth place in viewership, cable and film earnings kept the company, which is 80 percent owned by GE (GE) and 20 percent by Vivendi, growing in the double digits. But Wright has more on his mind than a replacement for Friends. Electronic piracy, the bane of the music industry, is starting to hit movies. Google, TiVo, and Yahoo are threatening to upend the video business. Wright still believes he’s made the right bet — content, he says, will have value, no matter who distributes it. But he openly admits that the Internet is making things “awkward” for him. Business 2.0 met with Wright to find out how he plans to sort things out.

1958 Edward R. Murrow Speech

Edward R. Murrow:

Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.

via Xeni

Bob Iger and Apple Save Network TV?

Mark Cuban:

On the ITunes Store, you can buy the latest episode to Lost and some other shows the day after they air on Network TV. in this case ABC, for $1.99. Sounds simple and reasonable. Not anything earth shattering right ?

I think this is correct – but – I’m not sure about the pricing. Some of it is not worth much, while other shows/documentaries (PBS?) are quite well done.

Listenomics

Bob Garfield:

Why? Because the information society is reversing flow. What began as an experiment among a few software nerds has, thanks to the Internet, expanded into other disciplines, notably media and law. But it won’t stop there. Advertising. Branding. Distribution. Consumer research. Product development. Manufacturing. They will all be turned upside down as the despotism of the executive suite gives way to the will, and wisdom, of the masses in a new commercial and cultural epoch, namely: The Open Source Revolution.

“We’re tired of the 20th-century model of being passive consumers of mass content,” says J.D. Lasica, author of Darknet: Hollywood’s War Against the Digital Generation. “We’re transitioning to a new kind of culture. More participatory, more open, more interactive where the locus of control passes.”

Lasica, who believes for example that by now Mickey Mouse should be in the public domain, doesn’t think he’s demanding anything outlandish.

Some Clipping at the Newspapers

Katharine Q. Seeelye:

“The basic newspaper, when you take out the Internet and all the other targeted publications that people are starting, is just not growing,” said P. Anthony Ridder, chairman and chief executive of Knight Ridder, which owns The Inquirer. “Newsprint costs are up significantly. Wages and health benefits are up. So you have the cost pressure on the one hand and the lack of revenue growth on the other. That’s really the problem, and everyone is having essentially the same problem.”

The Power and Politics of Blogs

Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell (PDF):

Weblogs occupy an increasingly important place in American politics. Their influence presents a puzzle: given the disparity in resources and organization vis-à-vis other actors, how can a collection of decentralized, nonprofit, contrarian, and discordant websites exercise any influence over political and policy outputs? This paper answers that question by focusing on two important aspects of the “blogosphere”: the distribution of readers across the array of blogs, and the interactions between significant blogs and traditional media outlets. Under specific circumstances – when key weblogs focus on a new or neglected issue – blogs can socially construct an agenda or interpretive frame that acts as a focal point for mainstream media, shaping and constraining the larger political debate.

Via Robin Good

Knutsen Raises the Local Media Coverage Bar – Quite a Bit!

Kristian Knutsen Live Blogs tonight’s Madison City Council Meeting on Isthmus’ The Daily Page:

Tonight’s Madison City Council meeting is likely biggest of the season, as they will take up several items regarding the tavern smoking ban that was enacted on July 1. Since that time, various tavern owners and their political and media allies have inveighed against that ordinance, making it into the hottest and most divisive issue in the city at least since the casino referendum last year. In fact, the amount of interest this has generated probably surpasses that, generating more media heat and public interest in any city policy in years. In addition, the city’s lobbying regs are on the table as well, an issue that has also been a subject of considerable discussion.

An amazing example of sausage making at its finest.