December 2, 2002

Technological innovations like Internet and expansion of cable and satellite television have allowed media outlets to expand exponentially despite consolidation of media owners, development that would seem to undermine case for public interest advocates who do not want FCC to loosen ownership restrictions on television outlets, radio stations and newspapers; opponents of deregulation still argue that consolidation of media ownership has led to sameness in television and radio programming; proponents say average household has access to so much information in so many different forms that no single company could ever exert undue influence over consumers (M)

More and more men, and some women, are seeking large, chiseled bodies, and taking steroid drugs to achieve that look; use of steroid drugs has spread over years from weight lifters to bodybuilders to elite athletes to high school and college athletes and now to groups, like gay men and gym aficionados, who simply want to improve their appearance; steroid drugs often are illegal but are readily available; steroid use is hard to quantify because federal surveys of adults' drug use do not ask about it; there is huge underground market for anabolic steroids, including ones approved only for horses, and steady traffic by Americans to Mexico where they are sold over counter; medical experts are concerned about what they do not know: who uses drugs, for how long, and what are medical consequences; there have been no rigorous medical studies to provide answers to fundamental questions about long-term safety; photos (L)

Stephen M Case, chairman of AOL Time Warner, will be on hand in New York when Jonathan Miller, new chairman of America Online division, lays out turnaround plan for AOL service, again stepping forward to defend company and himself against directors who want him to resign, company executives who doubt his authority and federal regulators investigating AOL's accounting; he has also been courting Ted Turner, vice chairman, and making unscripted remarks to investors about extent of his culpability for AOL's accounting problems; some observers thought Case would want to lie low for now, and results of his offensive have been mixed; photo (M)

Prosecutors reconsidering whether Harlem teenagers beat and raped a female jogger during a Central Park rampage 13 years ago are also debating whether the teenagers' convictions for other crimes that night should be thrown out, officials said. The jogger was the most seriously injured that night. But eight others were either accosted or beaten. Article, Page B1.

Prosecutors reconsidering whether Harlem teenagers beat and raped a jogger during Central Park rampage 13 years ago debate wheter teenagers' convictions for other crimes committed that night should be thrown out; jogger was most seriously injured of people assaulted on night of April 19, 1989; but eight other people were either accosted or beaten by pack that roamed park for an hour, jumping from shadows to confront runners and bicyclists; photo (M)