Genafspiller søndag den 7. november 2004

Fox News, Media Elite

Date: 08 November 2004

By Jacques Steinberg

Jacques Steinberg

Fox's cable news channel dramatically consolidated its ratings gains of past few years on Election Night, drawing 8.1 million viewers, more than tripling its own election night prime-time performance in 2000 and clobbering other cable news networks; Nielsen Media Research says CBS, ABC and NBC lost millions of viewers; Fox News came closer to CBS in ratings than CNN did to Fox News; top rating among cable news channels will make it harder for Fox News to present self as scrappy underdog and could undercut its claim to serve as alternative to what its executives and some of its on-air talent distainfully call media establishment; chairman Roger Ailes comments on identity crisis, phone interview; ratings graphs; photos (M)

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Fox Has Plans for Business Channel

Date: 08 November 2004

By Jacques Steinberg

Jacques Steinberg

When CNN announced late last month that it was shutting CNNfn, its financial news channel, analysts immediately speculated that the demise would give the Fox News Channel the opening to start the business news outpost its executives had long talked about. During a conference call with analysts last week, Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, the owner of Fox News, confirmed those plans, although not the reasoning.

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Iran Jails More Journalists and Blocks Web Sites

Date: 08 November 2004

By Nazila Fathi

Nazila Fathi

Two Iranian journalists advocating improved rights for women have been arrested in past week as Iran continues crackdown on news media; Mahboubeh Abbas-Gholizadeh, Farzaneh (magazine) editor, and Fereshteh Ghazi, Etemad, daily newpaper journalist, are both held without specific charges being filed; judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimirad reports that arrested journalists and news-related technicians will likely be charged with 'acting against national security, disturbing public mind and insulting sanctities'; types of individuals detained shows Iran's intention to control cyberspace, which has exploded in country, as well as print media (M)

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NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 07 November 2004

INTERNATIONAL 3-24 Shiite Parties Feud in Iraq Established and powerful Shiite parties in Iraq are feuding, causing their leading cleric to try to pull them together in time for the country's first democratic elections, in an effort to ensure that the Shiites clearly dominate the new government. 1 Violence erupted in Samarra, the Iraq city that the Americans thought they had pacified a month ago, as Falluja, the rebel-held city, is on the brink of being invaded by tens of thousands of American soldiers and Marines. 14 An Afghan Election Success The efforts of local officials and American and central support in one of the most troubled provinces in Afghanistan produced a relatively peaceful presidential election, with a high voter turnout, raising hopes for the local and parliamentary elections planned for the spring. 24 9 French Killed in Ivory Coast Aerial bombings by two government warplanes killed nine French peacekeepers, as well as an American citizen, near the northern town of Bouaké. The French retaliated within minutes by shooting down the two Russian-made Sukhoi 25 jets, apparently under orders from French President Jacques Chirac. 22 Iran's Nuclear Case Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of China said that it will oppose efforts aimed at referring Iran's case to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program. In Paris, European diplomats reported that they are making progress in talks with Iran over incentives to curb its nuclear program. 24 Macedonia Faces Referendum Macedonians will vote in a referendum that is likely to determine whether a three-year-old peace agreement to end ethnic violence in the former Yugoslav state will remain in place. 22 NATIONAL 25-39 Bush Prepares for Changes President Bush's aides are preparing the groundwork to move ahead with his plans to overhaul the tax code and Social Security, as cabinet members await signals from him about who will remain on his second-term team, Republican advisers and officials said. 34 Drug Plan Wording The nation's insurance commissioners say the Bush administration has made misleading statements about the new Medicare drug benefit in an effort to persuade people to sign up. 25 Struggling Democrats The Democratic Party emerged from last week's elections struggling over what it stands for, anxious about its political future and bewildered about how to compete with a Republican Party that some Democrats say may be headed for a period of electoral dominance. 1 Supreme Court Life Proceeds Life at the Supreme Court has proceeded without a sense of crisis but with a sense of sadness and uncertainty in the two weeks that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has been treated for thyroid cancer. 25 A Headstone, at Last The grave of an unidentified infant killed in Texas in a hurricane in 1919 and not buried until 1990 now has a headstone. 25 OBITUARIES 48 NEW YORK/REGION 41-47 Party Emerges Triumphant The Working Families Party got a little-known candidate elected as district attorney in Albany County, established itself as an emerging political force in New York State. 46 Filtered Water Now Kosher Plumbers in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens have been summoned to install water filters after rabbis in Brooklyn spotted a tiny crustacean swimming in New York City's tap water last spring that rendered the city's water unkosher. 41 Neediest Cases 50 Chess 47

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NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 08 November 2004

INTERNATIONAL A3-12 U.S. Troops Begin Raid Into Rebel-Held Falluja American troops seized control of two strategic bridges, a hospital and other objectives in Falluja in the first stage of a long-expected invasion of the city, considered the center of the Iraqi insurgency. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi formally proclaimed a state of emergency for 60 days across most of Iraq. A1 Hard-Liners Crack Down in Iran Iran continued its crackdown on journalists, with two arrests in the past week, as well as moving against pro-democracy Web sites, with hundreds of sites blocked in recent months and several arrests made. The crackdown suggests that hard-liners are determined to curtail freedom on cyberspace. A10 Afghan Militants Attempt Talks Militants holding three foreign United Nations workers hostage in Afghanistan said that they had negotiated with Afghan government and United Nations officials, but that the meeting had ended without result. A7 Arafat Aides Will Go to France Yasir Arafat's deputy in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, will go to France to speak to Mr. Arafat's doctors and ascertain the status of his health. Mr. Arafat is variously described as on his death bed or recovering. A9 Albanian Referendum Failing A referendum to end the autonomy granted to Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority appeared headed toward defeat because of insufficient voter turnout. The defeat would be a victory for Macedonia's multiethnic coalition government, which had urged voters to boycott it. A8 Implications of Dutch Murder It has been five days since a Dutch-Moroccan man killed the outspoken filmmaker Theo van Gogh, and intelligence officials say they are investigating a possible international dimension to what many Dutch see as the country's first Islamic terrorist attack. A10 French Protester Killed by Train A French anti-nuclear protester died in eastern France after his leg was severed by a train carrying radioactive waste to Germany. The incident occurred down the rails from where two other anti-nuclear protesters had earlier chained themselves to the track, briefly delaying the train. A4 More French Troops in Abidjan France sent hundreds more troops to the Ivory Coast commercial capital of Abidjan, as government loyalists went on a violent rampage targeting the homes and businesses of French citizens in the city, a day after an air strike by government jets killed 9 French peacekeepers. A3 Mexico Pushes for Reforms Mexico will urge the Bush administration to pay more attention to Latin America in its second term and to move forward on proposals that would give legal status to millions of illegal migrants. A12 NATIONAL A14-19 Fresh Off Victory, Bush Has Hopeful Agenda President Bush's advisers say that his re-election has made him more confident and that he will try to prove there is such a thing as a ''compassionate conservative'' and it's possible to promote democracy in the Middle East. A1 Tribunals at Guantánamo Briskly conducted tribunals constitute the Bush administration's principal answer to the Supreme Court's ruling in June that the detainees who have been imprisoned at Guantánamo deserve a fair hearing in a neutral setting. A1 United States military officials have concluded that at least 11 Chinese held at Guantánamo are eligible for release, but the prisoners have said they do not want to be returned to China, sending American officials scrambling to find a country willing to accept them. A17 Ambitious Environmental Push Congress and the Bush administration are moving ahead with ambitious environmental agendas that include revamping signature laws on air pollution and endangered species and reviving an energy bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration. A14 More State and U.S. Inmates The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study released by the Justice Department. Almost 10 percent of American black men ages 25 to 29 were in prison, the study said. A14 New Talks on Intelligence Chief Congressional negotiators seeking a bill to create the job of national intelligence director say they are resuming their talks in earnest and believe the legislation can be pushed through Congress during this month's lame-duck session. A18 Stocking Helps Weak Heart A mesh stocking pulled up over the wide bottom of a weak heart can help it pump better and even shrink back to a more normal size, according to a study described at an American Heart Association conference. A19 Parishioner Forcibly Removed A two-month-old sit-in campaign by Roman Catholics trying to stop the closings of churches in the Boston Archdiocese led this weekend to a parishioner's being forcibly removed from one of the churches. A19 Gulf War Veteran Sues Army A veteran of the first Persian Gulf War is suing the Army after it ordered him to report for duty 13 years after he was honorably discharged from active duty and eight years after he left the Reserves. He says he completed his eight-year obligation to the Army long ago. A19 OBITUARIES A21 Howard Keel The star of the Hollywood musicals ''Showboat'' and ''Kiss Me Kate'', and later the television show ''Dallas,'' he was 85. A21 NEW YORK/REGION B1-8 Advertisements Seek Reopening of 9/11 Inquiry A $3 million advertising campaign financed by a California millionaire suggests a government cover-up of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One commercial being broadcast in New York and Washington implies that no plane flew into the Pentagon and another suggests that 7 World Trade Center, which collapsed late in the afternoon that day, was detonated from within. B3 Ground Zero Death a Suicide An autopsy and a police investigation confirmed that a Georgia research aide found dead at the World Trade Center site on Saturday had killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head. But much about the death remained a mystery, including the victim's motive and the way the heavily guarded site was penetrated. B1 SPORTSMONDAY D1-10 Woods Falters in Atlanta Retief Goosen captured the PGA Tour Championship with a six-under-par final-round 64 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, while Tiger Woods failed to win the Tour's season-ending event from a position where he used to be unbeatable. D2 Eagles Taste First Defeat The Pittsburgh Steelers handed the Philadelphia Eagles their first defeat of the season in a 27-3 game in which Jerome Bettis rushed for 149 yards. D1 ARTS E1-10 'Incredibles' Opening Weekend The computer-animated family move ''The Incredibles,''the latest joint effort from Pixar and the Walt Disney Company, struck a resounding chord this weekend, taking in an estimated $70.7 million nationwide. The film joined a string of successes for the Pixar-Disney alliance, even as their partnership deteriorates. E3 Met Understudies' Triumph At age 40, Angela M. Brown is ascending to stardom on stage at the Metropolitan Opera as Aida, the Ethiopian princess of the Verdi opera. A1 BUSINESS DAY C1-10 Brokerage Firm Inquiries The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating about a dozen brokerage firms on suspicion that they failed to secure the best available price for stocks they were trading for their customers, according to people who have been briefed on the inquiry. C1 Federal Rates Not a Sure Bet When the Labor Department reported on the employment surge in October, market speculators raised their bets that the Federal Reserve would not pause in its process of gradually raising interest rates. But Fed officials appear to be keeping their options open for the future. C1 Fox: No Longer an Underdog Having presented Fox News as the underdog since its inception , network executives acknowledge that such a tactic becomes trickier when the network is ranked No.1 among cable news channels. C1 Microsoft's Halo 2 In Release The anticipated release of Halo 2, the sequel to Microsoft's bestselling 2000 game, is the latest and perhaps the best indication of how the blockbuster mentality of Hollywood has pervaded the videogame industry. C1 Music With Customized Ads The cable programming company Music Choice plans to display commercials that are selected for each user based on behavior. C1 Business Digest C1 EDITORIAL A22-23 Editorials: More troops for Iraq; Airbus and corporate welfare; Carolyn Curiel on how Hispanics voted. Columns: William Safire and Bob Herbert. Autos D9 Bridge E6 Crossword E8 Metro Diary B2 TV Listings E9 Weather D10

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Voter Polls Raise Traffic

Date: 08 November 2004

By Mark Glassman

Mark Glassman

America has spoken, and it loves voter polls. On Election Day, Web sites that posted the results of surveys of voters as they left polls, which were once available only to journalists, were rewarded with tremendous gains in their hit counts. Slate, Microsoft's online news magazine, crawled into the list of top election news sites by publishing the polls. Slate logged 412,000 visitors on Election Day, up from 153,000 the day before, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Wonkette, the popular Washington Web log, or blog, said it had about 200,000 visitors on Tuesday, up from about 86,000 a day earlier. The Drudge Report, which Nielsen does not list as a news site, had 697,000 visitors, up from 574,000 the day before.

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There Really Is No Business Like Show Business

Date: 07 November 2004

By Laura M. Holson

Laura

Michael Ovitz, testifying at Disney shareholder lawsuit over his huge compensation, portrays Hollywood as place where agents and executives traffic in gossip, where money cements power and greases wheels of art and commerce and where intimidation and threats are cornerstone of deal-making; others in industry bristle at portrait, and it is not clear if Ovitz can mend his tattered image; photo (M)

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Can General Motors Design a Better Future?

Date: 07 November 2004

By Danny Hakim

Danny Hakim

General Motors vice chairman Robert A Lutz discusses his vision for reviving giant automaker's fortunes, saying that restoring bit of buzz from heyday almost half century ago is beginning to take shape even in low-priced cars like Cobalt, interview at company's secretive, sprawling design center north of Detroit; photos; 72-year-old head of product development, who was hired three years ago, earlier dismissed Detroit's new cars and trucks as 'angry kitchen appliances' and promised to bring back vehicles that people would buy on merits without big financial inducements (M)

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How the World Watched the Returns; Oil and Politics

Date: 08 November 2004

By Ana Teresa Torres

Ana Torres

Author Ana Teresa Torres Op-Ed article, assessing presidential election, laments insignificance of Latin America as election issue; says Venezuelans were split in their support, but will continue to sell oil to America (M)

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How Americans Voted: A Political Portrait

Date: 07 November 2004

By Marjorie Connelly

Marjorie Connelly

Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International survey of 13,600 voters shows that Pres Bush held on to votes of most of groups that supported him in 2000, while making inroads among few that did not; finds that most men, whites, regular churchgoers, high earners and conservatives voted for Bush, while women, blacks, Hispanics, young voters, lower paid, moderates and liberals gave John Kerry majority of their votes; graphs; table (M)

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