WebProNews

Americans' Trust Of News Media At New Low

Americans' perception of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades, according to a new report from Pew Research. Just 29 percent of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts right, while 63 percent say that news stories are often inaccurate. In the initial survey by Pew about the news media performance in 1985, 55 percent said news stories were accurate while 34 percent said they were inaccurate.

U.S. Copyright Office Objects To Google Books Settlement

More and more, it's shaping up to be Google versus the world as far as the proposed Google Books settlement is concerned.  In fact, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office sided against Google today, and she seemed to consider that scenario is a real possibility.

Vietnam Clamps Down On Bloggers And Online Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is condemning the recent arrests of online journalists and political bloggers in Vietnam. The crackdown comes as online journalists and bloggers independent reporting challenges Vietnam's tightly censored state-run media's monopoly on local news and opinion.

Missouri Asks For $142M In Stimulus For Broadband Access

Missouri is applying for $142 million in federal stimulus money to help expand the reach of broadband Internet access to rural areas in the state. The initiative would expand broadband accessibility to 91.5 percent of the total population, a significant increase from the current projected accessibility of 79.7 percent.

State Websites Failing To Provide Details On Stimulus

While some states have created solid websites to provide information about their portion of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), most are failing to effectively educate taxpayers about the impact of economic stimulus spending, according to a report from Good Jobs First, an economic development research group.

Senators Push For Ban On Texting While Driving

A group of Democratic senators are co-sponsoring legislation that would ban texting while driving nationwide. The four senators co-sponsoring the legislation - Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.). The legislation would force states to ban texting while driving or risk losing all federal highway funds. The legislation is set to be announced at a press conference today.

Twitter Blocked In White House

Twitter may not have as many friends in high places as its fans imagined.  Robert Gibbs recently let slip that Twitter is blocked on White House computers. This news seems a bit odd, considering that the BarackObama Twitter account was used so much prior to the election, and that it still gets the occasional update.  There's an official whitehouse account that sees a fair amount of action, as well.

Google’s Lobbying Expenditures Up 30 Percent YOY

Our elected representatives might want to get used to running into Googlers around Washington.  A fresh lobbying report indicates that Google’s ramped up its efforts in this area by quite a bit. Between April 1st and June 30th, Google spent $950,000 on lobbying activities.  That represents an increase of 8.0 percent compared to the $880,000 it spent last quarter, and an increase of a whopping 30.1 percent compared to the $730,000 it spent during the second quarter of 2008.

Privacy Commissioner Scolds Facebook, Sets Deadline

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada isn't campaigning against Facebook; representatives have actually said some very nice things about the company and social networks in general.  Just the same, following an investigation, they believe Facebook isn't meeting certain standards.

Google Solicits National Broadband Plan Ideas

It's probably not much of a stretch to suggest that the average WebProNews reader spends more than half of his waking hours in front of a computer.  The National Broadband Plan is liable to affect you, then, and if you'd like to shape it, Google's giving you a chance. Here's a quick refresher before we get to the new development: the National Broadband Plan is something the FCC is supposed to submit to Congress by February of next year.  The goal of the Plan is to make high-speed Internet access more common in the U.S.