Welcome to MSNBC. Our goal is to provide the most engaging and satisfying experience possible. Please take a moment to review the following information in order to maximize your use of all our interactive components, multimedia capabilities, and customizable features.

At MSNBC, all the information you want is close at hand. On the navigation bar at the left of each page, there are links to all sections and to a summary of the top stories from each section. (Links are indicated when your pointer switches from an arrow to a pointing hand.) Simply click the name of the section you want, or go to the story directly from the navigation bar by using the MSNBC News Menu.

	Finding stories quickly with MSNBC News Menu
	Moving through the news
	Finding stories by subject
	Reading a page
	Jumping from MSNBC to other places
	Enjoying multimedia features

Finding stories quickly with MSNBC News Menu
With the MSNBC News Menu, you can find any story from an MSNBC page by moving your pointer over the navigation bar. When the pointer touches a section name, a menu of story headlines appears for that section. You can click any headline to jump straight to the story - or click the section name to go straight to the section's front page. (Requires Microsoft Windows 95 or later, and Internet Explorer 5.0 or later, or Netscape 6.0 or later).

Moving through the news
Links on the navigation bar and in other parts of MSNBC allow you to move freely throughout the site. Here are the best ways to use the links:

		To jump to a section front from any page On the navigation bar, click a section name.
		To jump to a story from the cover or a section front Click a headline or on the central photo.
		To jump to your local news On the navigation bar, click Weather - Local, then click the Your Local News tab. If you have not defined a city, follow the directions on the page that appears, and then click Go.
		To return to the cover page At the upper-left corner of any section front or story page, click the MSNBC logo.

Finding Stories by Subject
You can use one or more search words to find stories in today's edition of the news. Click Find at the bottom of any page, then follow the directions on the page entitled "Search MSNBC."

Reading a page
When you jump to a story page, the first part of the page appears within a scrolling area. To read the entire page, use the vertical scroll bar at the right side of the window. You can scroll through the page, or you can move through screen by screen.

		To scroll a few lines Click a scroll arrow once.
		To scroll continuously Slowly drag the scroll box down or up.
		To jump down one screen Click once in the bar area between the scroll box and the scroll-down arrow.
		To jump up one screen Click once in the bar area between the scroll box and the scroll-up arrow.

Jumping from MSNBC to other places
In most MSNBC stories you will see links representing stories, videos, sound clips, or web sites that relate to the current story. Click the link name to jump to the story, multimedia event, or site.

Use the following free MSNBC personalization tools and services to receive the news in ways that meet your needs. To download a tool or register for a service, go to the MSNBC News Tools page. Click the name of the tool you want and follow the directions.

Personal Front
MSNBC supplies you with the MSNBC cover, but you can also design your own Personal Front containing the subjects that interest you most. Your Personal Front, which appears below the MSNBC cover, might include stock quotes, sports scores, and links to traffic reports and four-day weather forecasts for the city nearest you.

You can personalize your front page by entering your zip code and stock symbols in the boxes along the bottom of the MSNBC cover, or by clicking on "Choose Your News" on the MSNBC News Tools page. You can change your choices as often as you like by clicking Change News Choices, which is located at the top of your Personal Front.

News Alert
MSNBC News Alert flashes an icon on your Windows 95/98 or Windows NT taskbar whenever important news breaks. If you indicate the topics that interest you, MSNBC also announces news articles that match those topics. When you click the flashing icon, News Alert pops up with the headlines with hot links to the stories. For more details, visit the News Alert Help page.

Today's Headlines
MSNBC sends a list of top stories directly to your electronic mailbox at one of three times: 9am ET, 9am PT, or 3pm ET. This way you can review the latest headlines at your convenience. When you are ready to go online, simply click a link to automatically connect to the MSNBC item you selected.

We appreciate your interest in saving our pictures and stories. However, all material within MSNBC is copyrighted and cannot be legally reprinted, republished, duplicated, or used for anything other than personal use without permission from (and perhaps payment to) the holder of the copyright.

To make such arrangements, please contact the appropriate photographer, author, or news service credited in the story.

For more information about our copyright, click the copyright notice below. This notice is also located at the bottom of every MSNBC page.

MSNBC stories are rich in audio and video features. Microsoft's Windows Media Player and the MSNBC Player provide you with streaming video and audio for immediate reception of a wide variety of multimedia broadcasts. If you do not already have Windows Media Player installed on your system, you can download free software enabling you to enjoy these features now. The MSNBC Player is embedded in Windows Media Player version 6.4.

Viewing video clips
If your operating system is Microsoft's Windows 98 Second Edition or higher, then Windows Media Player and our MSNBC Player for Internet Explorer are already installed on your system. If you have an earlier version of Windows or a Macintosh computer, you will need to download the free Microsoft Windows Media Player. Netscape 4.x users may have to download a plug-in also located at Microsoft's Windows Media Player's Download Center.

For Microsoft's Windows Media Player questions and support, please check the Windows Media Player Support and Resources Page.

Listening to audio clips
All of our audio clips use streaming audio technology, where no audio file is downloaded to your computer. Sound begins playing almost immediately after you click the link. On MSNBC.com you may encounter two types of streaming audio technologies: Windows Media and Flash. Both formats require you have the appropriate player installed to hear the audio.

Streaming Quality
No matter what operating system you're using, you must have either Microsoft Windows Media Player or Flash Player software (depending on the link you clicked on) and a modem with a speed of 28.8 Kbps or higher (14.4 Kbps for the Windows 3.x Beta Player, for Audio only Streaming) to hear our streaming audio clips. Modem speed is a key factor in audio quality. While a 28.8 Kbps modem produces adequate sound, using a faster modem allow you to enjoy the best sound possible.

For help with the MSNBC Player using the Microsoft IE browser version 5.x and above, please go to our MSNBC Player help and frequently asked questions page. For help with the MSNBC Player using Netscape and Microsoft IE 4.x browsers on Windows or Mac operating systems, please go to this help and frequently asked questions page.

For the best view of MSNBC pages, use the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Click the picture or text on the right to download your free copy of the browser.

After you open Internet Explorer, choose Fonts from the View menu and then choose Medium to make sure your fonts display correctly.

While you can probably view MSNBC with your current browser, some pages may not look quite right. First, make sure that you have the latest version of the browser. Then, if your browser allows it, try resizing your window. To do this, drag the right side of the window until it lines up with the right edge of the cover page.

MSNBC presents today's news enriched with stunning photography and exciting graphics. However, if you prefer to browse our site more quickly, without the full visual experience, you can turn off the graphics in your browser.

MSNBC affiliates in many locations can now provide your latest local news. Several affiliate channels are participating now, and more will be coming online soon. Be sure to check the local news regularly to see the latest sites.

To see local news, click Local on the navigation bar and then choose the city that interests you.

Send us your views
Take a moment to send us your views of current events. Here are just two of the ways you can express yourself:

On story pages in the Opinions section, there are links inviting you to respond to questions about the story's topic. Click a link and fill out the email form that appears. In the subject line, be sure to enter a brief form of the question before you send us your opinion. Check the Opinions section later and you may find your comments published there.

On many story pages, you will find the Live Vote ballot. To participate, select one of the choices presented on the ballot and click Vote. The ballot will change to show the number of responses received and the percentages reflecting the way that you and other readers voted.

Webmasters: Provide daily news and breaking news headlines to your readers through MSNBC. MSNBC now offers a headlines module that gives you the opportunity to provide daily news from our Internet news site. Click here for more details.

Additional contact information:

Charles Tillinghast
Charles.Tillinghast@MSNBC.com

Because your privacy is important to us, MSNBC operates by these principles:

The MSNBC web site ("Site") is maintained by MSNBC Interactive News, LLC, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052. We can be reached by e-mail at webmaster@msnbc.com.

We explicitly ask when we need information that personally identifies you ("Personal Information"). For example, MSNBC asks for your name and e-mail address if you wish to personalize your Personal Front web page. We also may request that you provide Personal Information as part of a contest or promotion. We use your Personal Information to operate MSNBC, and we may occasionally inform you of new features, services, and products from MSNBC or Microsoft.

We may place a text file called a "cookie" in the browser files of your computer. The cookie itself does not contain Personal Information although it will enable the Site to relate your use of the Site to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided to the Site.

If at any time you believe a Site has not adhered to these principles, please notify us by email at webmaster@msnbc.com and we will use all commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and correct the problem.

If you have questions about this policy, please e-mail us at webmaster@msnbc.com.