Sunday, November 30, 2008

Newspapers Win One for a Change


CBS' 60 Minutes has been promoting their expose on Internet gambling all week. The episode will run tonight.

The Washington Post this morning is running the same story.

I was surprised when I began reading the story - at first I assumed it was a large coincidence. I was somehow more surprised when I realized that the story had been done jointly and that 60 Minutes appears to have agreed to let the Post get the story out first.

"Unlike brick-and-mortar casinos that undergo rigorous security checks, many Internet gambling sites operate in a shadowy world of little regulation and even less enforcement, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and CBS's "60 Minutes" has found. Dozens of these sites are located in countries with no reporting requirements. The licensing agencies there essentially operate as pay-as-you-go boutiques, generating millions of dollars in fees while showing little interest in policing rogue sites. "

It's clear that scheduled TV is in the process of largely becoming something else. There are far fewer people tuning in weekly to watch the same thing at the same time. 60 Minutes is one such program, and I still look forward to it. That they agreed to be scooped by a "partner" is tough to comprehend.

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