"October 18, 2005
Broadband's Crawl

An excellent article in today's Salon magazine provides a thorough assessment of the state of broadband access in the United States. The U.S. continues to fall behind other countries in broadband penetration. The problem, according to the article, stems from federal mismanagement of telecom policy and misrepresentation of the current levels of broadband access and quality.

The digital divide seems to widen with each advance in technology -- even when a technology emerges that could make providing access cheaper and easier. The divide runs along familiar lines of class and geography (rural vs. urban), and the line between regions that can attract new businesses and residents and those that can't. It can also be seen as a divide between those with better access to news and information and those without access.

The article also puts in fresh perspective efforts by municipalities -- San Francisco being the most recent and prominent -- to provide broadband Internet services directly to their citizens. Telecom companies claim that this stifles the competition that can lead to lower prices and better quality. And yet most Americans have neither."

Members of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., qualify for discounts on geographic information system (GIS) software from ESRI, the publisher of ArcView. ESRI is offering ArcView GIS single use licenses at no charge to IRE members who agree to attend a GIS training event conducted by IRE and NICAR or ESRI. Purchasers must sign a three-year maintenance agreement with ESRI at a cost of $ 400 a year, with the first year's fee waived. ArcView, the GIS program most widely used by journalists, lists for $1,500. During the maintenance agreement period, purchasers will receive software upgrades and technical support.

IRE members must attend a qualifying training session within one year of entering the agreement with ESRI, which is based in Redlands Calif., and has been a regular exhibitor at the annual IRE and CAR conferences. Qualifying sessions are IRE and NICAR's Mapping Data for News Stories mini-boot camp, offered two times a year with the next scheduled for Jan. 6-8, 2006; an online ESRI Virtual Campus course, and ESRI classroom training.

For more information about IRE and NICAR training visit IRE Training . For more information about ESRI training see www.esri.com/training_events.html. IRE members can also purchase discounted extension programs, which expand the analytical capabilities of ArcView. The single-license cost for Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst and Geostatistical Analyst is $1,500 each. That is a 40 percent discount off the list price of $2,500 each. To obtain an order form, please contact John Green, membership services coordinator for IRE, at jgreen@ire.org or 573-882-2772.