December 2005

DTV/BUDGET LEGISLATION
The Digital Homestead Act
The Digital Frontier
A Holiday Gift from Congress
Education takes $59M hit in new federal budget

BROADCASTING & COMMUNITY
Iowans Petition To Deny KGAN License Renewal
Clear Channel Drops Local Public Affairs in DC

NEWS FROM FCC
FCC Nominees Approved As Senate Leaves For Year
Agenda at FCC Depends On Powers of Persuasion
Reports Explore Treatment Of Contested Spectrum

CONTENT
FCC Commissioner: TV Charity Drives Could Mean Payola
On Opinion Page, a Lobby's Hand Is Often Unseen
Most think propaganda campaign in Iraq wrong
Comcast Announces Family Tier

QUICKLY -- Guild Leads Effort To Buy 8 Knight Ridder Papers; Liberal
Media?; Outting DeMint; New Retrans Showdown; Internet shaming; It's always
poker night on campus; Judge blocks California video game law; California
forced to defend 'junk fax' law

DTV/BUDGET LEGISLATION

THE DIGITAL HOMESTEAD ACT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal]
[Commentary] In the best government giveaway since cheese handouts from the
Reagan Administration, Congress has voted to provide consumers $40 vouchers
to buy digital-to-analog converter boxes. Essentially, Congress is
budgeting $1.5 billion for millions of Americans who don't need the money
-- so that they can keep using obsolete technology. Moreover, most people
won't notice a change in 2009. They will already have digital TVs (all new
sets sold after mid-2007 must be digital), or they will still be
subscribing to cable or satellite services that can send digital signals
even to analog TVs. One universally acknowledged truth -- even in Congress
-- is that the people who gobble up many of those vouchers will not be
needy. Millions of households with satellite dishes and new big-screen TVs
also have at least one old analog set lying around, and each family is
entitled to two $40 vouchers. As we learned when many of the non-poor
joined long queues for Reagan cheese, Americans would stand in line for
marmoset pelts if they were labeled "free." To encourage such grabbiness in
2009, Congress has earmarked $5 million for voucher advertising. Mark your
calendars.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113530781228130250.html?mod=todays_us_we...
(requires subscription)
* NAB Statement on DTV Legislation
http://www.nab.org/newsroom/pressrel/statements/122105_Sen_Budget_Recon_...
* TIA Urges Final Passage of DTV Legislation
http://www.tiaonline.org/media/press_releases/index.cfm?parelease=05-93
* Diverse Group of High-Tech Leaders Urge Lawmakers To Finalize DTV Legislation
http://www.ntca.org/ka/ka-3.cfm?content_item_id=3904&folder_id=522

THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] Congress has risked irking US couch potatoes by setting an end
date for analog TV broadcasts. Why? Because the auction of returned analog
TV spectrum will rake in billions and some spectrum could be put to use by
emergency workers. Washington should not let the quest for revenue override
a more fundamental goal: making affordable high-speed Internet service
available to all Americans. If the high bidders in the auctions are
affiliated with the local telephone and cable companies that already offer
high-speed Internet service, they're not likely to use the airwaves for a
cheaper version of broadband. Similarly, the high bidders might be more
interested in offering movies to cellphones than a fat pipe to the Web.
That's why Washington should leave some of the reclaimed frequencies open
to the public without need for lease or license. With the right
technologies and rules to guard against interference, these airwaves could
not only enable community-based high-speed Internet services, but provide a
laboratory for wireless innovation. By opening a few slivers of the
spectrum to unlicensed wireless data services in 1986, the FCC made
possible an explosion in Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity, communication gear
and services that continues to this day. The reclaimed analog TV
frequencies hold even more promise. Rather than mining every bit for
auction revenue, lawmakers should reserve some of the airwaves for whatever
services and applications that innovative technologists and community
groups can squeeze into them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-digital23dec23,1,...
(requires registration)

A HOLIDAY GIFT FROM CONGRESS
Congress gave public broadcasting an early holiday gift with the passage of
the conference report on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education and related agencies appropriations bill. The
conference report contains solid funding for public broadcasting programs.
Advance funding for CPB in FY2008 was preserved at $400 million, and FY2006
funding levels are: Corporation for Public Broadcasting (FY06): $400
million; CPB Digital: $30 million Interconnection: $35 million; Ready To
Learn: $24.5 million; Ready To Teach: $11 million; Funding for the PTFP
program was set at $22 million in another appropriations bill already
signed into law.
http://www.apts.org/

EDUCATION TAKES $59 MILLION HIT IN NEW FEDERAL BUDGET
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Corey Murray]
Ending months of contentious debate, the Senate yesterday approved a
federal education budget for 2006 that cuts overall discretionary spending
on education by $59 million. The new budget, which awaits the president's
signature, slashes funding for educational technology and many other
programs. The bill provides a sobering reality for proponents of
educational technology nationwide, many of whom had hoped to persuade
Congress to restore funds to Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT)
and other technology-related initiatives after House lawmakers rejected an
earlier version of the bill in November. But even with a 45-percent cut in
EETT funding, to $275 million in 2006, the picture could have been worse:
President Bush had asked Congress to dismantle the program completely.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6010

BROADCASTING & COMMUNITY

IOWANS PETITION TO DENY KGAN LICENSE RENEWAL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Allison Romano]
Local media activists in Iowa are preparing to file a petition with the FCC
to deny a license renewal for Sinclair Broadcast Group's ABC affiliate KGAN
Cedar Rapids. The group, Iowans for Better Local Television, says the
station violates FCC's ownership rules by failing to provide sufficient
local news, supplying inadequate broadcast signals and failing to meet
standards for children's programming. The group has been working for more
than a year to gather evidence and support for its petition. Former FCC
commissioner Nick Johnson, a well known critic of big-media ownership, has
been advising the efforts. KGAN's license came up for renewal in October,
and, under FCC guidelines, the public has until Dec. 30, 2005, to file its
petition. The Local Iowans group is calling on the FCC to hold a public
hearing to determine if KGAN has met its "statutory public interest"
standards before renewing the license.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6293866?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

CLEAR CHANNEL DROPS LOCAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS IN DC
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Marc Fisher]
This week, Clear Channel Communications, which owns eight D.C. stations,
shut down its public affairs department and let Jerry Phillips go,
eliminating what some local charities called their main link to the public.
"We're taking a new direction," said Bennett Zier, Clear Channel's regional
vice president. "Jerry is moving on." Zier said his stations, which
currently have no news staff, will add "personality-based news for our
morning shows," including some public affairs content.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR200512...
(requires registration)

NEWS FROM FCC

FCC NOMINEES APPROVED AS SENATE LEAVES FOR YEAR
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
A deal brokered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Minority
Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) paved the way for the unanimous approval of two
nominees to the FCC, one a Republican, the other a Democrat. But a related
effort to move legislation dealing with emergency 911 service for Internet
telephone users fell short as the Senate pushed to wrap up its business for
the year. Congressional and lobbying sources said that the FCC nominations
had stalled because of a hold placed by Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), who wanted
to force Senate action on an emergency 911 bill. There was no immediate
comment from Sununu's office. Republican Deborah Tate, a director of the
Tennessee Regulatory Authority, was confirmed to serve the remainder of the
term vacated earlier this year by former FCC Chairman Michael Powell;
Tate's term will be up at the end of June 2007. Meanwhile, Democrat Michael
Copps was confirmed for a second term on the FCC, and will now serve
through June 2010. With Tate's confirmation and Copps receiving a second
term, the FCC now has two Republicans and two Democrats; President Bush has
yet to name a nominee for the fifth seat, which will be filled by a Republican.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-YVFC1135286908848.html
* Senate confirms two for FCC slots
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID...
* Commissioner Copps' website
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/copps/
* Statement from NAB
http://www.nab.org/newsroom/pressrel/statements/122205_FCC_Copps_Tate.htm

AGENDA AT FCC DEPENDS ON POWERS OF PERSUASION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Arshad Mohammed]
In the nine months since he became chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission, Kevin J. Martin has pushed through a series of decisions that
have made the country's largest phone companies even bigger and, in the
view of critics, made it harder for smaller companies to compete with them.
On three major mergers and a string of regulatory decisions, he has
persuaded a divided FCC to vote unanimously, testimony to political skills
that observers say far outstrip those of his predecessor, Michael K.
Powell. Over the next year, Martin's negotiating abilities will be put to
the test as he tries to advance a generally deregulatory agenda and
grapples with nettlesome issues such as how to rewrite media ownership
rules and how to shore up the government program that subsidizes phone
service in rural and poor regions. There is also persistent speculation in
the industry that the former college student-body president may someday run
for office.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR200512...
(requires registration)
See also --
* Big Issues Face FCC in 2006
[SOURCE: eWeek, AUTHOR: Caron Carlson]
Washington policymakers face several decisions in 2006 that will affect
networking for years to come. The overarching challenge on Capitol Hill and
at federal regulatory agencies will be to prevent rapidly evolving Internet
services from clashing with the decades-old policy framework for security,
privacy protection, law enforcement needs and communications subsidies.
Next year, the struggle to regulate Internet-based phone services while
appearing not to regulate the Internet will receive renewed focus as a wide
array of industry, consumer protection and civil liberties groups pursue
court challenges of rules subjecting interconnected VOIP providers to
wiretap requirements.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1902900,00.asp

REPORTS EXPLORE TREATMENT OF CONTESTED SPECTRUM
[SOURCE: Technology Daily, AUTHOR: Drew Clark]
The FCC and Congress' Government Accountability Office each released major
studies about the use of radio-frequency spectrum, particularly the prime
frequencies that would be available with congressional passage of digital
television legislation. GAO explored how the FCC allocates spectrum, and it
concluded that current procedures stifle the effective use of radio
frequencies. The FCC examined whether public-safety officials need access
to more spectrum -- and concluded that, at least for now, they do not. 1)
In its report dated Dec. 19 but released late Wednesday, the FCC said:
"Public-safety commenters generally agree that emergency-response providers
need access to additional spectrum, but there is a lack of unanimity within
the public-safety community regarding how much spectrum will be needed. We
expect that public safety's long-terms needs will become clearer" as they
begin to utilize the new 24 megahertz, as well as other portions of
spectrum. The report also said the agency will move to expeditiously
examine whether it should let public-safety officials use some of that 24
megahertz for high-speed Internet service instead of voice communications.
2) The GAO report, dated Dec. 20 and also released Wednesday, said that 21
of 22 experts the agency consulted favored legislation to extend the FCC's
authority to auction radio frequencies. That authority expires in 2007, but
the DTV language would extend it. As to other reforms, GAO looked at two
alternative models to the current spectrum paradigm. The property-rights
model would have companies effectively own spectrum and enjoy flexibility
in how they use it. The other, an "open access" or "commons" model, would
allow an unlimited number of unlicensed users to share the spectrum. Of 20
panelists surveyed by GAO, nine wanted to move more toward the
property-rights model, six toward the commons model and five to retain the
current mix between the two systems.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-AJPN1135287554333.html
In Small Markets, Community Paper is Leading News Source
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher]
While circulation of the biggest dailies continues its long decline, a new
study finds that 81% of adults in small markets read a newspaper every
week, and 50% say the local paper is their primary news source. According
to the survey, the local paper is by far the leading news source in these
markets. Fifty percent of respondents listed the local newspaper as their
"primary source of information about local communities." That was followed
by television at 16%; radio, 9%; and Internet, 2%
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
See more at: http://www.nna.org/articles/americasnewspapers81.html

CONTENT

FCC COMMISSIONER: TV CHARITY DRIVES COULD MEAN PAYOLA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein yesterday proposed an investigation
into "sponsored" charitable drives by TV stations, saying such campaigns
are "a serious breach of the public's trust" and potentially illegal.
Separately, Free Press, a media-reform advocacy group, said it would file a
complaint today with the FCC over the same issues. The group, based in
Massachusetts, helped spur an FCC investigation into the Bush
administration's payments to pundit Armstrong Williams to promote secretly
the No Child Left Behind Act in radio and TV appearances. Free Press
campaign director Timothy Karr said his group wants the FCC to strengthen
its sponsor identification rules, which require broadcasters to announce
when they have received compensation for an editorial segment. As detailed
in a story in The Washington Post on Wednesday, the sponsors pay the
stations for commercials promoting themselves and the charity, and then are
featured in the stations' news coverage. The stations typically don't
disclose these arrangements to viewers, which critics say violates
journalistic ethics by blurring the distinction between advertising and news.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR200512...
(requires registration)

ON OPINION PAGE, A LOBBY'S HAND IS OFTEN UNSEEN
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: ]
Think tanks are facing new and uncomfortable scrutiny over their links to
special interest groups after the disclosure this week that the Washington
lobbyist Jack Abramoff had paid at least two outside writers for opinion
articles promoting the work of his clients. The issue of whether supposedly
independent writers and researchers are having their work underwritten --
directly or indirectly -- by lobbyists and other special interests is
hardly new. The Bush administration acknowledged this year that it had paid
outside writers, including Armstrong Williams, the conservative columnist
and television commentator, to promote the Education Department policy
known as No Child Left Behind. Executives in the public relations and
lobbying industries say that the hiring of outside commentators to promote
special interests -- typically by writing newspaper opinion articles or in
radio and television interviews -- does happen, although it is impossible
to monitor since the payments do not have to be disclosed and can be
disguised as speaking fees and other compensation. While major newspapers
and magazines usually insist that outside writers disclose conflicts of
interest, editors do not routinely conduct background checks, especially
for authors affiliated with credible research groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/23/politics/23lobby.html
(requires registration)
* Pundit Payola
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Michael Kinsley]
[Commentary] How embarrassing: opinions for sale, like cheeseburgers. Can I
supersize that tax break I'm advocating for you, sir? You can buy a pundit
for even less than it costs to buy a politician.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR200512...
(requires registration)

MOST THINK PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN IN IRAQ WRONG
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:]
Almost three-quarters of Americans think it was wrong for the Pentagon to
pay Iraqi newspapers to publish news about U.S. efforts in Iraq, a new USA
TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows. Of the 1,003 people surveyed Dec. 16-18, 72%
said it would be inappropriate for the U.S. military to secretly pay Iraqi
media to publish stories favorable to the USA. And almost two-thirds said
such payments would bother them a "fair amount" or a "great deal."
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20051223/a_propaganda23.art.htm
See also --
* Young Firm Finds a Bonanza in Middle East
Planted stories brouhaha is good for Lincoln Group's business.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR200512...
(requires registration)

COMCAST ANNOUNCES FAMILY TIER
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Anne Becker]
Comcast's family tier, comprised of networks the company deems G-rated,
will include: Disney Channel, Toon Disney, PBS KIDS Sprout, Discovery Kids,
Science Channel, Nickelodeon/Nick Too, Nickelodeon GAS (Games and Sports),
TBN (Trinity Broadcasting), HGTV, Food Network, DIY, CNN Headline News, The
Weather Channel, National Geographic Channel, C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2. Combined
with the 20-25 channels offered on Comcast's basic cable tier, the cable
company's family programming package will feature some 40 networks. The
family tier programming package will cost an average of $31.20 per month,
although pricing, as well as channel lineup, will vary by market. That's
based on the $12 national average price of Comcast's basic tier, $14.95 for
the 16 family tier networks and $4.25 for a digital set-top box. The tier
also requires customers to have a set-top box with an on-screen interactive
program guide and the ability to do that curly thing with your tongue.
Comcast's commitment to offer less indecent programming does not go far
enough, according to the Parents Television Council, a conservative group
that also criticized Time Warner's family tier last week. "I truly do not
think that it's possible to come up with a one-size-fits-all family tier,
and that's why I think a la carte is the best alternative," PTC director of
research and publications Melissa Caldwell said.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6293798?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* Comcast Joins the Family
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6293788.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)

QUICKLY

GUILD LEADS EFFORT TO BUY 8 KNIGHT RIDDER PAPERS
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Joe Strupp]
Leaders of The Newspaper Guild-Communication Workers of America are seeking
investors to purchase the eight Knight Ridder daily newspapers that are
represented by the guild, they announced Thursday. Guild President Linda
Foley said the effort was aimed at allowing the guild shops under Knight
Ridder control to be purchased by companies more likely to avoid severe
cost-cutting that has plagued the industry.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...

LIBERAL MEDIA?
[SOURCE: Media Matters for America]
News outlets including CNN cited a study of several major media outlets by
a UCLA political scientist and a University of Missouri-Columbia economist
purporting to "show a strong liberal bias." But the study employed a
measure of "bias" so problematic that its findings are next to useless, and
the authors -- both former fellows at conservative think tanks cited in the
study to illustrate liberal bias -- seem unaware of the substantial
scholarly work that exists on the topic.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200512220003
* Bias Study Falls 43.7 Percent Short
http://www.cjrdaily.org/behind_the_news/bias_study_falls_43_7_perce.php

OUTTING DeMINT
[SOURCE: Bunnie Riedel]
[Commentary] Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered what's the worst example yet of
telecommunications reform for the country. The bill's only co-sponsor is
Senator John Ensign (R-NV). Why would Ensign co-sponsor something so lousy
when he already has his own version of communications nirvana out on the
table?1. Because when you want somebody to take what you're offering, you
give them an alternative of something even worse and at the end of the day
you call it compromise. And, hey, look here, DeMint is a co-sponsor of
Ensign and Ensign is a co-sponsor of DeMint. How cozy. I can see them now
at a holiday gathering in the Russell Building, dipping their cups into the
eggnog, winking, nodding and giggling like school boys. Ensign leans over
and whispers in DeMint's ear "We sure pulled a fast one, didn't we Jimmy?"
DeMint squeals "Shore did Johnny!"
www.riedelcommunications.blogspot.com

BRESNAN COMM. IN WYOMING STATION SHOWDOWN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Allison Romano]
In the latest carriage spat between local broadcasters and a cable company,
several Wyoming TV stations are threatening to pull their signals off the
local cable systems unless the cable operator agrees to pay for the
service. The stations are in the Casper, Wyo., market, where Bresnan
Communications is the local cable operator. Bresnan has filed a petition
with the FCC, asserting that three of the stations are operating jointly in
violation of FCC ownership rules.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6293867?display=Breaking+News...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

LATEST TAX TOOL: 'INTERNET SHAMING'
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Ben Jones]
At least 18 states have launched websites to post the names of people and
businesses that owe back taxes. Maryland calls its website "Caught in the
Web." In South Carolina, it's "Debtor's Corner." Wisconsin on Jan. 3 will
launch "Website of Shame."
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20051223/1a_bottomstrip23.art.htm

IT'S ALWAYS POKER NIGHT ON CAMPUS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Wendy Koch]
Every Sunday at 6 p.m., coast to coast, more than a thousand college
students go online to compete for scholarship money in the qualifying
rounds of a national poker tournament. Others play the hot poker game Texas
Hold'em in all-night tournaments, at campus fundraisers, in dorm rooms with
friends, or increasingly, on the Internet. Poker, once a pastime for
cowboys in Wild West saloons but now a cash cow for cable TV, is at the
forefront of a gambling craze that has swept colleges nationwide.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20051223/a_gambling23.art.htm
* Poker's Hot Streak May Be Nearing End
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-poker23dec23,1,676088...
(requires registration)

JUDGE BLOCKS CALIFORNIA VIDEO GAME LAW
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh]
A federal judge has blocked enforcement of a California law restricting
violent video games, saying it violates the First Amendment's guarantee of
freedom of expression. U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte ruled late
Wednesday that the state law, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in
October, unconstitutionally restricts minors' rights to information and
granted the video game industry's request for a preliminary injunction.
http://news.com.com/Judge+blocks+California+video+game+law/2100-1043_3-6...

CALIFORNIA FORCED TO DEFEND 'JUNK FAX' LAW
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Greg Sandoval]
California fax machine owners tired of watching junk faxes eat up their
toner cartridges and paper will have to wait a little longer for relief. A
law designed to ban marketers from sending unsolicited faxes was set to
take effect in California on Jan. 1, 2006, but SB 833 is being held up in
court after the pro-junk U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a legal challenge.
http://news.com.com/California+forced+to+defend+junk+fax+law/2100-1047_3...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Santa, I'm not asking for much... just a Miguel Tejada under the tree. You?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang
headlines( at )benton.org -- we welcome your comments.
--------------------------------------------------------------