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Add the Association of Public Television Stations and Rep. Earl Blumenthal (D-OR) to the growing ranks those with their feathers ruffled, big time, after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he would defund public broadcasting, Big Bird or no.
"Governor Romney's call for the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting during last night's debate has generated an extraordinary - and overwhelmingly negative - public response," said Association of Public Television Stations President Patrick Butler. "Americans by the millions are going on social media today to protest the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting, because they recognize that this funding is essential to the survival and success of non-commercial, educational public service media in America. Government and independent studies have also made this clear," said Butler.
"The Republican effort to attack public broadcasting and force Sesame Street take advertising betrays an appalling lack of appreciation and understanding of what public broadcasting is and represents," said Rep Blumenthal. "A recent study demanded by public broadcasting's enemies in Congress reveals that there is no alternative to public funding and that advertising on Sesame Street would actually result in less money for public broadcasting because people would refuse to voluntarily contribute to watch commercial advertising. Perhaps we need Big Bird to educate Governor Romney about the value of public broadcasting and investing in services for the American public instead of coldly shutting them down."
APTS, Rep. Blumenthal Take Up for Big Bird
Senate Republicans are arguing that a recent congressional report on the Homeland Security Department shows that the agency lacks the skills and resources to take a lead role in protecting the nation's computer systems.
The report, issued earlier this week by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), concludes that DHS "fusion" intelligence-sharing centers wasted taxpayer dollars by analyzing and relaying information that was either duplicative or unrelated to counterterrorism. The regional centers produced "useless" reports but also collected information on innocent American Muslims, the lawmakers found. Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) said the findings bolster their arguments that the Homeland Security Department should have a limited role in cybersecurity.
Republicans: Report shows DHS not up to cybersecurity challenge
The Parents Television Council has asked its members to file a formal indecency complaint at the FCC over a recent episode of American Dad. According to PTC, 1,800 members had already filed a complaint with the FCC via PTC's online action form.
PTC Seeks Formal Complaint About 'American Dad'
Sprint Nextel, the third- largest U.S. mobile-phone carrier, is in the early stages of evaluating a counter offer for MetroPCS Communications to top Deutsche Telekom’s bid to combine it with T-Mobile USA, said three people familiar with the matter. Sprint is crunching the numbers and holding talks with its advisers to weigh the feasibility of a higher offer, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The Overland Park, Kansas-based company could decide as early as next week whether to pursue an offer, two of the people said.
Sprint Said to Eye MetroPCS Bid to Rival T-Mobile Offer Is Sprint going to start a bidding war over MetroPCS? (GigaOm)
House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), and Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) called on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to immediately suspend the distribution of incentive payments related to the Electronic Health Records (EHR) program.
The top House policymakers on healthcare are concerned that HHS is squandering taxpayer dollars by asking little of providers in return for incentive payments. Recent reports revealed that the EHR program may be leading to higher Medicare spending and greater inefficiencies while doing little, if anything, to improve health outcomes. The members urged Secretary Sebelius to halt the incentive payments and delay penalties for providers who choose not to integrate Health Information Technology (HIT) into their practice until the agency increases what is expected of Meaningful Users and has a clear plan and expectation for interoperability. A recent survey of clinicians concluded that more work must be done to improve electronic HIT standards with more than 70 percent of respondents reporting “a lack of interoperability” as a major barrier that impairs them from sharing information in an electronic setting.
House GOP Leaders Express Concern that Nearly $10 Billion in Health IT Spending May Have Been Wasted
In 2008, when Facebook introduced Facebook Connect, a way for folks to use their Facebook credentials to other websites and services, it was pretty obvious what Mark Zuckerberg’s long term goal was: controlling the identity infrastructure of the web. Once you do that, then you get access to all sorts of data and you are always relevant.
The mobile app revolution has only accelerated the adoption as more and more apps are using Facebook’s connected identity. Just like search is a core infrastructure service of the web, so is Facebook’s connected identity technology. And because they have more data, they’re going to be more valuable and will help new kinds of transactions – whether they are purely social or purely economical. That was essentially what I thought it would be back in 2008. Now let’s see if the future works out according to plan.
The real power of Facebook lies in controlling connected identity
Most digital news consumers now get information from Web-native sources like The Huffington Post, but they turn to “established” news outlets like the New York Times, CNN or Fox News for big events and mobile news, according to new research commissioned by The New York Times that examines the cross-platform behaviors of news consumers.
A majority (53 percent) of digital news consumers said they get information from Web-native sources, citing their convenience and accessibility. Only 43 percent regularly use traditional news sources for digital news, but they prefer it for in-depth reporting and trustworthiness. The credibility and depth of established media outlets gives them an edge during breaking news situations. No matter which source first delivers a piece of breaking news, 60 percent of people said they turn to an established outlet as their “second source” to learn more.
Americans turn to established media for breaking news, mobile
The debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney was the most tweeted-about event in U.S. political history — but is the kind of real-time commentary and instant analysis that Twitter provides a good thing or a bad thing for the political process or society as a whole?
Some would argue the political process is something of a circus anyway, and that carefully stage-managed events like the debates are already a sideshow with little political value — and therefore the additional theatrical element added by real-time commentary isn’t going to have much effect. An optimist would say there is something very real to be gained by having people watch such debates for any reason — even if it’s just to follow along with the wisecracks on Twitter — because then at least there is a chance they might accidentally become more informed about political issues. The rise of Twitter as a political force has definitely accelerated the metabolism of a campaign by orders of magnitude, to the point where political analysts now talk about a news cycle that is measured in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks.
The Twitter spin room: What happens when politics goes real time
PBS CEO Paula Kerger says she was surprised Mitt Romney brought up his plans to cut federal funding for PBS during the presidential debate. "With the enormous problems facing our country, the fact that we are the focus is unbelievable to me, particularly given the fact that at another part of the debate, both candidates talked about the importance of education," Kerger said on CNN Newsroom. "We're America's biggest classroom."
PBS CEO: Romney's Big Bird Moment 'Unbelievable'
During an Advertising Week panel discussion in New York, co-moderator Paul Lavoie of Taxi gave Peter Schube, president and chief operating officer of The Jim Henson Company, an opening to vent, asking simply, “Um, has Romney helped Big Bird?” The visibly agitated Schube noted an opinion column that took Romney to task for his remark and then proceeded defend the honor of the feathered yellow icon.
Clearly, he had been down this road before. “Sesame Street and the Muppets are such an iconic set of figures in our culture,” Schube said. “They’re constantly brought into the frame and are beaten roughly around the head and neck. And then they emerge unscathed because they’re the most sympathetic characters imaginable that exist. “I can’t think of any characters that are as well-known as those and are as universally well regarded and loved,” Schube added. “You know, there’s no back story to that. So, I think he looks stupid, and Big Bird will survive Mitt Romney.” Schube’s retort triggered a brief burst of applause and a shout out from the audience that he repeated back. “'Go Big Bird' is right,” he said.
Jim Henson Co.'s Schube: Romney 'Looks Stupid'