The Internet Spurs Legal Debates
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Kathleen McGinn Spring were prepared for the May
22, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
How to Grab Ink for Your Business
Tracie Ecclesine Ivie knows a thing or two about
what gets into the newspaper — and why. A third generation
journalist,
her grandfather owned a weekly newspaper in Maryland. Her parents,
both journalists, met in the NBC newsroom. Ivie herself, who has taken
journalism courses at Cornell, New York University, and the New
School,
has experience as a writer, an editor, and a corporate writer.
On Wednesday, May 29, at 7:30 a.m. Ivie speaks on “How to Connect
with the Media Through Your Writing” at a roundtable discussion
sponsored by the Hunterdon Chamber of Commerce. The roundtable is
on many facets of connectivity, including connecting with clients
on the Internet and in face-to-face encounters, and connecting with
big business. Cost: $20. Call 908-735-5955.
Ivie began her writing career in the corporate world, and then went
out on her own, freelancing for a number of publications, including
Working Woman and Popular Photography. She is the co-author of Country
Inns of America, a popular guide that was the first to send writers
and photographers to sample and evaluate inns, and its sequel, Country
Inns of America Cookbook.
Going from the quaintly retro to technology that was then cutting
edge, Ivie next became contributing editor to Video magazine, writing
about the media at the time when television was in turmoil over the
introduction of VCRs into households. From magazines, she moved on
to newspapers, working for the Hunterdon County Democrat as a writer
and an editor and then editing the Hunterdon Observer. A year and
a half ago, seeking more flexible hours and planning to write a book,
she went out on her own again, working as a freelancer for a number
of New Jersey newspapers.
Ivie’s insider information is a boon to businesses trying to get their
names in print. And, she says, this exposure is a goal for which every
company should strive.
“You know how they say a picture is worth 1,000 words?” she
asks. “Well, an article is worth 25 ads. And it’s free!” She
knows this is true because when she was a writer she would frequently
get calls from people about whom she had written. “They would
say `The phone never stopped ringing.’ Or `The event was sold
out.’”
A feature article, she says, can launch a new business.
Okay, how does a company snag a feature? Partly, Ivie admits, it’s
luck. As an example, she says she was once desperate for a Valentine’s
Day feature. Casting about for ideas, she studied her newspaper’s
events calendar and saw that a husband and wife team were set to sing
at a local event. She called them, and uncovered a love story full
of human interest angles. The singers never expected a feature
article,
and it was just by chance that they got one. That’s the lucky part.
But the story illustrates an even more important point. Had the event
at which the couple was singing not been listed in the paper, she
never would have found them.
Always list every event in every community newspaper, trade paper,
and association newsletter, says Ivie. That is one way to get a
company
name out. Others include:
Know how stories get into a newspaper. Editors get storyideas from press releases, items on Internet sites, phone calls,meetings,reports, invitations, and, says Ivie, conversations overheard in thecheck-out line. The last can be hard to arrange, but the others areeasily mastered.Send press releases for routine news. If a company isintroducing a new product — its fifth in as many months —send the news via a press release. Only call an editor, Ivie counsels,if the news is huge.Call at a convenient time. Editors on deadline are reputedto be a cranky lot. Never, but never, arrive unannounced in a newsroomto tell one that your company is about to add its 13th vice presidentor unveil its 14th variety of ketchup. When calling, be aware ofdeadlines.A good way to find out a particular newspaper’s deadline is to callthe paper’s receptionist and ask. Another way is to find out whatday a weekly paper hits the newsstands, and then count back a dayor two. With dailies, Ivie says a good time to call is in the morning,after reporters have settled in, but before they become too crazy.In any and every case, it is important to ask if the editor orreporteris busy and if it would be convenient for him to speak with you fora few minutes.Target your communication. Study each publication in whichyou would like to see your company’s name. Soon enough, says Ivie,you’ll see an item, slap your head, and say “`That article couldhave been about my company.’” That ah-ha moment means you havefound the section in which items about your company are most likelyto run. Check to see who wrote the article or who edited the section,and address your faxes, E-mails, or phone calls to him.Have something to say. Ivie speaks of four essential”I’s”— imagination, interesting ideas, and information. Theseingredients,she has found, add up to ink. To get some of that ink have somethingto say, and find an irresistible way to say it — in other words,an angle. A company anniversary may be ho-hum, but if the anniversarymakes it the oldest dairy or printing company in the state, or ifthe owner is the fifth generation to milk the cows or run the presses,you have a story that is harder to turn down.Related to the angle is the hook. Editors like hooks. An example couldbe National Dairy Week or the anniversary of the invention of theprinting press. If your company’s big event coincides with such adate, you have a better chance of interesting an editor. Do yourresearch,and find out.Find a charity tie-in. This should not be entirelyself-serving,says Ivie, but putting your business to work for a good cause canget press attention. Donating a portion of proceeds to a healthcharityor working alongside your employees in a community betterment projectcan get press attention. “Editors are cynical and overworked,”says Ivie, “but under it, they can’t resist helping.”Miss no opportunity. Send announcements of every officeopening, staff promotion, new product, charity event, interestingfact about an employee (made the Olympic wrestling team, swam acrossthe Delaware in three minutes, got another patent), anniversary, blooddrive, concert on company grounds, and better-than-expected quarterlyresults. And, Ivie stresses, send all of the above to every singlepublication that might possibly be interested.Remember, ink is valuable.The real secret, perhaps, is that newspapers and trade publicationsneed you as much as you need them. They have all those pages to fill,after all. In that vein, pounce on holidays and on almost any dayin the summer. Big business events tend to dry up at those times,and the news item the editor tossed in the trash in September mayjust be perceived as a great treasure in the days surrounding MemorialDay or the dog days of August.Top Of PageNJ CPAs ConveneThe ninth annual New Jersey Society of Certified PublicAccountants holds its annual convention Wednesday and Thursday, May29 and 30 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus. Cost:$35 for one day, $50 for both days. Call 973-226-4494 or registerat www.njscpa.org.The first session, at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 29, is an economicoverview by Larry Wachtel of Prudential Securities. Wachtel,a much quoted market analyst, speaks on the latest economicdevelopmentsand key trends.Following Wachtel’s talk, concurrent sessions look at “The FiveSteps in Developing a Successful Asset Allocation Program,””DisasterRecovery: Key Considerations to Ensure Survival,” and “PuttingWebsites to Work in Your Small & Mid-Size CPA Practices.” Speakersinclude Gerard Papetti of U.S. Financial Services in Fairfield;Robert Herman and Arthur Nathan of Solution Strategiesin Cranford; Laurence Zuckerman of Accountants World inHauppauge,New York; and Rocco Labella of Ferro, Labella & Zucker inHackensack.Afternoon sessions include “Putting the Internet to Work forYou,””Excel Data Analysis & Financial Reporting Features,””WhatEvery CPA Should Know About Business Insurance,” and “ThePaperless Audit: A View of the Future.” Speakers includeMichaelBodner of Creative Solutions in Dexter, Minnesota; GeorgeMcDonoughof PC Ed in Cranford; Louis Beckerman of Beckerman & Companyin Colonia; and Brett Wier of CCH Tax Compliance.On Thursday, May 30, at 8 a.m. Dana (Rick) Richardsonof Richardson Media & Technologies in New Canaan, Connecticut, speakson “Technology Overview: An Update on Emerging Trends.” Histalks centers on his vision of both the near and longer-term futureas it relates to technologies important to the accounting profession.Topics include a review of last year’s predictions, current trendsin hardware, software, and communications, and emerging technologiesthat will help bring these trends to reality.Top Of PageThe Internet Spurs Legal DebatesThe Internet has brought up-to-the-second radar weatherforecasts, up-to-date movie listings for ‘burgs big enough to supportonly a two-screen theater, Instant Messages from grandma, lots ofporn (rumor has it), and in-depth research on everything from startingan avocado farm to manufacturing a cutting-edge zipper. It has alsobrought legal conundrums and a host of privacy concerns.On Wednesday, May 29, beginning at 8 a.m., at the Frist Campus Center,the Princeton University Program in Law and Public Affairs presentsan all-day conference on “The Future of Internet Regulation: OpenAccess, Private Rights, and Public Values.” Speakers includeNicholasAllard, a partner in Latham & Watkins; Jack Balkin, aprofessorof law at Yale; Viet Dinh, assistant attorney general, officeof legal policy, United States Justice Department; ChristopherEisgruber, director, program in law and politics, PrincetonUniversity;and many more. Cost: Free for Princeton University students, faculty,and staff; $100 for alumni; and $300 for all others. Call609-258-5626.Topics are arranged in four areas of interest:The architecture of the Internet. The pioneers whodesignedthe Internet intended to create an end-to-end network: unlike thetelephone network, the crucial information and computing applicationswould be located on machines of users rather than in the machinesand assets of a centralized carrier. Moreover, the Internet’s coreprotocols and basic standards were all open and non-proprietary. Nosingle firm could own the Internet or manage its destiny.The Internet thus provided a platform where any developer couldintroducenew products or services — including the world wide web itselfor, more recently, Napster — without asking permission of anetworkcoordinator.As the Internet moved from a government-sponsored creation to acommercialvehicle, however, the Internet has developed in ways that threatenits commitment to a pure end-to-end architecture. Whether and howgovernment will regulate the Internet’s architecture presents acriticalchallenge.Fair use and the Internet. Almost everybody agrees thatintellectual property law should preserve and foster a healthy”publicdomain.” This concern with the public domain limits the controlthat artists and inventors can exercise over their creative works.Traditionally, the “fair use” principle has balanced authors’rights and the public domain by allowing the public to reproducecopyrightedmaterial but only for certain purposes.The Internet age has forced lawyers, regulators, and publishers toconfront new issues about the meaning and application of fair use.On the one hand, the Internet lowers the cost of distributinginformationand hence presents an opportunity for dramatic expansion of the publicdomain. On the other hand, the Internet age has also inspiredtechnologiesand legal restrictions that would constitute unprecedentedrestrictionson opportunities for fair use.Filtering and content regulation. Children using theInternetcan find a treasure trove of information for school reports and awide array of child-friendly entertainment sites. They can also callup violent and pornographic images of almost every imaginable kind.These possibilities pose a problem for parents, schools, libraries,and government regulators: to what extent is it desirable — oreven possible — to protect children from the harms of the Internetwhile preserving their access to its benefits?And to what extent is it possible to restrict the freedom of childrenon the Internet without restricting the freedom of adults?Privacy, surveillance, and the Internet. In the heady,early days of the Internet, some users fancied it a uniquely privatemedium of communication. A celebrated New Yorker cartoon, for example,depicted a canine who confided to a friend that he loved the netbecausehe could pretend to be a person: “on the Internet, nobody knowsyou’re a dog!”Internet users soon came to realize, however, that much of theirpersonalinformation was easily observable. Web sites collected data and used”cookies” to track people’s browsing habits; Internet serviceproviders had the capacity to record the communications that flowedthrough their networks; and some employers monitored their employees’E-mail traffic.On the other hand, while ordinary communications and web traffic areeasily observed, encryption technologies have made it possible forpeople to send coded messages not readable by any unintendedrecipients— including law enforcement officers acting with a valid warrant.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
