Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXX. Number 2
See inside
wwwjheportlandobserver.com
M -N et’s
Faces o f
A frica
com petition
True
history o f
Coca Cola
in Mexico
50*
January 12, 2000
Bulk Rate
U.S. Postage
PAID
L o o k fo r P o p e y e 's
S p e c ia l In s id e !
Portland, OR
Permit No. 1610
See inside
ízSFÍ
lií
K ZiÍXi
CL lie f J o r i l a t i a 0
University of Oregon
Knight Library
N
KX
LX i o n
» W l w
<
I
H
AOL, Time Warner merger worries nation
M erger raises
concerns o f giant
m onopolies
$145 billion m erger
betw een AOL, and
Time Warner sends
s to c k
p ric e s
skyrocketing
Asso t
I
<
how they should proceed.
Part o f the reason, o f course, w as that
A O L w as a unique anim al. Not only
w as it the larges, Internet service
provider in the nation, but it also had
a clear brand im age as a w holesom e,
e a s y - to - u s e e n try w a y in to th e
Internet.
AOL
a ls o
h ad
to p - c a lib e r
m anagem ent and m ore credibility on
W all Street than m any o f its peers,
m aking it a m ore viable m arriage
partner for a venerable institution like
T im e Warner.
B u t a n o th e r f a c to r c a u s in g
u n c e r ta in ty fo r th e b ig m e d ia
com panies is that there is still som e
disagreem ent over the necessity o f a
head it up. Until then, it had been
taking piecemeal stakes in a variety o f
s ta rtu p c o m p a n ie s lik e C B S
M arketW atch.com .
C B S ’ m erger partner, V iacom Inc.,
has also dabbled a bit in cyberspace
w ith its M TV and N ick elo d eo n
(Please see 'M e rg e r' p ag e 6)
(Please see 'Worry' page 6)
g
£
a
t
i
|
5
“
>
AC
g
=
America Online 's chairman and chief executive, Steve Case, center, and Time Warner's chairman and chief executive, Gerald Levin, speaks to the
media, Monday, Jan. 10, 2000, in New York. Time Warner, the world’s largest media and entertainment company, is being acquired by America Online
fo r about $166 billion in stock in what would be the biggest corporate merger ever.
,
m edia com pany o w n in g its ow n
distribution channels, especially in
the rapidly evolving w orld o f the
Internet and online m edia.
“ I d o n ’t think anyone know s w hat
the Internet is going to look like over
tim e,” said M errill Lynch analyst
Jessica R e if C ohen. “T rad itio n al
m edia com p an ies w ill d efin itely
participate in the Internet, bu, it’s
uncertain w hether th e y ’ll buy their
w ay in o r d e v e lo p th e ir o w n ”
operations.
For Tim e W arner, the deal provides
top online expertise, a custom er base
and a direction forward. The company
has been rolling up its earlier Net
project. Pathfinder, w hich proved to
be a flop, and in June nam ed its chief
financial officer Richard Bressler to
head up a new Internet charge.
O ther m edia com panies are still just
getting their feet wet. Just one week
prior to the AOL announcement, CBS
took its first m ajor step in forming an
Internet strategy, form ing an online
division and nam ing an executive to
P ress
T he nation may get its news from
m ore places than ever these days.
But the blockbuster m erger o f Time
W arner and Am erica Online, as well
as big media com binations expected
in the future, are raising concerns
about homogenized and diluted news.
“ W hat this m erger invites is the
possibility o f a new era in American
com m unications that sees the end o f
an independent press," said Tom
Rosenstiel, d irectorofthe Project for
Excellence in Journalism.
Not everyone is as alarmed. Richard
E pstein, a law p ro fe sso r at the
U niversity o f C h icag o , said the
I ntemet sti 11 offers a worldwide venue
for dissenting voices. He added the
industry is still diverse enough to
keep itself in check.
“ If there are just two new spapers in
town, one will happily dum p on the
other,” he said.
T h e $ 1 4 5 b illio n sto c k d ea l
announced Monday allies AOL s 22
mi Ilion online subscribers with a news
and entertainm ent conglom erate that
includes CNN, Tim e magazine, TBS,
TNT, Fortune, Sports Illustrated and
Entertainm ent Weekly.
Scott Miller, communications director
at Tim e W arner Inc., said the m erger
will enhance, not limit, the flow o f
inform ation by creating new w ays to
com m unicate. He added the Internet
m akes it im possible for one group to
stifle the news.
“The Internet is the first limitless
medium, and by its very nature, no
single com pany or group can hope to
control it," he said.
AssatiAitJiERths
Like m ost m ajor m edia com panies,
Tim e W arner Inc. did not h av ea firm,
publicly articulated Internet strategy.
Until M onday.
Now, thanks to its massi ve$ 145 billion
merger with America Online Inc., Time
W arner has a com m itted, strong
p a r tn e r fo r its v o y a g e in to
cyberspace.
So far the other main conglom erates
-W alt Disney Co., Viacom Inc.,CB S
Corp, and N ew s Corp. - have been
m ainly going it alone or are still in the
process o f feeling their w ay in the
online w orld.
T heA O L -T im eW am erdealcertainly
raised a lot o f questions about how
the other big players will address the
issues o f the Internet and online
distribution o f m edia in the future.
But it d id n ’t supply clear answ ers for
ivied
David Bragdon takes over position of the Metro Council
V oters p u t D a v id
B ra g d o n in h e a d
o f f ic e o f M e tro
Council
CONTBIBl(W HOM
ior T he T oki lasd Q bserv er
Councilor David Bragdon will take
over as the new presiding officer o f
the M etro Council as the regional
agency heads into a year filled with
challenging issues and decisions.
V oters put Bragdon, w ho is 40, on the
M etro Counc i I a year ago to represent
District 7, w hich includes parts o f
Southeast and Southw est Portland
as w ell as M ilw au k ie. B rag d o n
pledges that he will use his term to
m ove the agency forward to benefit
and serve people throughout the
region.
B ragdon nam ed C o u n c ilo r Ed
W ashington as d ep u ty p resid in g
officer. W ashington outlined three
priorities for M etro in the com ing
year: land use planning that w orks
w ith local ju ris d ic tio n s ' needs, a
transportation financing plan that is
reasonable and program s to help
citizens get involved and to help them
understand M etro.
“ For the past 2 1 years, M etro has
spent much o f its tim e and resources
planning for the future,” Bragdon
Friday
W eather
A few
show ers
said. “ W ell, the future is here, and it
is tim e that we m oved from theory to
reality. Itistim eth atw etu m p ro m ises
into products.”
In the com ing year, M etro plans to
finish work related to the Urban
G row th Boundary, w hich is the line
that surrounds the region and divides
urban areas from farm /forest areas
Bragdon said he w ants that work
com pleted as quickly as possible.
“ We need to focus on the 236,000
acres inside the boundary - not the
few hundred acres around the edge,"
h e s a id . " In s id e is w h e re th e
overw helm ing majority o f our people
live and w ork. We cannot continue to
ignore their concerns and their needs
to satisfy special interests who want
43°F /6°C
38°F/3°C
Through the weekend
Today
Snow and
rain
Thursday
Snow and
rain
t
39°F/4°C
32°F/0°C
Saturday
40°F/4°C
35°F/1°C
Sunday
Cloudy
with rain
O ccaisonal
Rain
43°F/6°C
35°F /1°C
41°F /4°C
3I°F/O °C
us to give priority to their concerns
and their w ell-being.”
A s M etro co n tin u es its w ork,
Bragdon said he believes it is critical
that the citizens feel involved and
respected.
“ W e k n o w th a t M e tro is a
w o rld w id e m o d e l fo r re g io n a l
governance. But how are we doing at
hom e? Do the people in M ilwaukie
andG resham and Hillsboro and North
Portland al I feel a part o f our regional
com m unity?” said Bragdon. "The
answ ers to these questions are up to
us. W e must get our own financial
house in order. We must continue to
act resp o n sib ly . W e m ust m ake
changes where changes are needed.”
T he Council also m ade some key
Inside-A
Week in Review....................2
Central Catholic soccer team
wins national award.................3
Local poet
honored.................................. 3
Portland Housing Center
awarded grant..........................6
appointm ents to regional groups.
Councilors Rod Park. Susan McLain,
and Rod M onroe will serve on the
Metro Policy A dvisory Com mittee - a
group m ade up o f representatives
from the 24 cities. 3 counties and the
m any special districts o f the region.
This group advises M etro on land-
use issues. C ouncilor Jon Kvistad
will chair the Joint Policy Advisory
C om m ittee on Transportation, and
Councilors Rod M onroe and Susan
McL ain will serve with him on that
com mittee. JPA C T is a groupoflocal
e le c te d o f f ic ia ls w h o m a k e
r e c o m m e n d a tio n s
about
transportation planning and allocate
millions ofdollars in state and federal
funds for transportation.
Metro-B
McCoy Academy becomes
charter school..........................1
Stellar Gospel Awards honors
Martin Luther King Jr.............. 3
The true history of Coca Cola
in Mexico............................... 4
El Observador......................... 4
David Bragdon
This Week
in History
On Jan. 13, 1794, President Washington
approved a measure adding two stars and
two stripes to the American flag, follow ing
the admission o f Vermont and Kentucky
to the union. The number o f stripes was
later reduced to 13.
O nJan 14, l900,Puccini’sopera“Tosca"
got a mixed recep, ion at its world premiere
in Rome.
O nJan 1 5 ,1929,civilnghts leader Martin
Luther King Jr. was bom in Atlanta.