Network executives head for Capitol Hill

It'll be an affair to remember for TV executives on Feb. 14 when they meet with Rep. Billy Tauzin (R) of Louisiana -chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee -who wants to get to the bottom of the election-night debacle. Sure to come up at the Valentine's Day hearing is use of the Voter News Service, which was created by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and the Associated Press to reduce the costs of exit-polling and tallying returns. CNN and CBS have already suggested they will pull out of VNS if suitable changes aren't made to it. Last Friday, CNN became the latest network to implement changes in its own approach, including joining the other networks in vowing not to call races in states before their polls are closed. In a report commissioned by the cable channel, three respected journalists found CNN's election-night coverage wanting, and charged all the networks with "recklessly endangering the electoral process, the political life of the country, and their own credibility."

Salon.com goes audio

Webzine Salon.com is hitting the airwaves on March 1, planning to be as opinionated on radio as it is in cyberspace. Salon.com Radio will air on more than 100 Public Radio International stations across the US, the website reports. The weekly, hour-long show will be available in markets including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and as streamed audio on Salon's site.

Internet beats TV

If you had to choose between your TV and your home Internet hook up, which would you pick? That's one of the questions radio-ratings company Arbitron and Edison Media Research asked Americans this past month. The results: One-third of those with Internet access at home would keep it and dump TV if forced to choose. Young people in particular are keen on the idea: 47 percent of those between 12 and 24 would give up TV and keep the Net; 67 percent of Americans 25 and older would ditch the mouse.

Move over 'Parade'

"American Profile," a weekly insert modeled after "Parade" and "USA Weekend," is sweeping the small-paper market. Launched last April, the magazine with homespun fare is in 568 community papers - with a circulation of 2.7 million -making it the second-largest launch in 2000 (after Oprah's "O", of course).

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society