The first minute of the new year will see the instant declassification of a mountain of previously secret government documents in what is set to become an annual event under a "25-year law" passed by the Clinton Administration but that is only now coming into effect, reports the New York Times. The somewhat surprising decision by the Bush administration to uphold the law -- after two three-year delays -- which places a quarter-century limit on the classified status of most government documents, is being lauded by open-government advocates and historians alike. "Americans need to know this history, and the history is in those documents," Anna K. Nelson, a historian at American University, tells the Times.
The publication of a letter by Virginia Congressman Virgil H. Goode, Jr. in the Charlottesville alt-weekly has led to widespread coverage and condemnation, including commentary by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and The New York Times. In the constituent letter, Goode expressed negative views toward Muslim immigrants and the Koran, warning that "if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims [like recently elected Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison] elected to office." Goode's press secretary later told the paper that the Congressman has no intention of apologizing and stands by the letter.
Village Voice Media's headquarter's paper has been threatened with a felony indictment unless it removes the home address of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio from its Web site and agrees to never publish the address of a law enforcement officer online again, the paper's Stephen Lemons reports. The threat comes more than two years after the paper first published Arpaio's address in an article intended "to show the absurdity of [the sheriff's] home address' being readily available to any idiot with access to a computer when [he] used the very same law to justify hiding information on commercial real estate he owns." The alt-weekly has long been a critic of Arpaio, who it accuses of corruption and having a "vindictive streak." The paper's cover this week depicts an envelope containing a Christmas card addressed to the Sheriff at his home.
The struggling car giant will roll out a boundary-pushing campaign for its new model this week, reports Ad Age. The online component was developed in conjunction with Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com and targets 30-somethings with tropes similar to those found in social networking forums. The campaign "really represents where advertising on the web is going -- into much more participatory media that lets consumers be part of the experience," says Gayle Troberman, general manager of MSN's Branded Entertainment unit. Another imminent Ford web initiative, www.fordurban.com, features downloadable music, creative videos and consumer chat rooms.
Silicon Valley start-up Attributor Corp. has begun testing a system capable of scanning the entire Web for copyrighted audio, video, images and text, reports the Wall Street Journal. The idea is to make it easier for owners of copyrighted content to monitor cases of infringement and request that violators remove content or pony up for rights. "We believe that we can provide an infrastructure that will align the interests of content owners, content hosts and search engines around legitimate syndication and monetization," says Jim Brock, Attributor's chief executive.
More than two-thirds of Internet users who were surveyed view online video content, and a majority of them remember online video ads, finds a new study by Burst Media. One in four of the users also said they prefer video to "inert online ads," according to a representative of the company. Burst Media is an Internet advertising network.
Management at the Gray Lady is considering launching a free, youth-oriented tabloid, Times Executive Editor Bill Keller confirms in a New York Observer report. While Keller says it is "way too early to talk about it," the Times drawing boards are reportedly busy with ideas for the prototype. The tabloid, which will need at least another six months to see the light of day, would be heavy on listings and would compete with The Village Voice and New York Press, among others, a Times source tells the Observer.
Mark another milestone in the shift from print to processor: Advertisers will spend $5.9 billion in online help wanted ads this year, compared with $5.4 billion in newspaper ads, says a new report from Borrell Associates. The research firm expects the online recruitment ad surge to continue, reaching $10 billion by 2011, reports Editor & Publisher. The biggest hits will be taken by the major dailies, which are expected to lose 20% of their annual recruitment revenue in the next five years. Small newspapers, however, are expected to fare better due to lower prices and more targeted readerships, the report says.
