Benton RSS Feed

FCC TEES UP DUAL-CARRIAGE PLAN
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote next Wednesday on a proposal that would allow TV stations to demand digital and analog carriage on cable systems until the systems had transitioned subscribers to a digital-only platform. FCC chairman Kevin Martin is seeking majority support for yet another plan controversial with cable’s largest trade group, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Last summer, Martin failed in his quest to force multicast must-carry on cable -- a mandate that would have required carriage of every free digital-programming service that TV stations can pack into their 6-megahertz allotments, or 4-6 channels based on current technology. If adopted, the new Martin plan would kick in immediately after Feb. 17, 2009, the date mandated by Congress for all full-power TV stations to rely exclusively on digital transmission. The agency is slated to adopt a notice of proposed rulemaking that contains Martin’s digital-TV-policy preferences regarding cable carriage. Final rules -- which cable can seek to overturn in court -- probably wouldn't be announced for another year.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6434962.html

* Martin Proposes Dual Station Carriage
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6434967.html

FEB 17, 2009, ON BOUCHER'S MIND
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Tom Steinert-Threlkeld]
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) became the latest voice to raise concerns about the upcoming transition to digital TV Feb. 17, 2009, in a speech at the 14th Annual American Cable Association Summit here Wednesday. “Be assured, that date is not going to change,” he said. “Congress will not adjust it. Having said that, I would also tell you that we have some broad concerns about how effective this transition is going to be.” Rep Boucher continued, “Congress appropriated last year $1.5 billion for subsidies for the digital-to-analog converter boxes that would enable people to continue to keep their analog sets in operation. We are deeply concerned that that amount of money is not sufficient; and that there will be millions of very angry people across the country who will not get a subsidy or, if they do, it will be a small subsidy in comparison to the cost of the digital-to-analog converter box.” He added, “I was arguing for about $4 billion which, I think, perhaps would have been adequate to do the job well and provide a converter box at no cost to anybody who needed one in order to keep their analog set in operation.”
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6434745.html

THE MEDIA IN THE MUD
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David S. Broder davidbroder@washpost.com]
[Commentary] It pales in comparison to the carnage and loss of life this week at Virginia Tech. But last week the tattered reputation of journalism in this country saw severe damage. The role of the media in the phony Duke lacrosse rape story and the Don Imus firing left large parts of the so-called establishment press embarrassed and besmirched. The simple lesson, which some stubbornly are not acknowledging, is that when professional journalists lend their credibility to entertainers or others whose standards are far lower than those of the news organizations for which those journalists work, they not only damage their credibility but also diminish the standards they are supposed to embody. When will we start to think about the people who are hurt by our coverage? And when will we take our responsibilities seriously?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR200704...
(requires registration)

9/11'S FREE SPEECH CASUALTIES
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Pat Morrison]
[Commentary] A look at the cases of journalists Dan Guthrie and Tom Gutting. In the days after 9/11, then-White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer took his own blue pencil to the 1st Amendment when he warned that Americans "need to watch what they say." Guthrie and Gutting wrote commentaries questioning President Bush's behavior in the hours after the 9/11 plane crashes -- and then were fired from their small-town papers. And the reaction didn't stop with the men's firings. An Alaskan fisherman professed a wish to use Guthrie for crab bait. In Texas, Gutting became, as the more colorful threats went, "a man who needed killin'."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-morrison19apr19,1...
(requires registration)