[8832] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: VERY serious $ Business now done on Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dave Hughes)
Mon Dec 6 13:49:11 1993
From: dave@oldcolo.com (Dave Hughes)
To: washburn@cix.org (Bill Washburn)
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1993 11:43:04 -0700 (MST)
Cc: com-priv@psi.com (compriv)
In-Reply-To: <9312061241.AA16458@Cix.ORG> from "Bill Washburn" at Dec 6, 93 05:40:33 am
Stories about the more searching and serious aspects of the
Internet and telecommunications CAN be also made interesting. Look at the
December 6th issue of US News and World Report which handles
telecomunications in an excellent way. (And on one full color page portrays
a smart, practical, rural-country (Hobson, Montana, pop 200) woman, Cynthia
Denton, who is teaching courses to kids in Elk City Idah by telecom AND is
managing an $880,000 US West- Anneberg grant for math-science reform of
education using technology.)
Now THAT, is both interesting AND informative AND is a hell of a
lot closer to what the Internet can and should portray itself to be used
for than what TIME is titillated about. I can see thousands of teachers and
rural women contacting Cynthia Denton based on that article. Further, I
have it on good authority that the 6 Dec USN&WR approach to the technology
issue is a deliberate editorial effort by that magazine to treat
telecommunications seriously and without the emphasis on cyberpunkism. They
also have their issues, with feedback, online on Compuserve, with graphics,
just as TIME is on America Online. And I got a hunch USN&WR will be delving
into the public policy issues in a depth way.
Here is that 'good authority' - Vic Sussman - what he said to me
after he read my criticism of the TIME story on another system. Extracted
with permission:
Subject: Media coverage of the Net
To: dave@well.sf.ca.us
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 93 22:05:12 EST
Dave--I have read some of your criticisms of Time's Internet story, and I
am going to stick my neck (if not my whole body) here to ask you what you
thought of last week's cover story in U.S. News & World Report? I'm a
Senior Editor there, one of the principal writers of 1.5 of the stories in
that issue, and a guy who spent an hour talking to you in August, at ONE
BBSCON. One of the things we talked about, in fact, was how the media kept
harping on the sex-GIF-alt.weird aspect of the Net, without looking at the
more serious and valuable side.
I already had that view before we talked, but our conversation reinforced
my thoughts. When I got back to USN&WR, I made those points strongly when
we started planning the cover story. Did we accomplish that goal? I think
so, but I'd like to hear from you.
Vic Sussman
You bet I told him they had 'accomplished that goal' having read
the issue even before he e-mailed me.
More power to them. I'll help them in any way I can. Starting by
subscribing.
