Radio Show Helps Makes Sense of Cyberspace

Lisa Osborn is a talk-show host on KKLA-FM (99.5), a radio station in Glendale that serves the Valley and Ventura County. However, Osborn’s hourlong show Sunday afternoons is devoted to a competing medium, the Internet, one of only a handful of local radio programs to focus on the topic.

Listening to a radio show about the Internet might seem schizophrenic to some, while to others it makes the whole idea of going online less threatening. One might ask why a radio station is abetting the idea. Other broadcasters, those in television, are already reporting a 10% loss of their most desirable viewers--the young and the better educated--because of the lure of the desktop screen.

To parents concerned about what their kids are being exposed to online, Osborn offers these soothing words: “Parents don’t need to be scared off by media reports that everything online is indecent.” She adds that Internet services themselves and several software companies have already made available blocking mechanisms that parents can install on their computers.

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And just in time, too. Starting this month, telephone companies are jumping into the Internet access business, offering rates that are sure to attract many new users.

The federal government, meanwhile, has enacted laws to punish folks who put material online that might be unsuitable for kids. The industry is responding with its own ratings system and a new crop of programming intended to be kid-appropriate. As of this month, there is even a Disney Online site operating out of Burbank (https://wwwdisney.com).

Regardless of what parents or kids think about cyberspace, we’re moving into it.

DETAILS

* RADIO SHOW: “The Information Network Radio Show” on KKLA 99.5 FM airs from 4 to 5 p.m. Sundays, with host Lisa Osborn.

* BOOK: “Internet for Kids” by Deneen Frazier (Sybex Books, $22.95). This book is so clearly written that adults will find they have a better understanding of the convoluted structure of the Internet.

* INTERNET CONNECTIONS: AT&T; (800) WORLDNET; Pacific Bell (800) 708-INET; GTE (800) GTE-4WCN. The charge for unlimited Internet access will be approximately $20 a month added to your phone bill.

* BLOCKING SOFTWARE: “Surfwatch” from Surfwatch Software Inc., (800) 458-6600; “Cyberpatrol” from Microsystems Software, (508) 879-9000; “Net Nanny” from Trove Investment Corp., (604) 662-8522. * INTERNET PROGRAM RATINGS SYSTEM: The Recreational Software Advisory Council’s (RSAC) rating system for Internet programming, which covers violence, nudity/sex and language, has been adopted by the Microsoft Network (MSN) and is being studied by other Internet service providers. For information about RSAC, call (617) 252-0606 or head to https://www.rsac.org.

* GUIDANCE FOR FAMILIES: The major providers of programming via the Internet, America Online, Compuserve, Prodigy and MSN, plus the telephone companies now entering the field, are in the process of offering “blocking” features that parents can utilize to protect their kids from offensive material. Internet software companies such as Yahoo, Lycos, Magellan and Alta Vista--all of which make search software for finding what you want in cyberspace--offer various filtering features. On a more positive note, they will direct children toward kid-friendly information. Youngsters using Lycos to get to the “Yuckiest Site on the Internet,” for example, will discover all about those creepy crawly bugs their parents hate. It’s actually a clever introduction to entomology. Lycos also posts an on-screen label, called a badge, which designates programs it deems suitable for families. Yahoo provides a kid-oriented Internet program package called “Yahooligans.” Magellan provides a “Green Light” notice on programs it considers free of all objectionable material.