Dear Members,

I found the following very interesting.  For those that don't subscribe to
ICONOCAST, I highly recommend as I find the quality of their weekly
newsletter of very high standard plus most often providing a very balanced
view.

To subscribe, visit:http://www.iconocast.com

There is no doubt in my mind that the media, more so print, continue their
vested interest in just telling the 'not so good' stories.  Helps to
influence the inroads being made by the internet into various forms of
media.  I don't come from the school that sees the Internet taking over,
however, it will impact in various ways and even more so over the coming
years as reality returns to the Internet market.

I read a USA article in the last few months (sorry, can't recall where)
outlining that print media was up last reporting year in overall terms of
revenue, however, classified income was down.

The problem is that underlying the revenue levels was massive amounts of
advertising by now fallen Internet players plus all players are trimming
back on general advertising.  So, stand by for more negative press as these
guys feel the pinch.

Kerry Henry
Click On Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: Iconocast <Iconocast2&#167;iconocast.flonetwork.com>
To: khenry&#167;clickon.au.com <khenry§clickon.au.com>
Date: Wednesday, 13 December 2000 11:14
Subject: ICONOCAST response to ""60 Minutes"" story


>I thought you would be very interested in a response
>ICONOCAST sent to "60 Minutes" concerning its story this
>past Sunday, entitled "Dotcom Millionaires?" (for your
>convenience an abbreviated transcript is provided at the
>bottom of this e-mail).
>
>Dear Steve Kroft:
>
>Your "Dotcom Millionaires" story this week needs some
>context. While it's true that 140 dotcoms have folded,
>viewers should know that nearly 1,700 were funded in 1999
>alone, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
>
>Moreover, venture capital investment through third quarter
>of this year amounted to $80 billion, nearly half of which
>flowed into Internet-related companies, reports Venture
>Economics.
>
>And the media has widely quoted Challenger, Gray &
>Christmas' projection that dotcoms lost 31,056 jobs. Yet I
>see no mention of the fact that the Internet created some
>2.3 million jobs in the past seven years (source:
>University of Texas/Cisco study). In my book, 1.4%
>unemployment is not too shabby.
>
>I must commend you, however, for being the first to point
>out that the media fed Wall Street's investment frenzy.
>This explains why so many marginal companies are now being
>shuttered. But a few ill-conceived business models should
>not spoil it for the rest of us.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Michael Tchong
>Editor & CEO
>ICONOCAST Inc.
>
>
>Here's a transcript of the show's introductory segment:
>
>DOT-COM MILLIONAIRES?
>
>STEVE KROFT, co-host:
>
>It wasn't long ago that dot-com companies were touted as the
>engine that would drive the new economy and the stock market
>to ever greater heights. These innovative enterprises,
>which promised to deliver everything from pet supplies to
>Proust over the Internet, were not only going to make a lot
>of investors rich, they were going to change the very fabric
>of our lives. No more newspapers, no more television, no
>more trips to the mall. The world would be available at your
>computer terminal. At least that was Wall Street's vision of
>the future just seven or eight months ago. Now it looks more
>like an hallucination. E-businesses are collapsing on a
>daily basis, and disappearing with them into the virtual
>netherworld are billions of dollars in capital, tens of
>thousands of jobs, and hundreds of former tycoons. And the
>carnage is just beginning...