Groups Join Forces to Advocate for Media Reform
The Alliance for Better Campaigns and the Campaign Legal Center's Media
Policy Program will merge in early 2005. The Alliance, in its new role as
the Legal Center's Media Policy Program, will continue advocating for legal
and policy reforms that reduce the cost and increase the flow of political
communication on the nation's publicly owned airwaves. It will also help
shape political broadcasting policy by promoting awareness and enforcement
of political broadcasting laws through FCC rulemaking proceedings,
congressional action and public education. Meredith McGehee, who currently
leads the Alliance, will become the director of the Legal Center's Media
Policy Program. The Campaign Legal Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group
working to improve and enforce the nation's campaign finance,
communications and government ethics laws.
[SOURCE: Alliance for Better Campaigns Press Release]
http://bettercampaigns.org/press/release.php?ReleaseID=67
BROADCASTING
FCC Finds Room for Faith
U.S. Bans Al-Manar, Says TV Network Backs Terror
Trust Fund Possible Only with New Unity and Broad Support
High Bidding Keeps Pubradio on Sidelines in FCC Auctions
JOURNALISM
Gallup: Online News Hasn't Beaten Old Media -- Yet
Learn from the Bloggers, My Children
Washington Post Co. Buying Web Magazine Slate
INTERNET
A National Telephone Tax?
SBC Would Like to Disconnect Broadband Plan
Competitive Industry Speaks Against BellSouth Forbearance Petition
U.S. Judge Refuses to Accept Guilty Plea on Spam
SuprNova Closes Amid Hollywood Crackdown
CABLE
SBC'S IP-Based Video Subject to Franchise Rules, Say City Lawyers
Cable Wants to Keep Dual Boxes
A SIT-DOWN WITH... FCC Chairman Michael Powell; NBC Universal head Bob Wright
BROADCASTING
FCC FINDS ROOM FOR FAITH
DBS operators were required in 1998 to set aside 4% of their channel
capacity for public interest programming and on Tuesday the FCC ruled that
noncommercial, religious channels can count towards that obligation. Media
Bureau Chief Ken Ferree dismissed a complaint brought by the Secular
Coalition for America. The group had argued that setting-aside space for
religious programmers violates the constitutional ban on government
endorsement of religion because the channels are publicly subsidized. The
FCC countered, however, that there is no direct public subsidy, and that
permitting the channels to count toward the set-aside quota does not
constitute a government bias in favor of religious programming.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA489733.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
US BANS AL-MANAR, SAYS TV NETWORK BACKS TERROR
State Department officials placed the satellite television network
Al-Manar, one of the most popular television networks in the
Arabic-speaking world, on its Terrorist Exclusion List on Friday because of
what they described as its incitement of terrorist activity. The
designation means foreign nationals who work for the network, run by the
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, or provide it any support can be barred
from the United States. The U.S. action had the effect of banning al-Manar
in the United States, where its programming had been beamed via GlobeCast,
a company that sells access to foreign television programs by satellite.
"As of Friday last week, that channel is no longer on the satellite," a
GlobeCast spokesman said. "It's not a question of freedom of speech," State
Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said. "It's a question of
incitement of violence. We don't see why, here or anywhere else, a
terrorist organization should be allowed to spread its hatred and
incitement through the television airwaves." Osama Siblani, publisher of
the Arab American News, a newspaper in Dearborn (MI), said al-Manar is
popular in this country in part because of its strong support for
"resistance against Israeli occupation." "I disagree with the State
Department that it incites violence," he said. "By that standard, they
should shut Fox News for inciting violence against Muslims."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: John Mintz]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18011-2004Dec21.html
(requires registration)
TRUST FUND POSSIBLE ONLY WITH UNITY AND BROAD SUPPORT
At the University of Chicago's Cultural Policy Center's conference "The
Future of Public Television" everyone was talkin' trust fund. There's a
fleeting chance in coming months that Congress could heed pleas for a trust
fund -- endowing it with proceeds from FCC auctions of the TV spectrum to
be declared surplus when TV broadcasting goes all-digital. To establish
that elusive trust fund -- first envisioned by the Carnegie Commission on
educational television in 1967 -- public broadcasters must unite behind a
plan and marshal a broad coalition to campaign for it. See what proposals
are out there at the URL below.
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Karen Everhart]
http://www.current.org/funding/funding0423trustfund.shtml
HIGH BIDDING KEEPS PUBRADIO ON SIDELINES IN FCC AUCTIONS
Last month's Auction 37 at the FCC gained bids from 10 public radio
licensees, but just one won a new FM channel. The bids for available
channels went much higher than expected and raise questions on whether
public broadcasters will be able to compete in future auctions as well.
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Mike Janssen]
http://www.current.org/
JOURNALISM
GALLUP: ONLINE NEWS HASN'T BEATEN OLD MEDIA -- YET
Gallup released poll results Tuesday finding 51% of respondents get news
from local TV every day, 44% get it from local newspapers (additional 14%
say they get news from newspapers several times a week, bringing that total
to 58%), 39% get it from cable news channels and 36% from network TV
newscasts. But every source has fallen somewhat since 2002, with only news
on the Internet gaining, from 15% going there every day two years ago to
20% doing so today.
[SOURCE: Editor & Publisher, AUTHOR: Greg Mitchell
gmitchell( at )editorandpublisher.com]
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
LEARN FROM THE BLOGGERS, MY CHILDREN
What can blogging teach traditional journalism? 1) Be more personal. 2) Let
the public in on news decision-making. 3) Be more focused and intentional
-- stop trying to be everything to everybody. 4) Print the truth, not just
the facts. 5) Don't just report, teach... Become a resource and not just a
product. 6) Be more local. 7) Give readers access to source material (like
the full text of interviews). 8) Add multiple RSS feeds to web sites. 9)
Add email addresses to stories. 10) Learn to change in response to the flow
of news or market conditions. Don't think of this article as a primer for
journalists, think of it as an outline of what to expect from your source
of news.
[SOURCE: First Draft, AUTHOR: Tim Porter]
http://www.timporter.com/firstdraft/
WASHINGTON POST CO. BUYING SLATE WEB MAGAZINE
The Washington Post Company will buy Microsoft's online magazine, Slate, in
an effort to boost the newspaper company's online traffic. According to
ComScore Media Metrix, washingtonpost.com drew 4.5 million unique visitors
last month, while Slate drew 4.8 million. Much of Slate's traffic is driven
by being part of the Microsoft Network, whose home page will continue to
feature Slate headlines under the agreement. Post executives say that
Slate's home page will include some reference to the newspaper's Web site
and that washingtonpost.com will also promote certain Slate stories. Cliff
Sloan, general counsel of Washington Post Newsweek Interactive, called the
acquisition "a great fit" in part because advertisers could be offered a
package that would include The Post and Newsweek sites as well as Slate.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16216-2004Dec21.html
(requires registration)
See also --
http://news.com.com/Washington+Post+picks+up+Slate+from+Microsoft/2100-1...
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-slate22dec22,1,197674...
INTERNET
A NATIONAL TELEPHONE TAX?
[Commentary] Members of the National Governors Association, the National
Conference of State Legislatures, the National League of Counties, the
National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors desperately
wants to tax Internet use. And they're hoping that Internet phone calls,
the latest hot Web application, will pave the way. They want the Internet
classified as one giant telephone for tax purposes. That's because telecom
levies are some of the highest in the country, averaging 17.9%, according
to the Council on State Taxation, and producing a cool $20 billion or so
every year for state and local coffers. Since the Internet is making
everyone more productive, it deserves some credit for the economic growth
that has led to greater tax collections. Taxes are unlikely to help this
trend, let alone encourage faster broadband deployment. If the politicians
see a budgetary "crisis" at the state level, they might consider addressing
the expenditure side of the ledger for a change before making Internet
telephony their next revenue gusher.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110367932686306775,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
SBC WOULD LIKE TO DISCONNECT SOUTH BEND'S BROADBAND PLAN
South Bend (IN) plans to spend $600,000 next year to lay new fiber optic
lines to bring lower prices and easier access to high-speed data users, a
critical ingredient in growing high-tech jobs. SBC, the area's dominant
local phone company, already offers the high-speed Internet service using
the infrastructure from its phone network. The company says
government-subsidized competition is not fair since these telecommunication
providers are exempt from paying taxes, have unfettered access to rights of
way, can raise capital through the issuance of tax-exempt bonds and are not
required to turn a profit. But Mayor Stephen Luecke says the city is not
getting into the telecommunications business. It will be St. Joseph Valley
Metronet -- a nonprofit group comprising representatives from area
businesses and Project Future, the local economic development agency -- not
the city, owning the fiber optic lines. The city is merely entering into a
reciprocal agreement with the nonprofit to allow it use of city pipes, or
conduit, that will carry the lines.
[SOURCE: South Bend Tribune, AUTHOR: Jeff Parrott]
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2004/12/19/local.20041219-sbt-FU...
COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY SPEAKS AGAINST BELLSOUTH FORBEARANCE PETITION
Competitive Internet Service Providers and Internet telephone service
providers spoke with one voice, urging the FCC to deny a BellSouth petition
seeking forbearance from application of Computer Inquiry and Title II
common carrier requirements to the transport component of its broadband
services. They said the market for underlying broadband transmission
services isn't competitive, contrary to the BellSouth claims. They said
Bells retain significant market power in the wholesale telecom services
broadband market, and competitive carriers have to acquire such services
from them. Many agreed there was little or no intermodal competition to
give competitors an alternative, since satellite, wireless and other
technologies have less than 8% of the combined market.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Susan Polyakova]
(Not available online)
US JUDGE REFUSES TO ACCEPT GUILTY PLEA ON SPAM
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to accept a guilty plea from
a former America Online employee accused of selling the Internet provider's
customer list to a "spammer," saying he was unsure a crime had been
committed. At issue, the judge said, is whether the actions rose to the
level required by a new antispam law, which states that spam must be not
only annoying but deceptive.
[SOURCE: Reuters]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=7152902
DOWNLOAD SITE SUPRNOVA CLOSES AMID HOLLYWOOD CRACKDOWN
Slovenia-based SuprNova.org, one of the Internet's most popular sites for
finding links to download pirated movies, has been taken offline by its
creator amid a legal crackdown by Hollywood's copyright cops.
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Adam Pasick]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=7152343
CABLE
SBC'S IP-BASED VIDEO SUBJECT TO FRANCHISE RULES, SAY CITY LAWYERS
If SBC's proposed Internet Protocol-based video programming services offers
broadcast and traditional cable programming such as ESPN and CNN, it would
be subject to local franchising requirements, lawyers for municipalities
say. SBC has taken the position that just as cable's Internet telephone
service is exempt from traditional phone regulations, its Internet
Protocol-based video offering should be exempt from legacy video regulations.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Dinesh Kumar]
(Not available online)
CABLE WANTS TO KEEP DUAL BOXES
The FCC is expected to rule in early January on dual-function boxes. The
National Cable & Telecommunications Association wants to eliminate a rule
that will require cable operators to stop providing by July 2006 these
set-top boxes that combine both security and channel-surfing functions. The
rules were imposed to encourage a competitive retail market for set-top
navigation boxes that could contain a variety of new interactive features
and NCTA is arguing that the market is competitive enough already.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA489739.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
A SIT-DOWN WITH...
THE RELUCTANT PLANNER
An August interview with FCC Chairman Michael Powell. He speaks about
broadcast indecency enforcement, spectrum ownership, media ownership rules,
diversity and localism, low power radio, unlicensed spectrum and much much
more.
[SOURCE: Reason Online, AUTHOR: Drew Clark, Nick Gillespie, and Jesse Walker]
http://www.reason.com/0412/fe.dc.the.shtml
Wright's Hollywood Script
Bob Wright, Chief Executive of NBC Universal, talks about what it is like
going from TV mogul to TV, movie, production mogul.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brooks Barnes brooks.barnes( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110366109828506287,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------