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US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park announced the first class of “Presidential Innovation Fellows.” Selected from an applicant pool of nearly 700 innovators from across the country, the 18 “Fellows” have agreed to spend six months in Washington to work on five high-impact projects aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses and the economy, while significantly improving how the Federal Government serves the American people.
- Blue Button for America will spread the ability for millions of Americans to easily and securely download their own health information electronically, all while fueling the emergence of time and money saving products and businesses.
- RFP-EZ aims to develop an online marketplace that will make it easier for the government to do business with small high-growth tech companies, and enabling the government to buy better, lower-cost tech solutions from the full range of American businesses.
- MyGov will create a prototype of a streamlined online system enabling citizens to easily access the information and services from across the Federal Government.
- The 20% Initiative will work to transition “the last mile” of international development assistance payments from cash to electronic methods – lowering administrative costs, promoting financial inclusion, and reducing theft, fraud, and violence.
- Open Data Initiatives will accelerate and expand Administration efforts to make government data more publicly accessible in “computer-readable” form and spur the use of those data by entrepreneurs as fuel for the creation of new products, services, and jobs.
White House Launches Presidential Innovation Fellows Program
Hulu could be on the hook for potentially millions of dollars in damages for allegedly transmitting consumer viewing habits to third parties, after a federal magistrate ruled that online video watching is protected by U.S. privacy law.
In a proposed class-action against Hulu, U.S. Magistrate Laurel Beeler ruled the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 applies to Hulu. The popular video-streaming service, a joint venture between NBC, Fox and Disney, argued that the 1988 act, passed to protect video-store rental records, did not apply to streaming services. “The question is whether the mechanism of delivery here — streaming versus bricks-and-mortar delivery — ends this case at the pleading stage. Hulu’s remaining argument is only that it is not a ‘video tape service provider’ because the VPPA does not expressly cover digital distribution (a term that did not exist when Congress enacted the statute). Given Congress’ concern with protecting consumers’ privacy in an evolving technological world, the court rejects the argument,” Judge Beeler wrote in an order.
In a Blow to Hulu, Judge Rules Video Privacy Law Applies Online
This year will be the point at which digital overtakes newspapers' share of the global advertising market to become the second largest medium, according to the latest spending forecast from Carat. Digital, which in Carat's view comprises search, display, online video, social media and mobile, will take a 15.3% share this year with newspapers on 14.4%. The latest prediction revises Carat’s March forecast, which tipped digital for a 14.5% share and newspapers for 15% this year and put the crossing point in 2013.
Digital gaining on newspapers faster than thought
A pilot study released by the National Hispanic Media Coalition ("NHMC") and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center ("CSRC") found that listeners subjected to hate speech targeting vulnerable groups experienced an increase in the production of a stress-related hormone that could, over time, have a significant negative impact on the listener's health. Findings suggest that increased production of this hormone occurs regardless of listeners' race, ethnicity, nativity, or ideological alignment with the speaker, suggesting that hate speech may harm not only its targets, but all that hear it as well.
Researchers collected readings of various biological data (known as "biomarkers") from live subjects before and after they listened to a 23-minute segment of The Savage Nation, a nationally-syndicated commercial talk radio show hosted by Michael Savage. The segment was chosen due to the prevalence of hate speech targeting vulnerable groups in the clip. After analyzing changes in the biomarkers, researchers observed a statistically significant correlation between changes in clinical anxiety and the production of salivary cortisol, a hormone that when chronically elevated could potentially influence the onset or development of pathophysiological processes or diseases such as cancer or chronic inflammatory diseases. The report recommends further research with a larger sample size and a control group.
Hate Speech On Commercial Talk Radio Could Negatively Impact Listeners' Health
With 38 ads on average airing per minute across national TV, breaking through the clutter is essential. According to a recent analysis from Nielsen, there are five common characteristics of TV ads that resonate with consumers.
The top-five characteristics for ads that scored highly on “breakthrough,” an ad’s memorability, per consumers, are:
- Audience-Appropriate Humor – Tickling America’s funny bone is a proven winning tactic for making an ad memorable.
- Relatable Characters & Situations – Audiences will connect with personalities and scenarios with whom they can identify.
- Simple & Upbeat Storyline – Ads should do more than convey information– they should tell a story.
- Character Dialogue to Tell a Story – Changing a message from simple prose to a conversation will give the story life.
- Build an Emotional Connection – The brain identifies an emotional experience as important enough to remember, which in turn resonates with the audience.
Cutting Through the Clutter: 5 Characteristics of Winning TV Ads
The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds the percentage of minorities is up a full percent in television from a year ago -- and even more in radio. The percentage of minority news directors also went up in both television and radio. And the percentage of minority news directors at non-Hispanic TV stations set a new high mark -- for the second year in a row.
Women overall in TV news stayed almost exactly the same, women TV news directors passed the 30% mark (30.2%) for the first time ever. Women in radio news and women radio news directors both went up noticeably. As far as minorities are concerned, the bigger picture remains unchanged. In the last 22 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 10.4%; but the minority workforce in TV news is up 3.7%, and the minority workforce in radio is up 0.9%.
2012 TV and Radio News Staffing and Profitability Survey
After a promising start, the debate is far from settled over whether Google Fiber will be disruptive in the way its search engine or Gmail was, or whether it will be an interesting -- but costly -- experiment like the company's plan to sell the Nexus One through its own online store.
That debate is likely to continue for several years, because it's going to take that long for Google Fiber to have anything more than an incremental impact on the way people access a high-bandwidth Internet. What's clear is that Google Fiber, as conceived at launch, has a lot going for it. But it also has a lot going against it -- notably the entrenched power of the giant Internet service providers Google is taking on. In its favor, however, Google has launched Fiber with a thought-out plan aimed at the biggest frustration surrounding current ISP plans: relatively slow speeds at high prices. Google is also using the power of old-fashioned social networking to draw subscribers. There is also a risky cost-versus-return bet that Google is taking. The Kansas City project will cost $500 million. Scaling that up to many cities would quickly burn through Google's $43 billion in cash. But the surge in broadband content could bring Google new revenue from web and TV advertising. And by becoming an ISP, Google could win a strong presence in many U.S. living rooms.
Google's audacious bet on fiber -- and why it could work
Univision’s request for an official presidential debate may have been rejected, but the Spanish language network has succeeded in securing both candidates’ attendance at “Meet the Candidate” forums, the network said. President Barack Obama and former-Gov. Mitt Romney will sit down on separate nights for a question-and-answer session moderated by Univision’s Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas. The sessions will take place in front of a live audience and will most likely air on a delay with Spanish-language translation, a Univision spokeswoman said. The dates of the interviews have not yet been determined.
Debates Denied, Univision Turns to Candidate Forums
Congress is followed by a lot of phonies: a new study shows a large percentage of accounts following legislators on Twitter are fake.
Jon Tilton, the general manager for digital marketing firm Advocacy Media, ran a follower check last weekend on every member of Congress using StatusPeople, a tool designed specifically to check for fake followers on Twitter. He found that an average of 38 percent of accounts following representatives on Twitter and 42 percent of those following senators are a combination of fake and inactive accounts. The averages held true within a few percentage points when broken down by party.
Study: Congressional Twitter accounts are plagued by phony followers
Summertime ratings have an easy winner so far -- an Olympics-heavy NBC. But looking deeper -- sans the high-rated Olympics programming -- all broadcast networks and most cable networks have shown slippage.
Looking at the live plus seven day DVR playback through August 19, NBC has averaged 3.1 rating among 18-49 viewers when looking at all its summer programming -- but a 1.5 rating without the Olympics. This number is down 8% from a year ago -- not bad considering that other networks have hit lower levels, percentage-wise. Fox is getting a 1.6 rating now, down 11%; ABC, at a 1.5 rating, off 15; and CBS, down 17% to a 1.1 rating.
Some Broadcast Slippage, Cable Sees Uptick In Summer Fare