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News Release

TELEVISION AND INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES COMBINED TO PROVIDE UNIQUE
INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE OF LANDMARK UNITED NATIONS =B3EARTH
SUMMIT +5=B2

Ottawa, January 9, l997 -- Today it has been announced that two North
American communications innovators will merge the main lanes of the
information superhighway -- television and the Internet -- in support
of a major 1997 UN conference on sustainable development.

WETV, a new Canadian-led network of international broadcasters, and
American based Internet leader Global Exchange Incorporated  (GXI)
will combine television and Internet technologies to provide unique
world access to the =B3Earth Summit + 5=B2 -- a five-year review of
the historic 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED).

At a Special Session of the UN General Assembly next June 23 to 27,
nations will convene again five years after the Earth Summit to assess
how they have done in achieving sustainable development.  Through the
WETV/GXI initiative, citizens on all five continents will be able to
participate in this conference directly, offering views and questions
through a live webcast over the Internet.  This public interaction
with leaders at the conference will be incorporated into WETV
television programming to be aired worldwide through its network of
affiliate broadcasters.  WETV programming will also carry a notice
inviting viewers to visit a new Web site.

Citizens will access the conference and information about =B3Earth
Summit + 5=B2 through the Web site http://www.SustainableDevelopment.ne=
t, under construction by Global Exchange Incorporated.  The Web
site=B9s core content will include news supplied from international
print media organizations, as well as background information (such as
summaries of commitments made at the 1992 Earth Summint and national
progress reports five years later).  Clips from WETV=B9s television
coverage will also be available for access by computer for Web site
visitors.

In parts of the world where Internet use is uncommon, national
governments and non governmental organizations will be urged to help
establish dedicated computer terminals for public use at such places
as libraries and universities.

This global, multimedia, interactive approach to coverage of the UN
General Assembly Special Session and events leading up to it has been
devised to respond to the need of the principal organizer, the United
Nations Division for Sustainable Development, which is cooperating
with WETV and GXI as =B3Multimedia Broadcast Partners=B2.

WETV and GXI have also been chosen to produce multimedia coverage of a
private sector review of the 1992 Earth Summit by non-governmental
organizations and business leaders next March.  The Earth Council, a
non-governmental orgainization created by UNCED Secretary-General,
Maurice Strong, will sponsor that meeting, =B3Rio+5=B2, in Rio de
Janiero, Brazil.

Canada=B9s Foreign Affairs Minister, Lloyd Axworthy supports this
creative North American alliance as the kind of initiative consistent
with Canada=B9s new International Information Strategy . He views it
also as timely in light of last month=B9s recommendations from the
Task Force on Priorities for Canadian Internationalism in the 21st
Century, =B3Connecting With the World=B2, chaired by Mr. Strong. The
Task Force called for Canada to =B3position itself more strategically
around issues relating to knowledge and communication for sustainable
development.=B2 and called for networks that multiply, disseminate and
expand knowledge.

WETV, 342 MacLaren Street, Ottawa ON K2P 0M6, CANADA
Tel: (613) 238-4580 Charles Morrow (ext. 27) Hugh Locke (ext. 19) =80
Fax: (613) 238-5642
E-mail: info@wetv.com =80 Web site: http://www.wetv.com