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FCC'S RECHARTERING OF CONSUMER ADVISORY COMMITTEE; NO BROADCASTERS INCLUDED
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
The following is a statement by Rep. John D. Dingell, Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, in response to the FCC’s announcement on the re-chartering of its consumer advisory committee: “The Federal Communications Commission has re-chartered its long-standing consumer advisory committee to focus on the digital television transition,” said Chairman Dingell. “It is most curious, however, that there is no representative from the broadcasting industry on a committee that is supposed to advise on policy affecting the digital television transition. I hope the Commission will consider correcting this omission as it proceeds, and I look forward to receiving its full consumer education plan shortly.”
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110nr40.shtml
* Broadcaster Missing From FCC DTV Advisory Committee
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6451512.html?rssid=193
FCC’s Re-Chartering of Consumer Advisory Committee; No Broadcasters Included
BROADCASTERS' SERVICE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David K. Rehr, NAB]
[Commentary] The President of the National Association of broadcasters uses a letter to the editor to remind us, hey, broadcasters are people, too: "Broadcasters go to enormous lengths to fulfill our role as a lifeline during times of crisis. When a child is kidnapped, local stations make the difference between life and death by broadcasting Amber alerts, an initiative launched voluntarily by broadcasters that has resulted in the recovery of more than 250 children nationwide. During catastrophic events, broadcasters are first informers, disseminating critical, often lifesaving information. After disaster strikes, local stations and our network partners spearhead recovery efforts, mobilizing communities through public service announcements and fund-raising drives. Broadcasters also keep voters informed during the campaign season, devoting thousands of hours to news, public affairs, candidate forums and debates. Research by reputable pollsters has found repeatedly that voters believe that TV and radio stations do a good job covering elections. Broadcasters take our role as stewards of the airwaves seriously. We will proudly match our public service commitment against that of any business in America."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/opinion/l13airwaves.html
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Broadcasters' Service
BANCROFTS WARM TO MURDOCH'S OFFER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
If Rupert Murdoch can assure the family owners of Dow Jones that he will not meddle in the news coverage of the Wall Street Journal, the family will tell the company's board of directors it can start negotiating a sale price with the media mogul. A slim majority of the Bancroft family, which has controlling ownership of Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal, rejected Murdoch's $5 billion offer for the company about a month ago, one day after the offer was made public. Since then, however, market conditions and Murdoch's own appeals have helped the sometimes-fractious family see the merits of the bid. As early as today, the 35-member, three-generation Bancroft family plans to send a proposal to Murdoch's News Corp. that outlines requirements for a buffer guaranteeing that the Pulitzer Prize-winning Journal could continue to conduct reporting that is sometimes critical of Murdoch's media empire and business interests.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR200706...
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Bancrofts Warm to Murdoch's Offer
DURBIN SEEKS PROMPT FCC ACTION REGARDING TRIBUNE CO SALE
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Dennis Conrad]
Senate Democratic leaders met Tuesday with Tribune Co. officials and its prospective buyer over concerns that federal regulators have not issued a decision regarding the company's ownership of different media in the same markets. Chicago real estate billionaire Sam Zell, who wants to take Tribune private in an $8.2 billion deal, described the meeting as "wonderful" after leaving the Capitol office of Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois' highest ranking member of Congress. Nearly a month ago, Sen Durbin wrote a joint letter with Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) that urged the FCC to make prompt decisions regarding the sale. It was signed by most members of Illinois' congressional delegation. "There's a lot at stake here -- 20,000 employees, their future, is on the line," Durbin, the Senate's majority whip and second-highest ranking Democrat, said Tuesday, complaining that there has been no FCC response to the delegation's letter.
http://apexchange.typepad.com/industry_news/2007/06/durbin_seeks_pr.html
Durbin seeks prompt FCC action regarding Tribune Co. sale
TEAMSTERS CALL ON FCC TO PROTECT DIVERSE AND LOCAL VIEWPOINTS AT TRIBUNE
[SOURCE: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release]
The Teamsters Union filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to make sure local and diverse views are protected before granting consent for the sale of the Tribune Company TRB and approving waivers of the Commission's cross-ownership rules. "The proposed Tribune ownership structure may well impede the FCC's mission to protect diverse viewpoints and promote localism," said James P. Hoffa, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. "Including a voice for employee owners is necessary to tie the interests of the company to the local communities it serves."
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=PR&D...
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=PR&Date=2007…
CABLE WANTS TO COLONIZE YOUR TV: CONSUMER GROUPS ASK FCC FOR HELP
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: John Bergmayer]
How would you like it if, to get on the Internet, you had to run an operating system and browser of your ISP’s choice? If that were the case, we'd probably all be running Windows ME and Netscape 4. Would you like it if your ISP could take over your browser, providing you with “important” information and targeted advertising? Of course not. When it comes to the Internet, almost everyone realizes that it makes no sense to hand control over the software you use to access a network over to the network operator. Choice, competition, and openness lead to innovation, which leads to superior products and a better experience for everyone. But openness has always been missing from the cable TV network. And if the cable industry gets its way with a new technology called “OCAP,” it’s going to further increase its control over the network. It wants to mandate what software all consumer devices that receive and decode cable signals must run, and it wants control over the look-and-feel of the devices that attach to the cable network.
http://feeds.publicknowledge.org/~r/publicknowledge-main/~3/124242630/1006
Cable Wants to Colonize Your TV: Consumer Groups Ask FCC for Help
REBUFFED ROGERS BUYS STATIONS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News]
Rogers Media shifted quickly to plan B, saying Tuesday that it agreed to buy five TV stations from CTVglobemedia after failing to buy a TV-station group from Chum. Rogers, which owns Canada’s largest cable operator, said its Rogers Broadcasting arm would buy the five Citytv stations for $375 million in cash, subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The CRTC last week nixed Rogers’ plans to buy Chum’s so-called A-Channel stations and other programming assets.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6451199.html?rssid=196
* Rogers Media to buy Citytv stations from CTVglobemedia Inc. for $375M cash
http://www.ckwstv.com/news/news.cfm?dir=business&file=b0611170A&n=3
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6451199.html?rssid=196
INTERNET, CABLE FAIL TO INCREASE KNOWLEDGE OF CURRENT AFFAIRS
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Americans' knowledge of national and international affairs has changed little in two decades despite the emergence of 24-hour cable news and the Internet as major news sources. People surveyed earlier this year were slightly less able than those polled in 1989 to name the vice president, their state's governor and the president of Russia but slightly more able to answer other questions correctly about national politics, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The most knowledgeable -- the 34 percent of those surveyed who could answer 15 or more of 23 questions correctly -- were four times more likely to say they enjoyed keeping up with the news "a lot" than those who answered nine or less questions correctly. More than half of those in the most knowledgeable category listed as news sources cable TV shows such as the "Daily Show," the "Colbert Report" and the "O'Reilly Factor," major newspaper Web sites, the "PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Rush Limbaugh's radio show and National Public Radio. More than 40 percent of the most knowledgeable group said they regularly get information from news magazines, local daily newspapers, CNN and Web sites Google and Yahoo along with and TV news sites on the Internet.
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jun/11/internet-cable-fail-increase-kno...
Internet, cable fail to increase knowledge of current affairs
PARIS HAS THE MEDIA BURNING
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
Paris Hilton’s problems represented only the second celebrity tabloid tale this year—the first being Anna Nicole Smith’s death—to make the roster of top five stories, according to PEJ’s News Coverage Index from June 3-8. The saga of socialite/party girl Hilton’s release and return to prison after serving a few days of what was to have been a 23-day sentence for violating drunk driving probation was the fifth biggest story of the week, filling 4% of the newshole. The Hilton tale was covered most heavily in cable (third biggest story at 9%) and on radio (fourth story at 7%). And the bulk of the attention came late in the week. For the two days of June 7 and 8, Hilton generated 10% of the overall coverage, filling 18% of the radio and 21% of the cable airtime. Cable’s attraction to the story was clearly illustrated by MSNBC on June 8. Declaring “here’s Paris Hilton now,” anchor Contessa Brewer abruptly cut away from a discussion of the retirement of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace to the scene at Hilton’s home as she prepared for her ride back to court.
http://www.journalism.org/node/6001
Paris Has the Media Burning
BLAIR COMPARES NEWS MEDIA TO 'FERAL BEAST' IN ANGRY PARTING SHOT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Alan Cowell]
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Blair used one of his last speeches before he leaves office in 15 days to settle scores with a press corps he holds responsible for hounding, badgering, blustering and bludgeoning the nation’s leaders since he came to power 10 years ago. “The fear of missing out means today’s media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack,” he declared in the speech, at the Reuters headquarters here. “In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no one dares miss out.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/world/europe/13britain.html
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MEDIA TIPS FROM A DEPARTING PREMIER: KEEP NEWS AND VIEWS DISTINCT
[SOURCE: The Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Tony Blair, British prime minister]
[Commentary] Excerpts from Blair's speech given at Reuters headquarters in London on June 12. "The audience needs to be arrested, held, and their emotions engaged; something that is interesting is less powerful than something that makes you angry or shocked. And the consequences of this are acute. First, scandal or controversy beats ordinary reporting hands down. News is rarely news unless it generates heat as much as or more than light. Second, attacking motive is far more potent than attacking judgment.... Third, the fear of missing out means that today's media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack.... Fourth, rather than just report news, even if sensational or controversial, the new technique is commentary on the news being as, if not more, important than the news itself."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0619/p09s02-coop.html
* Blair Likens News Media to 'Feral Beast'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR200706...
Blair Compares News Media to ‘Feral Beast’ in Angry Parting Shot