October 30, 2012 (Hurricane Sandy)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
US Satellite Plans Falter, Imperiling Data on Storms
FEMA, WH send storm victims to Internet
Hurricane Sandy and the power of social media
Media, Advertisers See Online Sandy Surge
Internet, Phone Companies Brace for Hurricane Sandy [links to web]
Cellphone carriers prepare for outages [links to web]
Cell phone carriers brace for Hurricane Sandy [links to web]
Cable Operators Brace For Sandy [links to web]
Hurricane Sandy Blows Up Digital Storm [links to web]
Stations Improvise to Cover Massive Sandy [links to web]
As Sandy Takes Its Time, TV News Is an Endless Loop of Anticipation [links to web]
Seven Years After Katrina, FCC Still Fails to Make Sure Everyone Receives Lifesaving Information in an Emergency - analysis
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Administration defends Bush-era surveillance law before high court
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Presidential Election: From Net Neutrality to Piracy, The Issues Keeping Hollywood Up at Night
Hollywood Votes With Its Wallet: Obama Holds 16-1 Advantage in Fund-Raising [links to web]
Political Ads: Do Minority Media Outlets Benefit? - op-ed
Political Affiliation Becomes Ad Targeting Data Point [links to web]
You Don’t Need Wealthy Donors to Run a Campaign: How NationBuilder is Making Sure Every Vote Counts [links to web]
Ace Metrix Scores Most Effective Ads of Election [links to web]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Is U.S. broadband fast enough? Let the market decide - op-ed
CONTENT
Google Signs Deal With Warner Music Group [links to web]
Advocacy Groups Argue Against Shutting Down Aereo [links to web]
A new wrinkle in interactive TV [links to web]
ADVOCACY
Why The Technology Industry Must Get Involved In Government - op-ed
EDUCATION
In Seattle, Virtual University Will Have a Physical Campus, Too [links to web]
JOURNALISM
Lance Armstrong shows why the disruption in journalism matters [links to web]
OWNERSHIP
Chairman Leibowitz says FTC open to settling Google case [links to web]
Do book publishers deserve special treatment? Antitrust experts say no [links to web]
Liberty Proceeds With Telenet Deal Amid Valuation Dispute [links to web]
ADVERTISING
Fake Social Profile Info Impedes Ad Targeting [links to web]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
UK's first 4G mobile service launched in 11 cities by EE [links to web]
Benefits of 4G overstated, says report
Afghanistan telecom sector evolves after decades of conflict [links to web]
MORE ONLINE
Inside Apple's major shakeup [links to web]
Apple: 'From a tech titan into a dinosaur' -- but not for a year [links to web]
Justices Weigh Case on Imported Textbooks [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
US SATELLITE SYSTEM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Cushman Jr]
The United States is facing a year or more without crucial satellites that provide invaluable data for predicting storm tracks, a result of years of mismanagement, lack of financing and delays in launching replacements, according to several recent official reviews. The looming gap in satellite coverage, which some experts view as almost certain within the next few years, could result in shaky forecasts about storms like Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to hit the East Coast early next week. The endangered satellites fly pole-to-pole orbits and cross the Equator in the afternoon, scanning the entire planet one strip at a time. Along with orbiters on other timetables, they are among the most effective tools used to pin down the paths of major storms about five days ahead. Experts have grown increasingly alarmed in the past two years because the existing polar satellites are nearing or beyond their life expectancies, and the launch of the next replacement, known as J.P.S.S.-1, has slipped to 2017, probably too late to avoid a coverage gap of at least a year. Prodded by lawmakers and auditors, the satellite program’s managers are just beginning to think through alternatives when the gap occurs, but these are unlikely to avoid it.
benton.org/node/138090 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
EMERGENCY INFO ONLINE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Steve Friess]
Television and radio are still the primary methods of getting information about Hurricane Sandy to the public, but social media are increasingly important to those efforts, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Craig Fugate said. Despite the heightened expectation of widespread power and cable television failures, everyone from President Barack Obama to local newscasters seem to expect the public to rely entirely on the Internet and their TVs for vital news and instructions. A call to FEMA’s news desk found even they didn’t have any non-Internet information readily available beyond suggestions that people call 911 in an emergency. When asked where folks should turn for information if they have no power, a FEMA spokeswoman said, “Well, those people who have a laptop with a little battery life on it can try that way. Otherwise, you’re right.” Such blind spots are perilous to the public, experts say.
benton.org/node/138106 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top
RECEIVING EMERGENCY INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: Marcella Gadson]
In September 2005, one month after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council filed a joint petition with the Federal Communications Commission, urging the FCC to take action “now to ensure that emergency warnings are made available to non-English speaking persons.” More than seven years later, as the East Coast braces for “Frankenstorm” Hurricane Sandy, we are reminded that the FCC has still failed to implement a comprehensive Multilingual Emergency Alert System (EAS) to make sure countless lives aren’t lost in avoidable accidents during natural disasters, as they were during Hurricane Katrina.
benton.org/node/138079 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
Recommend this Headline
back to top
SANDY AND SOCIAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Deborah Netburn]
On Twitter, #Sandy is the lead trending phrase of the day followed by New Jersey (where the storm is slated to hit first). FEMA, East Coast, Long Island and Tappen Zee Bridge have all showed up in the trending list too. The Sandy storm is raging on Facebook as well where the terms "Sandy," "Hurricane Sandy," and "Hurricane" were the most-used terms for Facebook users in the U.S. on Monday, according to Facebook's Talk Meter -- a tool that measures chatter on Facebook. Other popular phrases were "stay safe" and "be safe" as well as "storm" "east coast" "praying" "power," and "my friends."
benton.org/node/138127 | Los Angeles Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ONLINE SANDY SURGE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Sometimes it's not the size of the storm, it's where it hits. As Hurricane Sandy raged through one of the country's most densely populated regions, it created a surge in online traffic Monday as people sought weather-related news and various forms of online entertainment. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the brisk online traffic was The Weather Channel, which began streaming its television feed live on YouTube and on its own website late Sunday night. On Monday, the channel's website had its biggest day ever, serving up 200 million page views as of 7 p.m. Eastern. "It's like our mini Super Bowl," said Curt Hecht, the chief global revenue officer for channel owner The Weather Co. "As a company, everybody really pulls together. There are three or four or five days when nobody's sleeping, when we need to be at our best." Free online access to the live feed of The Weather Channel is unusual but not unheard of. The channel is usually restricted to the televisions of pay TV subscribers, but exceptions are made in disaster situations. It is the first time the channel has partnered with YouTube on a live feed. With an increase in audience comes a surge in advertising revenue. Regular TV commercials were not played in the online Weather Channel stream, but insurer State Farm sponsored a banner ad that ran along the bottom of the screen over a weather map shown during commercial breaks.
benton.org/node/138125 | Associated Press
Recommend this Headline
back to top
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
SURVEILLANCE LAW AT SCOTUS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The Obama Administration defended a warrantless wiretapping law before the Supreme Court. At stake in the case is whether civil liberties groups -- including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International -- have the legal standing to challenge the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments, which former President George W. Bush signed into law in 2008. The law authorizes the government to monitor phone calls and emails without a warrant as long as one of the parties to the communication is reasonably believed to be outside the United States. The civil liberties groups sued, arguing the law allows for "dragnet surveillance" of American citizens in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Donald Verrilli, the solicitor general of the United States, argued that the civil liberties groups cannot challenge the law's constitutionality because it does not harm them. But Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director for the ACLU, argued that his organization has had to take expensive precautions to keep the government from listening in on phone calls with clients who are suspected of terrorist activity. He argued that those precautions, such as flying overseas to meet clients face-to-face, qualify as a harm of the law, giving the ACLU the right to sue. The court's liberal members appeared skeptical of the government's claim that the ACLU lacks standing.
benton.org/node/138107 | Hill, The | NPR | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ELECTION
[SOURCE: The Wrap, AUTHOR: Brent Lang]
From the economic recovery to the war in Iraq, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have espoused starkly different world views during their battle for the presidency, but what's keeping Hollywood up at night are a series of legislative and legal battles that could determine the future of the entertainment business. Less often articulated than their policy differences on geo-politics have been the candidates' views on network neutrality, media ownership rules and piracy. But these issues are enormously important to studios and broadcasters. Lobbyists and analysts say the difference between a Romney and Obama administration could be the deciding factor on whether or not Tinseltown gets its way over the next four years. TheWrap breaks down the issues for you: Arts and Public Broadcasting funding, Network Neutrality, Media Ownership, Retransmission consent fees/Cable blackouts, Piracy, Spectrum for Broadband, and Indecency rules for broadcasters.
benton.org/node/138073 | Wrap, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top
DO MINORITY MEDIA OUTLETS BENEFIT?
[SOURCE: Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, AUTHOR: Joseph Miller]
[Commentary] With less than two weeks remaining before Election Day, the presidential candidates and Super PACs have spent nearly $1 billion on advertising, enriching broadcast station owners. But without unraveling confusing datasets from at least two separate federal agencies, it is almost impossible for the average person to determine how much of that money is being spent on broadcast stations owned by minorities. While the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) requires anyone buying broadcast advertising time in excess of $10,000 on behalf of a political candidate to report, within 24 hours, the “amount of each disbursement of more than $200 … and the identification of the person to whom the disbursement was made,” it is almost impossible to cross-reference this data with data the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collects on minority station ownership.
[Miller is Deputy Director and Senior Policy Counsel of the Media and Technology Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies]
benton.org/node/138068 | Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
Recommend this Headline
back to top
INTERNET/BROADBAND
IS US BROADBAND FAST ENOUGH?
[SOURCE: Merced Sun-Star, AUTHOR: Clifford Young]
[Commentary] American ingenuity is also creating an out-of-this-world experience right here on the ground. Today we are able to wirelessly download books and magazines to a tablet we can manipulate with our fingertips. We can access Spotify, the world's largest record store, from anywhere -- for free. We can chat with friends and loved ones with crystal clear video and audio quality. Our mobile phones now double as everything from credit cards to house keys. All of these technologies rely on America's robust high-speed Internet infrastructure, a network born in part from the kind of bipartisan political agreement -- in this case, the decision in 1996 to replace regulation with competition to spawn what would become high-speed data networks -- that almost seems alien to us today. Indeed the loss of this bipartisan consensus-building has, on telecommunications, created a fractured debate where the extremes get the attention, and where consensus on how to build the next phase of broadband revolution is lost. What's especially troubling is that these squeaky wheels are trying to drive a debate with -- shall we say -- a rusty fact checker. Our broadband investment has helped new entrepreneurs find financial success in what the prestigious Progressive Policy Institute calls the "app economy," which has created half a million jobs and is the key to future productivity. Without investment in broadband, names like Mark Zuckerberg, Reed Hastings and Larry Page would not be known in every U.S. household. Neither would Elon Musk -- the man who made millions inventing PayPal, the revolutionary online payment system, and turned it into SpaceX. By any measure, the Internet is a sturdy launch pad to new frontiers -- even the final frontier.
[Young is a professor of public administration at California State University, San Bernardino]
benton.org/node/138101 | Merced Sun-Star
Recommend this Headline
back to top
ADVOCACY
TECH IN SAN FRANCISCO
[SOURCE: Tech Crunch, AUTHOR: Ron Conway]
[Commentary] As the tech industry continues to grow its footprint in San Francisco, its leaders have a responsibility to help improve the city for all of its residents. The tech sector is uniquely qualified to give back and invest in our community because its entrepreneurs have the ability to use resources within their companies to improve the lives of San Franciscans. Gone are the days when the tech community can innovate and run their businesses in spite of government. As we saw with the SOPA/PIPA debate, public policy has a direct and significant impact on startups and the investors who support them. Whether it is regulations that stifle innovation or tax policies that hinder job creation, government has a major role in the success or failure of a startup. It is critically important for the tech community to engage in public policy. The tech ecosystem depends on sound public policy that nurtures innovation and creates more jobs. All of us — founders, engineers, investors, and consumers — have a responsibility to actively engage with our public officials and community partners to make San Francisco the innovation capitol of the world.
[Conway is an angel investor and chairman of sf.citi]
benton.org/node/138124 | Tech Crunch
Recommend this Headline
back to top
STORIES FROM ABROAD
4G BENEFITS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Daniel Thomas]
Superfast broadband is unlikely to deliver the rapid returns for the UK economy that have been predicted, according to a leading business consultancy. The Economist Intelligence Unit will say that expectations of big early returns from superfast fiber and mobile broadband may be overstated, even if there is greater confidence of a beneficial longer-term impact. The warning that there needs to be a “dose of reality” about short term benefits will come as mobile users in the UK have their first opportunity to use long-delayed superfast mobile broadband on a 4G network. The network, which will initially be available in 10 cities, will allow download speeds several times faster than 3G.
benton.org/node/138112 | Financial Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top