CBS News Asks '60 Minutes' To Cut Back On Producers
Date: 12 November 2001
By Bill Carter and Jim Rutenberg
Bill Carter
Television news program 60 Minutes is reducing its production staff as part of plan by CBS News to pare its budget in reaction to rising costs of covering war in Afghanistan; cuts are not being called layoffs because some, or perhaps all, of those dropped from 60 Minutes may be reassigned to other news programs; although executives describe move as only affecting handful of staff members, move is seen as significant reflection of economic strains of war coverage and possible decline of program's status; photo (M)
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How the Consortium of News Organizations Conducted the Ballot Review
Date: 12 November 2001
By Ford Fessenden
Ford Fessenden
Method used by ballot review project, commissioned by eight media organizations, to decipher results of disputed balloting in Florida's 2000 presidential vote described; chart (M)
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CNBC Struggles To Stay Relevant; With Stocks No Longer the Big Story, News Viewers Are Looking Elsewhere
Date: 12 November 2001
By Jim Rutenberg
Jim Rutenberg
CNBC, business-news channel that became most-watched information source on cable television during heady 1990's, is in rough seas; its buzz has faded, its ratings are falling, and it is having to rethink its direction as ground shifts beneath it; with Sept 11 terrorist attacks, news has entirely moved away from investment arena, trend that was already under way as economy slowed and stocks slumped; executives say they are trying to broaden network's scope, without losing its identity; chart compares ratings of CNN, Fox News and CNBC before and after Sept 11; photos (M)
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Two French Radio Journalists and a German Are Killed in Taliban Ambush of a Rebel Force
Date: 13 November 2001
By Suzanne Daley
Suzanne Daley
Two French radio journalists and German magazine writer are killed when Taliban forces ambush Northern Alliance forces they are traveling with in northern Afghanistan; they are Johanne Sutton of Radio France International, Pierre Billaud of Radio Tele Luxembourg, and Volker Handloik, freelance writer for Stern magazine; fourth journalist, who survived attack, says group never imagined they were in any danger as they set out to inspect area thought to be free of Taliban; photo (M)
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Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote
Date: 12 November 2001
By Ford Fessenden and John M. Broder
Ford Fessenden
Comprehensive review of uncounted Florida ballots from 2000 presidential election, conducted by consortium of eight news organizations and professional statisticians, indicates George W Bush would have won election even if US Supreme Court allowed statewide manual recount of votes ordered by state Supreme Court; finds, contrary to allegations by partisans of Vice Pres Al Gore, that Supreme Court did not award election to Bush; says that Bush would have retained slender margin if Florida court order to recount more than 43,000 ballots was not reversed by Supreme Court, and that even under strategy Gore pursued at beginning of standoff, of filing suit to force recounts in four predominantly Democratic counties, Bush would have retained lead; says close examination of broader group of rejected ballots than those covered in court decisions shows Gore might have won if courts ordered full statewide recount of all rejected ballots, and if he pursued in court action he publicly advocated of calling on state to count all votes; finds statistical support for complaints of many voters, particularly elderly Democrats in Palm Beach County, who said in interviews after election that confusing ballot designs may have led them to spoil their ballots by voting for more than one candidate; charts; photos (M)
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Ballots Cast by Blacks and Older Voters Were Tossed in Far Greater Numbers
Date: 12 November 2001
By Ford Fessenden
Ford Fessenden
Statistical review of balloting in Florida's disputed 2000 presidential vote finds that black precincts had more than three times as many rejected ballots as white precincts, disparity that persists even after accounting for effects of income, education and bad ballot design; charts (M)
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SCIENTIFIC-ATLANTA TO ACQUIRE BARCONET
Date: 13 November 2001
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Scientific-Atlanta Inc, maker of cable television set-top boxes, will purchase communications equipment maker, BarcoNet NV, for about $154 million to add to its presence in Europe and Asia (S)
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VIROPHARMA TO HALT TRIALS OF HEPATITIS TREATMENT
Date: 13 November 2001
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
ViroPharma Inc will halt human trials for hepatitis C treatment that company was developing with American Home Products Corp; compound did not work as well as expected (S)
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LOEWS CINEPLEX FILES BANKRUPTCY RECOVERY PLAN
Date: 13 November 2001
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp files Chapter 11 recovery plan to give Onex Corp and Oaktree Capital Management LLC full ownership of company and allow it to emerge from bankruptcy (S)
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HAYES LEMMERZ TO CLOSE AUTO WHEEL PLANT IN KENTUCKY
Date: 13 November 2001
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Hayes Lemmerz International Inc, leading maker of automobile wheels, will close plant in Bowling Green, Ky, by mid-2002 and eliminate about 235 jobs to reduce costs as vehicle output falls (S)
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