July 28, 2010 (Senate Online Privacy Hearing)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010
Today's agenda http://bit.ly/crIzxq
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Network Neutrality Combatants Confer With FCC In Private, Spar In Public
Asia Dominates Top 100 Fastest Internet Cities List
Comcast fastest fish in shallow US broadband pond
Gap between advertised, actual broadband speeds growing
Pilot program to bring high-speed Internet to rural Vermont
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
House Oversight of the National Broadband Plan
Senate Oversight of the National Broadband Plan
FCC Cautioned On D-Block Spectrum Auction
FCC plan to support emergency communications relies on unproven technology
Put Research on E-rate Reform Agenda
RESEARCH
Reports find technical divide among foreign- and U.S.-born Latinos
Revolutionary Intel chip uses light to send data
FCC
FCC Launches Consumer Help Center
The Sunshine Act and the FCC
Kirkpatrick Endorses Onsae's Native Nations Broadband Task Force Bid
PRIVACY
Recap: Consumer Online Privacy Hearing
Facebook Defends Privacy Policies
TV/RADIO
Hate Radio and the War on Immigration
Uproar over Fresh Air in Mississippi
Mobile-TV Push Gets Fuzzy Reception
Wealthy Viewers Are Back This Summer. Do They Still Matter?
DIGITAL CONTENT
Google: Foreign Rulings Shouldn't Apply In U.S. Antitrust Case
In E-Publishing Revolution, Rights Battle Wears On
Surveying the Digital Future
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
Minnesota Ad Puts Target At Center Of Campaign Finance Controversy
Senate fails to advance campaign finance bill
Keeping Politics in the Shadows
EDUCATION
Students trust high Google search rankings too much
Lawmaker to push for open online textbooks
18 States and District of Columbia Are Finalists for Education Grants
MORE ONLINE
E-Government Satisfaction Down Due to Websites in Progress, Report Says
NIST Seeks Advisory Committee Nominees
National Do Not Call Registry Tops 200 Million Phone Numbers
Europe Unleashes Online Gambling to Fill Coffers
INTERNET/BROADBAND
RECLASSIFICATION DEBATE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Representatives from both sides of the network neutrality debate continue to meet in private with Edward Lazarus, chief of staff to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, but publicly they're still diametrically opposed as to how the agency should clarify its broadband authority. According to documents filed with the FCC, some are still talking about a legislative "fix" to the problem raised when a U.S. appeals court called into question the agency's authority to regulate broadband in the Comcast-BitTorrent case. The FCC has been pushing a different way to ensure network neutrality: reclassifying Internet service providers using a limited enforcement of common-carrier rules. In addition, according to an FCC source, the meetings are getting fewer and farther between, with the two camps meeting separately with FCC officials. And not everyone is at the table. The American Cable Association does not have a seat, and that does not sit well with its president, Matthew Polka, who represents about 900 operators.
benton.org/node/39972 | Multichannel News
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ASIA TOPS INTERNET CITIES LIST
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
Asia, thanks to the growing number of fiber-based broadband connections in countries like China, Japan and South Korea accounts for 59 of the top 100 fastest cities in the world, according to data released by Akamai Technologies. Akamai examines the average measured connection speeds to determine which cities it deems the fastest. Asia dominates the top 100 list with 59 cities. Japan accounts for 30 cities in the list. The U.S. has 12 cities in the list, with seven located in California. Umeå, Sweden is the fastest city in Europe, and is ranked No. 18 out of 100. South Korea has a average maximum connection speed of 33 Mbps. South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are the top three countries by speed in the list. US was eight amongst the top ten countries -- with average maximum speed of 16 Mbps. European countries make up six of the top ten fastest countries, with each country averaging a maximum speed of 15 Mbps. These include Romania (#4), Sweden (#5), Latvia (#6), Belgium (#7), Portugal (#9) and Bulgaria (#10.)
benton.org/node/39970 | GigaOm
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COMCAST FAST, US SLOW
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Who's the fastest Internet service provider in the US? According to Internet metrics firm Ookla (which runs the Speedtest.net and Pingtest.net websites), it's Comcast, with an average speed of 16.23Mbps. In the US, Comcast was followed by Charter and then by Cablevision; indeed, all of the top players are cable companies. Verizon comes in ninth, despite its FiOS deployments, in part due to its DSL lines. For the country as a whole, the average download speed is 9.87Mbps. This sounds fairly decent, but it actually puts the US in 27th place internationally. South Korea has a 31.4Mbps average, while Latvia has 24.1Mbps and the Netherlands clocks in at 22.7Mbps. Even the Republic of Moldova has 22Mbps average download speeds. And when it comes to ISP comparisons, Comcast's 16Mbps looks paltry alongside some others like South Korea's Hanaro Telecom (41Mbps), Korea Telecom (35Mbps), and Krnic (28Mbps).
benton.org/node/39974 | Ars Technica | Seattle Times
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GAP BETWEEN ACTUAL AND ADVERTISED SPEEDS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
Here's the good news for British Internet users: the average "actual fixed-line residential broadband speed" for most ISPs has jumped by an amazing 25 percent over the past year. That's according to the United Kingdom's telecom regulator Ofcom, which commissioned a tracking study on broadband rates conducted by the research company SamKnows. The speeds have leaped from 4.1Mbps to 5.2Mbps over the last twelve months, with many ISPs offering faster packages. But there's also some troubling news. SamKnows found that the chasm between actual and advertised UK ISP performance is wide and getting wider, especially for copper-wire-based DSL services.
benton.org/node/39973 | Ars Technica
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VERMONT FIBER PILOT PROJECT
[SOURCE: Burlington Free Press, AUTHOR: John Briggs]
The East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network said that with financing for the entire 22-town telecommunications network "well under way," it will build a pilot fiber-to-the-home project with Royalton as its hub. Project Director Tim Nulty said the pilot would "prove our concept" of creating a high-speed Internet network for rural Vermonters, at no risk to taxpayers. Nulty has projected profitability for the network in its fifth year of operation, if 49 percent of the households in the 22 towns subscribe. ECF spokesman Bob Merrill said the privately financed pilot could extend to a 12-mile radius from Royalton, the distance a passive optical network can function without a "repeater" station to "regenerate" the signal. "We haven't determined the exact area," Merrill said. He declined to identify the source of the funding for the project, but said the $75 million network is no longer in the running for a stimulus loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "We have some private investment," he said. "We will raise some additional funds."
benton.org/node/39961 | Burlington Free Press
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
HOUSE OVERSIGHT OF NBP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
On April 21, after a National Broadband Plan oversight hearing on March 25, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski a 14-page follow-up letter with written questions for the record directed to him from Members of the Committee. On July 1, Chairman Genachowski replied to the questions about spectrum policy, next generation 911, special access, broadband affordability, competition, public television, an more
benton.org/node/39978 | Federal Communications Commission | House Commerce Committee
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SENATE OVERSIGHT OF NBP
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
On May 4, after a National Broadband Plan oversight hearing on April 14, the Senate Commerce Committee sent Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski a 12-page follow-up memorandum with written questions for the record directed to him from Republican members of the Committee. On July 2, Chairman Genachowski replied to the questions on broadband tax incentives, measuring the plan's effectiveness, E-rate reform, spectrum policy, consumer broadband tests, broadband competition, broadband classification, and more.
benton.org/node/39977 | Federal Communications Commission | Senate Republican Commerce Committee members
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MORE ON D BLOCK AUCTION
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
House Homeland Security Emergency Communications Subcommittee Chairwoman Laura Richardson (D-CA) said that the Federal Communications Commission should not go forward with selling commercial firms access to communications spectrum needed by public safety organizations until key technical and legal issues are resolved. She questioned whether the FCC has thoroughly worked out details of its plan to auction off the D-block spectrum to commercial wireless providers. "The plan contends that public safety would be able to leverage commercial innovation, economies of scale, and additional spectrum via priority access and roaming agreements on commercial networks," Rep Richardson said. "These are promising attributes, but the subcommittee needs more assurances that these features will provide adequate resources and capacity for public safety to meet its mission-critical needs."
benton.org/node/39985 | CongressDaily
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FCC PUBLIC SAFETY PLAN
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Jill Aitoro]
Greg Shaffer, assistant secretary of the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, told Congress that a Federal Communications Commission proposal to auction 10 megahertz of broadband spectrum to commercial organizations, rather than dedicating the spectrum exclusively for public safety communications, relies on unproven technology to provide first responders priority access. "The technology being recommended by the FCC provides great opportunity, said Shaffer during testimony before the House Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response. "It's not absolutely clear what [this technology] is capable of." Homeland Security would support FCC's plan for the auction if the technical and legal frameworks were properly evaluated and the technology's capacity and capability understood to meet public safety requirements, Schaffer added.
benton.org/node/39966 | nextgov
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RESEARCH ON THE E-RATE AGENDA
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Amina Fazlullah]
In comments filed at the Federal Communications Commission, the Benton Foundation urged the FCC to
consider setting aside funding for analysis of the E-rate program. Benton believes substantial research into the benefits of the E-rate program will serve to enhance policy decisions surrounding the growth of the program and changes to its administration. Such research should also explore the best practices of schools and libraries in using the program, as well as for providers of equipment and services under the E-rate program, and the barriers that inhibit full participation in the E-rate program. Such research should also provide recommendations for improvements in the program.
benton.org/node/39965 | Benton Foundation
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RESEARCH
NEW PEW REPORT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Tara Bahrampour]
The Pew Hispanic Center finds that young Latinos born in the United States are far more likely to use text messages, social networking sites and other digital methods to communicate with their friends than their foreign-born parents or peers. 85 percent of native-born Latinos older than 16 use the Internet while 51 percent of foreign-born Latinos do; that 80 percent of native-born Latinos between 16 and 25 use cellphones compared with 72 percent of their foreign-born peers; and that 78 percent of native-born Latinos 16 to 25 who have Internet access use social networking sites such as Facebook, compared with 62 percent of their foreign-born peers. The biggest discrepancy was in text-messaging: 83 percent of native-born Latinos age 16 to 25 do it, compared with 56 percent of the foreign-born. The studies found that Latinos use digital communication technology less than non-Latinos, with younger people embracing the technology more enthusiastically than their parents.
benton.org/node/39986 | Washington Post | Pew report I | Pew report II | www.ft.com
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INTEL CHIP
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Steve Johnson]
In a development that could revolutionize how PCs and other tech gadgets communicate, Intel announced that it had made the first chip that sends and receives information using beams of light. The chipmaker said the fingernail-size research prototype already can move 100 hours of digital music or 45 million tweets in a second from one device to another. And the company expects to make one eventually that can transmit a laptop's hard drive in one second and the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in less than two minutes. Moreover, because the chips are made of the same material the company uses for its brainy microprocessors, Intel envisions mass producing these "silicon photonic links" at low cost, making them practical for use in everything from personal computers to smartphones.
benton.org/node/39982 | San Jose Mercury News
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FCC
FCC LAUNCHES CONSUMER HELP CENTER
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
Consumers have a new, easy-to-use, Consumer Help Center that puts them within one click of all the information they want from the Federal Communications Commission. The new portal will allow consumers to learn about different issues in telecommunications, make it easy for consumers to find out what's going on at the FCC, get tips for making the best choices in purchasing communications devices and services, have their voices heard by filing comments on issues that interest them, and file a complaint when there are problems. The Consumer Help Center is produced by the FCC's Consumer Task Force, an inter-bureau group established by Chairman Julius Genachowski at the beginning of 2010. The Task Force has led several recent initiatives on major consumer issues. The Consumer Help Center includes:
Everything consumers need to know about Bill Shock and Early Termination Fees -- two common issues that affect wireless customers;
Savvy Traveler tips -- advice on making phone calls when travelling abroad;
Broadband Speed Test -- consumers can test the speed of their broadband service;
Fact Sheet Library - more than 150 consumer Fact Sheets on telecom subjects;
Links to additional resources on a range of issues, including privacy;
Links to file a complaint to the FCC or comment on our rulemakings;
Blog posts about consumer issues -- with consumer comments welcome;
News releases, statements, and FCC actions.
benton.org/node/39979 | Federal Communications Commission | Consumer Help Center
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SUNSHINE AT FCC
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
On December 1, 20009, Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI) wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski about legislation Rep Stupak introduced that seeks to strike a balance between the need for transparency and increased collaboration among the FCC Commissioners. If adopted, the legislation would authorize the FCC limited non-public, collaborative discussions when a bipm1isan quorum is present. The legislation would require that the FCC's Office of General Counsel monitor the meetings and that, within five days, the FCC would publish a summary of the meeting on its website. Rep Stupak requested that the chairman and other FCC commissioners provide prompt feedback on the proposal. On July 2, 2010, Chairman Genachowski sent his reply welcoming the reexamination of the Sunshine Act.
benton.org/node/39976 | Federal Communications Commission | Rep Stupak
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PRIVACY
CONSUMER ONLINE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on online privacy. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said, "The consumer I am concerned about is not a savvy computer whiz-kid. I am not talking about a lawyer who reads legalese for a living and can delve into the fine print of what privacy protections he or she is getting. I am talking about ordinary Internet users. I am talking about a 55-year-old coal miner in West Virginia who sends an email to his son in college. I'm talking about a 30-year-old mother who uses her broadband connection to research the best doctor she can take her sick toddler to see. I'm talking about a 65-year-old man who just signed up for a Facebook account so he can view photos of his grandson, and reconnect with old friends. We have a duty to ask whether these people - and the millions of Americans just like them - fully understand and appreciate what information is being collected about them, and whether or not they are empowered to stop certain practices from taking place." Chairman Rockefeller also questioned a Google representative on what Google's economic success has to do with whether the company is keeping users' data sufficiently private.
The Federal Trade Commission is considering proposing a do-not-track mechanism that would allow consumers to easily opt out of all behavioral targeting, chairman Jon Leibowitz told lawmakers. Testifying at a hearing about online privacy, Leibowitz said the FTC is exploring the feasibility of a browser plug-in that would store users' targeting preferences. He added that either the FTC or a private group could run the system. Chairman Leibowitz said that while Web users on a no-tracking list would still receive online ads, those ads wouldn't be targeted based on sites that users had visited in the past.
Sen John Kerry (D-MA), chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, said that he will introduce an online privacy bill that will create standards for how consumer data is collected and used for marketing. It will also give users more control over how their Internet activity and profiles are accessed by advertisers and Web sites. He said he hopes his bill will be passed at the beginning of the next Congress.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said, "The right to privacy is central to our nation's values and way of life, and the Federal Communications Commission has long worked to implement Congress's directive to protect the privacy of consumers who rely on our nation's communications infrastructure. The Commission also recognizes that privacy has more than intrinsic value: it is critical for promoting investment, innovation, and adoption of cutting edge communications technologies and services that bolster our economy, promote our global competitiveness, and improve our daily lives. When consumers fear that their privacy is at risk, they are less likely to use new means of communication."
benton.org/node/39990 | US Senate Commerce Committee | Chairman Rockefeller | The Hill | WashingtonPost | The Hill - Kerry bill | MediaPost | CongressDaily | FCC Chairman Genachowski | B&C | Washington Post - prep
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'FACEBOOK PRIVACY POLICY
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Juliana Gruenwald]
Ahead of a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing July 28 on online privacy, Facebook's top lobbyist wrote Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) to defend concerns that the social networking site shares user data with third parties without users permission. In the letter to Chairman Conyers, Facebook Director of Public Policy Tim Sparapani responded to a request from Conyers for information on Facebook's privacy policies and with whom the firm shares user data. "The question posed in your letter asks whether Facebook shares users' personal information with third parties without the knowledge of users," Sparapani said. "The answer is simple and straightforward: we do not. We have designed our system and policies so that user information is never shared without our users' knowledge." Sparapani also outlined Facebook's efforts to improve its privacy settings and how it deals with outside parties. On advertisers, he said Facebook "provides advertisers only with anonymous, aggregated data, such as the number of users in a particular state who clicked on a specific ad."
benton.org/node/39971 | CongressDaily
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TV/RADIO
MEDIA AND IMMIGRATION
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Sue Wilson]
[Commentary] Anti-immigrant rhetoric is ramping up on the public airwaves. Rep Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is targeting the media as a significant factor in the escalating war over immigration reform. "You've got Dobbs, you've got Beck... Dobbs for six to seven years has consistently been demonizing every immigrant as a criminal." Talk radio falsehoods such as increased border crime and beheadings in the desert are typical. "When people think that is 'news,' it's a problem," Grijalva says. "We're closed out of that media. There is no equal time." Rep Grijalva brought up Congress' rewrite of the Communications Act as a needed solution to the media misinformation problem. The 1996 rewrite of the Act deregulated radio ownership, changing the rule which capped radio ownership at 40 stations per person (corporate or otherwise) and allowing companies like Clear Channel to buy unlimited numbers of radio stations. (Clear Channel snapped up 1200 stations at the time, and programmed most of them with "Conservative" Talk Radio.) The current rewrite, led by Sens Kerry (D-MA) and Rockefeller (D-WV) and Reps. Waxman (D-CA) and Boucher (D-VA), is mainly focusing on issues of network neutrality and broadband. "As we struggle with the Communications Act," says Rep Grijalva, "it's all about new media. We need to take this opportunity to fix what's wrong with old media."
benton.org/node/39968 | Huffington Post, The
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FRESH AIR IN MISSISSIPPI
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Karen Everhart]
After Mississippi Public Broadcasting abruptly dropped Fresh Air from its radio schedule July 8, its explanation of "recurring inappropriate content" in the talk show didn't sit well with fans of the program. Judith Lewis, executive director of the state-operated Mississippi Public Broadcasting TV and radio networks, decided to cancel Fresh Air one day after its interview with comedian Louis C.K., but MPB took a drubbing from angry listeners and snarky bloggers over the decision before conceding that host Terry Gross's conversation with the star of the FX television series Louie prompted the cancellation. Two weeks later, Lewis is reconsidering the decision. MPB may put Fresh Air back in the schedule at a later hour. The state network needs some time for reflection "to decide what to do with a program that causes us consternation," she said.
benton.org/node/39959 | Current
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MOBILE-TV
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Don Clark]
Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. last week signaled it may give up a costly six-year quest to bring broadcast TV to mobile phones and other devices in the U.S. Not too many people are surprised, however, given the reception for mobile-TV services in the country so far. But other entrepreneurs remain undaunted, arguing that technology decisions and other factors slowed adoption of a medium that has gained traction in other countries. A group of U.S. local broadcasters, in fact, is just beginning to gear up an effort to deliver a broadcast service called Mobile DTV to U.S. markets, using transmission capacity freed up by a transition from analog to digital technology. Meanwhile, a start-up called MobiTV Inc., which helps carriers offer mobile-TV services, says viewership of the World Cup helped turn June into the best month in its 10-year history. The Emeryville, Calif., company claims more than 10 million users, up from seven million this time a year ago. Yet that's not a very large number when weighed against the U.S. cellular industry's estimate of more than 285 million wireless subscriber accounts. Qualcomm hasn't released usage figures for the wireless network it calls FLO TV, which powers mobile-TV services marketed by AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, yet it has conceded that growth has been disappointing.
benton.org/node/39987 | Wall Street Journal
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DIGITAL CONTENT
GOOGLE ON ANTITRUST RULINGS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
In general, US courts don't put all that much stock in rulings from other countries. But a recent move by a French antitrust regulator could end up playing a role in an antitrust lawsuit brought in Ohio against Google by comparison shopping search engine myTriggers. Several weeks ago, the French Autorite de la Concurrence reportedly ordered Google to restore AdWords ads for the technology company Navx, stating that the removal of Navx's search ads "brutally and profoundly affected the revenues" of the company. Shortly after that ruling came down, myTriggers filed papers asking Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge John Bessey to take the French regulator's findings into account in deciding whether to grant Google's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Google recently responded by arguing that decisions by foreign authorities, interpreting other countries' laws, aren't relevant to whether the company violated the law in Ohio. MyTriggers countered in papers filed last week that Google's position "is contrary to the understanding of the proper application of the antitrust laws worldwide." Google almost certainly has the better legal argument on that point: A decision in France shouldn't be all that relevant to whether the company has violated Ohio's Valentine Act.
benton.org/node/39984 | MediaPost
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E-PUBLISHING DISPUTES
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Lynn Neary]
The publisher Random House is in a dispute with the powerful Wylie Agency over an exclusive deal Wylie recently signed with Amazon to sell digital versions of some bestsellers -- books like Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man that came out before e-books even existed. "When an agent becomes a publisher, that is sort of contradictory," says bestselling author and Authors Guild President Scott Turow. Turow says the guild is concerned that Wylie may have a conflict of interest in taking on the role of both publisher and agent. The guild is especially critical of Wylie for signing an exclusive deal with Amazon -- which dominates the digital book market in both electronic readers and e-books -- but it's also troubled by Random House's response that it wouldn't do business with any of the English language authors Wylie represents until the dispute is resolved. Turow says something like that only hurts the writers. "I think the most amusing part of it is that we're gonna beat up on those poor authors who have Andrew Wylie as their agent, but we're not gonna take anything out on the behemoth Amazon," Turow says. "In other words, we're gonna walk down the beach and kick some sand in the face of the 99-pound weakling." Understandably, writers are worried about royalties. Amazon angered the publishing industry when it set the price of an e-book at $9.99 — much lower than the cost of a hardcover — which, Turow says, has already had a negative effect on writers' compensation. But writers also want more than the 25 percent royalty most major publishing houses have been offering for digital rights. That's an issue Jane Friedman, a former CEO of HarperCollins who co-founded the digital publishing company Open Road, says can't be resolved until the question of who owns the rights to older books that were published before the advent of digital publishing is settled.
benton.org/node/39983 | National Public Radio
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SURVEYING THE DIGITAL FUTURE
[SOURCE: Center for the Digital Future, AUTHOR: Press release]
Where are people going to find news and information they trust, in a world with a dwindling number of print publications and an ever-expanding number of online publications? Readers have not yet figured out the answer to that, according to a recent report released by the Center for the Digital Future at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Almost a quarter of Internet users who also read newspapers would miss the print edition of their newspapers if they disappeared, according to the study, and 18 percent have stopped subscribing to a newspaper or magazine because they can read the same material online. More than three-quarters ranked the Internet as an important source of information, yet just over half said newspapers were important. While most people get their information online these days, they do not necessarily trust their new sources of news. Just 39 percent of people said that most or all of the information they read online is reliable, the lowest percentage since the university began doing annual studies a decade ago. Fourteen percent said that only a small portion or none of the information online was reliable, the highest level ever. If that makes you think that people read the sites they trust and distrust the others, think again. Almost a quarter of people said that half or less than half of the information they read on sites they visited regularly was reliable.
benton.org/node/39963 | Center for the Digital Future | GigaOm | New York Times
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MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
TARGET AND THE DISCLOSE ACT
[SOURCE: National Public Radio, AUTHOR: Peter Overby]
Public disclosure of corporate political money was causing controversy in Minnesota. Target -- the high-style discount chain -- helped to pay for a TV ad endorsing a candidate for governor. Word of that is causing the retailer some problems. The ad, which you can see below and online here, gives a full-throated endorsement to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. "Working to grow jobs. Getting government out of the way. Tom Emmer, the fighter Minnesota needs," the narrator declares. The group behind the ad is called Minnesota Forward. And the main money behind Minnesota Forward comes from seven companies -- $100,000 from each of them. Target is on that donor list. It also gave Minnesota Forward $50,000 worth of help with branding. The consultant behind Minnesota Forward is Brian McClung. He says that the group was made possible by the Supreme Court decision to allow corporate political spending. And, says McClung, companies weigh their priorities when they give money for ads such as that aired by Minnesota Forward.
benton.org/node/39962 | National Public Radio
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SENATE FAILS ON DISCLOSE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jordan Fabian, Alexander Bolton]
The Senate failed to advance a campaign finance bill Tuesday, dealing a blow to Democrats who were trying to pass a key piece of their agenda before the August recess. The DISCLOSE Act would require corporations to make detailed public reports on political spending. It failed on a 57-41 vote that went along party lines. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) voted against the motion, a procedural move to allow another vote to occur in the future. The three Republican centrists considered most likely to support the bill, Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine), Susan Collins (Maine) and Scott Brown (MA), all voted against it. They declined to support the bill despite heavy lobbying from liberal groups such as MoveOn.org, which has strong membership in Maine and Massachusetts. The House passed the bill last month by a vote of 219-206.
benton.org/node/39989 | Hill, The | Broadcasting&Cable
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POLITICS IN THE SHADOWS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Free speech implies responsibility. The Supreme Court said earlier this year that corporations and unions have the First Amendment right to spend whatever they want on independent political ads, but many businesses don't want the responsibility that comes with that new right. They want to make their unlimited donations anonymously so the public will not know who is flooding the airwaves. On Tuesday, the Republicans in the Senate voted to let them get away with it. The business community, led by the United States Chamber of Commerce, claimed the bill would "shred" the Constitution by imposing onerous restrictions on businesses. Republicans insisted on the Senate floor that the bill was blatantly designed to improve the chances of Democrats in the fall election, citing as one example a provision that allows donations of less than $600 to remain anonymous, while requiring disclosure of the rest. Corporations are more likely to make larger donations, they said, while union members and their smaller donations are protected from disclosure. Of course, one of the founding principles of campaign finance reform is to encourage large numbers of small donations from donors of all kinds, while reducing the influence of wealth. This is not an ideological proposition; it is fundamental to ensuring a fairer political process. By blocking the bill on Tuesday, opponents made clear that their real problem was disclosure itself. They want the right to poison the political atmosphere without being held accountable for their speech. During the coming onslaught, Tuesday's vote will be worth remembering.
benton.org/node/39988 | New York Times
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EDUCATION
STUDENTS TRUST GOOGLE TOO MUCH
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jacqui Cheng]
As seasoned Internet veterans know, just because a site shows up high on Google's search rankings doesn't mean it's the most credible source on a topic. That little bit of wisdom has apparently not made it all the way down to the current generation of college students, however, according to a paper published in the International Journal of Communication. According to the research out of Northwestern University, students barely care about who or what is showing up when they click on that top link—a behavior that undoubtedly affects their quality of research when doing schoolwork. The researchers observed 102 college freshmen performing searches on a computer for specific information—usually with Google, but also making use of Yahoo, SparkNotes, MapQuest, Microsoft (we assume this means Bing), Wikipedia, AOL, and Facebook. Most students clicked on the first search result no matter what it was, and more than a quarter of respondents said explicitly that they chose it because it was the first result. "In some cases, the respondent regarded the search engine as the relevant entity for which to evaluate trustworthiness, rather than the Web site that contained the information," wrote researchers Eszter Hargittai, Lindsay Fullerton, Ericka Menchen-Trevino, and Kristin Yates Thomas. Only 10 percent of the participants mentioned the author or author's credentials when performing their research, and according to screen captures of those students, "none actually followed through by verifying either the identification or the qualifications of the authors." The researchers said this was the case even when the student stated directly that he or she should check to see who the authors were and what their qualifications were. Students did acknowledge that certain websites -- mostly those ending in gov, edu -- were more credible than others because they weren't written by "just anybody."
benton.org/node/39958 | Ars Technica
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