Nov 17, 2008 (Obama Knocks at FCC Door)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2008
Follow Transition news at http://benton.org/headlines/transition_2008-09
On Saturday we posted a Weekend Update at http://benton.org/node/18954
POLICYMAKERS
Obama Knocks at FCC Door
So Long Mr. Martin, So Long a la Carte?
Obama Wrote Federal Staffers About His Goals
Obama Dips Into Think Tank for Talent
A Power Duo, Dingells Battle on Two Fronts
JOURNALISM
Rather's Lawsuit Shows Role of GOP in Inquiry
A Giddy Sense of Boosterism
DIGITAL CONTENT
Markets Declare Truce in Copyright Wars
A New Voice in Online Privacy
Addressable Ads Could Reinvigorate TV
CEOs take on Social Media
QUICKLY -- GE chief signals appetite for media assets; Media Companies Help Promote Laptop Project; When Technology Fails
POLICYMAKERS
OBAMA KNOCKS AT FCC DOOR
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
With President-elect Obama's transition team expected to knock on the Federal Communications Commission's door this week to begin the transition process, it's beginning to look like there may be no additional votes on major TV issues before FCC Chairman Kevin Martin gets replaced. The FCC hasn't yet set its January meeting date, but if it falls late in the month the commission's Dec. 18 gathering could be Mr. Martin's last as chairman of the current commission. Even if the FCC schedules an early January meeting—a tentative date of Jan. 15 has been discussed—no major action is expected on TV issues. In recent years the FCC's January meeting customarily has been used to hear reports from various FCC bureaus—not for significant votes. Action is even less likely this January. Unless Congress suddenly acts to confirm Republican Deborah Taylor Tate, Ms. Tate's recess appointment to the FCC will expire before any January meeting. That would leave the FCC with two Democratic and two Republican commissioners, leaving one seat open for an appointment by President-elect Obama. An aide to Chairman Martin said last week that the chairman still hopes to take action on some issues. The FCC could yet resolve debates about public safety departments' use of broadcast airwaves, and compensation of local phone service carriers for providing lifeline universal phone service. It also may take some steps to provide lifeline broadband service. The FCC may continue to take more action on the DTV transition if events warrant.
http://benton.org/node/18989
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SO LONG MR MARTIN, SO LONG A LA CARTE?
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] The election of Barack Obama as president will bring new leadership to the Federal Communications Commission. With that housecleaning, TVWeek hopes the movement to switch the cable television industry to channel-by-channel pricing falls by the wayside. The goal of a la carte is to lower cable bills. TVWeek couldn't agree more with that sentiment. But channel-by-channel pricing is the wrong route for consumers and it's the wrong route for the television industry. Competition from other technologies is the answer.
http://benton.org/node/18988
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OBAMA WROTE FEDERAL STAFFERS ABOUT HIS GOALS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Carol Leonnig]
In wooing federal employee votes on the eve of the election, Barack Obama wrote a series of letters to workers that offer detailed descriptions of how he intends to add muscle to specific government programs, give new power to bureaucrats and roll back some Bush administration policies. The letters, sent to employees at seven agencies, describe Obama's intention to scale back on contracts to private firms doing government work, to remove censorship from scientific research, and to champion tougher industry regulation to protect workers and the environment. When President Obama takes over in January as manager in chief of nearly 2 million federal employees, he will need a plan to reinvigorate a frustrated and demoralized workforce, career employees warn.
http://benton.org/node/18987
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OBAMA DIPS INTO THINK TANK FOR TALENT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yochi Dreazen]
The Center for a New American Security, a small think tank here with generally middle-of-the-road policy views, is rapidly emerging as a top farm team for the incoming Obama administration. When President-elect Barack Obama released a roster of his transition advisers last week, many of the national-security appointments came from the ranks of the center, which was founded by a pair of former Clinton administration officials in February 2007. The think tank's central role in the transition effort suggests that its positions -- which include rejecting a fixed timeline for a withdrawal from Iraq -- will get a warm reception within the new administration.
http://benton.org/node/18986
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A POWER DUO, DINGELLS BATTLE ON TWO FRONTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Broder]
Things are a little tense in the Dingell household. John is fighting to protect his job from an ambitious younger colleague. Debbie is battling to save her company from bankruptcy. John is recovering from major knee surgery. Debbie's mother has been seriously ill. This is no ordinary family drama. Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, the at-times-irascible Democratic chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is trying to stave off a challenge to his chairmanship from Representative Henry A. Waxman, the anything-but-mellow California Democrat. Mr. Dingell's wife, Deborah Insley Dingell, is a senior executive at General Motors and a member of the family who founded the company. At a time when they thought they would be quietly nursing Mr. Dingell back to health, celebrating the Democratic victory on Nov. 4 and helping the ailing auto industry, the Dingells find themselves in a nasty intramural brawl with Mr. Waxman. One Dingell ally called it King Kong versus Godzilla.
http://benton.org/node/18990
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JOURNALISM
RATHER'S LAWSUIT SHOWS ROLE OF GOP IN INQUIRY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jacques Steinberg]
When Dan Rather filed suit against CBS 14 months ago — claiming, among other things, that his former employer had commissioned a politically biased investigation into his work on a "60 Minutes" segment about President Bush's National Guard service — the network predicted the quick and favorable dismissal of the case, which it derided as "old news." So far, Mr. Rather has spent more than $2 million of his own money on the suit. And according to documents filed recently in court, he may be getting something for his money. Using tools unavailable to him as a reporter — including the power of subpoena and the threat of punishment against witnesses who lie under oath — he has unearthed evidence that would seem to support his assertion that CBS intended its investigation, at least in part, to quell Republican criticism of the network.
http://benton.org/node/18984
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A GIDDY SENSE OF BOOSTERISM
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
[Commentary] Media outlets have always tried to make a few bucks off the next big thing. The endless campaign is over, and there's nothing wrong with the country pulling together, however briefly, behind its new leader. But we seem to have crossed a cultural line into mythmaking.
http://benton.org/node/18983
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DIGITAL CONTENT
MARKETS DECLARE TRUCE IN COPYRIGHT WARS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] Technology and copyright law have been at odds since the beginning of the digital era. Music publishers sued the fans who illegally downloaded songs. Movie studios and book publishers had their lawyers and lobbyists block digital access as best they could. But content owners are finally realizing they're better off helping their customers use digital media than trying to stop the march of technology. Copyright is critical to provide property rights in books, music and other forms of intellectual property, contrary to those who claim that somehow everything must be free just because it's on the Web. But content owners also belatedly realize that simply suing consumers who find new, convenient ways to access content online is not as good as finding new business models to profit from customer interest that technology makes possible.
http://benton.org/node/18982
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A NEW VOICE IN ONLINE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
A group of privacy scholars, lawyers and corporate officials are launching an advocacy group today designed to help shape standards around how companies collect, store and use consumer data for business and advertising. The group, the Future of Privacy Forum, will be led by Jules Polonetsky, who until this month was in charge of AOL's privacy policy, and Chris Wolf, a privacy lawyer for law firm Proskauer Rose. They say the organization, which is sponsored by AT&T, aims to develop ways to give consumers more control over how personal information is used for behavioral-targeted advertising. Internet companies have come under fire for tracking consumers' online habits in order to tailor ads relevant to their interests. Lawmakers have held several hearings this year to examine online privacy protections.
http://benton.org/node/18980
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ADDRESSABLE ADS COULD REINVIGORATE TV
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Brian Steinberg]
Rather than bombarding millions of TV viewers with the same ads for things many of them may not be looking to buy, marketers could in the next two to three years send different ads to different households -- making certain, for example, that Procter & Gamble wouldn't have to pay for Pampers ads watched by a couple with no wee tykes and General Motors wouldn't have to show ads for its Hummer vehicles to a house full of Prius enthusiasts. Addressable TV ads -- which many believe are the simplest solution for advertisers wringing their hands over ad skipping and DVR viewing -- are currently being buoyed by developments on several fronts. Canoe Ventures, a consortium of the nation's biggest cable providers, will soon be able to offer advertisers the ability to digitally tweak their commercials so they can send one version to one audience and a different execution to another. The group expects the technology, known as "creative versioning," to be available to advertisers in 60 million homes in the first quarter of 2009.
http://benton.org/node/18979
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CEOS TAKE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Nanette Byrnes]
Many CEOs use social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter personally, but few use them to communicate with stakeholders. And while 29% say social media can be a very or extremely effective way for companies to communicate, just as many find it ineffective. So while CEOs are on these sites a lot (43% of the CEOs said they are on them often, including 19% who visit daily) it's not for business. Only 18% say they use them to communicate with customers and other stakeholders. Why not? 48% say they lack relevance to the target stakeholder groups.
http://benton.org/node/18978
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QUICKLY
GE CHIEF SIGNALS APPETITE FOR MEDIA ASSETS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Justin Baer, Kenneth Li, Francesco Guerrera, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson]
Jeffrey Immelt has declared his interest in buying media assets in a sign that a slumping economy has not shaken General Electric's confidence in its television and film business, NBC Universal. Immelt, GE chief executive, said the company had the resources to capitalize on bargains as it wades through the downturn.
http://benton.org/node/18981
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MEDIA COMPANIES HELP PROMOTE LAPTOP PROJECT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Steve Lohr]
After a rocky beginning, the nonprofit group One Laptop Per Child thinks an advertising campaign will give a lift to the organization's effort to place low-cost laptops in the hands of children in developing nations. The marketing campaign seeks to sharply increase those numbers. Television time, billboard space and magazine pages are being donated by media companies, including the News Corporation, CBS and Time Warner.
http://benton.org/node/18977
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WHEN TECHNOLOGY FAILS
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: John Horrigan, Sydney Jones]
Half (48%) of tech users need help from others in getting new devices and services to work, and many experience tech outages when there is a glitch with their home Internet connection, computer, or cell phone. Coping with these failures is a hassle for many tech users and helps to distance them from technology use.
http://benton.org/node/18976
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