The Cato Institute is hosting a discussion TODAY titled "The FCC's Media
Ownership Decision One Year Later." The Media Access Project's Andrew
Schwartzman and Cato's Adam Thierer will debate the current state of the
modern media marketplace and answer questions about the regulations that
govern this important sector. For more information see
http://www.cato.org/events/040525pf2.html.
NONCOMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
FCC May Spur Sale Of Airwaves Held by Schools
CPB's TV Future Fund was Illegal, GAO Finds
MEDIA & POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
Campaign Ads Are Under Fire for Inaccuracy
How Americans Get in Touch With Government
PRIVACY
Privacy Groups Challenge FBI Authority to Obtain Records Without Court Order
NONCOMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
FCC MAY SPUR SALE OF AIRWAVES HELD BY SCHOOLS
More than 40 years ago, President John F. Kennedy set aside a hefty portion
of the radio waves for educational use by private and public schools,
universities and other institutions, a swath of spectrum roughly equal in
size to all the airwaves owned by the cellular industry. Last week, the
FCC's five commissioners began considering a proposal to strip a small
portion of the spectrum from the educational institutions and then
reallocating it for new uses. It would also allow the educational groups to
sell the rest of their spectrum to commercial companies for new uses -- in
deals that could potentially be valued at billions of dollars. The FCC
expects to rule on the issue in coming weeks, though the proposal could be
changed substantially in the interim. The Catholic Television Network, an
association of 16 Catholic archdioceses around the country including those
in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, is leading a group seeking to stop
the FCC from allowing sales. Critics of the FCC plan say the opportunity to
sell off the spectrum will prove too attractive to resist for many schools
as they come under pressure from cash-strapped cities and states. "So if
[California Gov.] Arnold Schwarzenegger decides to balance the California
budget by selling these licenses, very good systems will be eliminated,"
said Harold Feld, associate director of the Media Access Project.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Anne Marie Squeo
annemarie.squeo( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108543701703420032,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
CPB'S TV FUTURE FUND WAS ILLEGAL, GAO FINDS
In "Issues Related to Federal Funding of Public Television by the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting," the General Accounting Office finds
that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting operated outside its authority
when it took money from the part of its appropriation that Congress
designated for station grants and used it for Television Future Fund
projects. Between 1996 and this year, the Future Fund made grants for R&D
projects to improve public TV operations and fundraising. But GAO said CPB
can't legally make selective grants from funds allocated for stations. The
GAO also finds in the report that CPB lagged in distributing some of the
special appropriation for public TV's move toward digital transmission. The
delays prevented many stations from meeting FCC digital construction
deadlines. GAO also recommended that CPB broaden the scope of its digital
grants program beyond its emphasis on transmission equipment to include
support for digital content and production equipment. The report was
requested by Reps Joe Barton (R-TX), Richard Burr (R-NC), Ralph Regula
(R-OH) and Fred Upton (R-MI).
The GAO report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04284.pdf
CPB's response to the report is available at:
http://www.cpb.org/programs/pr.php?prn=357
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Karen Everhart and Jeremy Egner]
http://www.current.org/cpb/cpb0409gao.shtml
MEDIA & POLITICS/GOVERNMENT
CAMPAIGN ADS ARE UNDER FIRE FOR INACCURACY
A record year for political advertising has brought with it a hail of
televised exaggerations, omissions and mischaracterizations that pollsters
say seem to be leaving voters with mistaken impressions of Senator John
Kerry and President Bush. The degree to which the advertisements push the
facts, or go beyond them, varies by commercial. While Mr. Bush's campaign
has been singled out as going particularly far with some of its claims, Mr.
Kerry's campaign has also been criticized as frequently going beyond the
bounds of truth.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jim Rutenberg]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/politics/campaign/25ADS.html?hp
(requires registration)
HOW AMERICANS GET IN TOUCH WITH GOVERNMENT
Internet users are increasingly turning to e-government sites to carry out
their business with government. But Internet users and non-users alike
value having more than one way to get in touch with government. New
research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that 97 million
adult Americans, or 77% of Internet users, took advantage of e-government
in 2003, whether that meant going to government Web sites or e-mailing
government officials. This represented a growth of 50% from 2002. At the
same time, citizens who contact government said they are more likely to
turn to traditional means - either the telephone or in-person visits -
rather than the Web or email to deal with government. Additional findings
include: 1) Internet users are about 3 times as likely as non-Internet
users to get in touch with government, whether the contact means conducting
a transaction or seeking help with a problem. 2) 30% of Internet users have
e-mailed a government official in order to try to influence policy or
change a politician's position on a law. 3) Half of all Internet users and
59% of online users with broadband connections at home say that the
Internet has helped their relationship with government. 4) 63% of Americans
who contact government report that they were successful in addressing the
issue that prompted the contact. 5) 76% of Americans who contact government
say they were "very" or "somewhat" satisfied with the outcome of their last
dealing with government. 6) 22% of Americans who contact government use
more than one means to do it, with the telephone most likely to the first
option chosen. 7) Traditional means of contacting government are strongly
preferred by those who have a disabilities. 8) Americans with disabilities
are less likely than others to have Internet access. Just 40% of those with
disabilities have access, compared to 63% of the overall population. Those
with disabilities prefer contacting the government by telephone or in
person rather than over the Web or email by a 65% to 15% margin.
[SOURCE: Pew Internet & American Life Project]
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=127
AP: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/8750894.htm
PRIVACY
PRIVACY GROUPS CHALLENGE FBI AUTHORITY TO OBTAIN RECORDS WITHOUT COURT ORDER
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) joined other privacy groups
and an ISP trade association in filing an amicus brief today in support of
the ACLU's challenge to the FBI's National Security Letter authority, which
allows it to obtain certain customer records from ISPs and other businesses
without a court order.
Amicus Brief [pdf], filed May 24, 2004:
http://www.cdt.org/security/iusapatriot/200420524amicus.pdf
More information on the ACLU's Lawsuit:
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=15543&c=262
[SOURCE: Center for Democracy and Technology]
(http://www.cdt.org)
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
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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. For upcoming media
policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
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