A universal model for the normative evaluation of internet information

Beginning with the initial premise that as the Internet has a global character, the paper will argue that the normative evaluation of digital information on the Internet necessitates an evaluative model that is itself universal and global in character (I agree, therefore, with Gorniak- Kocikowska’s claim that because of its global nature “computer ethics has to be regarded as global ethics”. (Gorniak-Kocikowska, Science and Engineering Ethics, 1996). The paper will show that information has a dual normative structure that commits all disseminators of information to both epistemological and ethical norms that are in principle universal and thus global in application. Based on this dual normative characterization of information the paper will seek to demonstrate: (1) that information and internet information (interformation) specifically, as a process and product of communication, has an inherent normative structure that commits its producers, disseminators, communicators and users, everyone in fact that deals with information, to certain mandatory epistemological and ethical commitments; and (2) that the negligent or purposeful abuse of information in violation of the epistemological and ethical commitments to which its inherent normative structure gives rise is also a violation of universal rights to freedom and wellbeing to which all agents are entitled by virtue of being agents, and in particular informational agents.     

The Earlier the Better? Pausing for Thought …

Is earlier intervention always superior? Using two complementary forms of meta-analysis, Gardner and colleagues find no support for the “earlier is better” hypothesis in outcomes of parenting programs for child behavior problems across the 2–11 year age range. This commentary explores possible methodological and substantive reasons for the pattern of their findings. We need additional careful analyses of this kind, assessing age variations in intervention effects across broader age ranges, and in other developmental domains, for strong tests of the “earlier is better” hypothesis. At this stage, however, Gardner et al.'s findings give us some pause for thought.     

European Mass Media

John Sandford's The Mass Media of the German-Speaking Countries (London: Oswald Wolff; and Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1976---price not given, paper)

Publizistik. Vierteljahreshefte fur Kommunikationsforschung (= subtitle, meaning Quarterly for Communication Research)

Rundfunk und Fernsehen (Broadcasting and Television)

Femselsen und Bildung (Television and Education)

Communicatio Socialis

Broadcast Receiving Fees in France, by Eugene Pons (EBU Monograph No. 7, 194 pp., 1969, 20 Swiss francs or about $5.00, paper)

German Radio and Television: Organization and Economic Basis, by Hans Brack (EBU Monograph No. 6, 68 pp., 1968, 8 Sw. Fr. or about $2.00, paper)

Broadcasting in the Space Age, by Olaf Rydbeck and Edward W. Ploman (EBU Monograph No. 5, 53 pp., 8 Sw. Fr. or about $2.00, paper)

Advertising on Radio and Television (EBU Monograph No. 4, 37 pp., 1966, 5 Sw. Fr. or about $1.00)

Financial Aspects of Broadcasting, by Bruno Vasari (EBU Monograph No. 3, 45 pp., 1965, 4 Sw. Fr. or a bit less than $1.00, paper)

Television for Children and Young People, by J.D. Halloran and P.R.C. Elliott (134 pp., 1970, 10 Sw. Fr. or about $2.50, paper)

Annual Seminar for Producers and Directors of Adult Education by Television (12th Seminar, 1974, 79 pp., 5 Sw. Fr. or about $1.00)

Annual Seminar for Producers and Directors of School Television (11th Seminar, 1973, 79 pp., 5 Sw. Fr. or about $1.00, paper)

Workshops for Producers and Directors of Television Programs for Children (4th Workshop, 1974, 48 pp., 8 Sw. Fr. or about $2.00, paper)

International Forum of Light Music in Radio (1971, 1973, and 1975 editions available, 5 Sw. Fr. each or about $1.00 each, paper)

The Evolution of the EBU through its Statutes from 1950 to 1976 (EBU Monograph No. 11, 1977, 25 Sw. Fr. or something over $5.00, paper)

International Conference of States on the Protection of Phonograms (Paris: Unesco; and New York: Unipub, 1975---$34.75, paper)     

Mass Media

Robert C. Toll's On with the Show: The First Century of Show Business in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1976---$19.95)

Edwin Fisher, et al., eds. The Art in Cartooning: Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons (New York : Scribner's, 1975---$14.95)

Vaughncille Molden's Telecommunications and Black Americans: A Survey of Ownership, Participation and Control (Center for Development Technology and Program in Technology and Human Affairs, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. 63130-48.50, paper)

Working Papers in Culture and Communication (Department of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. 19122-- $2.00, paper)