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LOCAL TV IS #1 SOURCE OF NEWS FOR AMERICANS
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher]
A new Gallup poll reveals a halt in the steady decline of Americans who rely on newspapers for most of their news gathering, with local TV news still holding at #1. Despite all of the publicity about people fleeing to the Web for their daily news diet, the Gallup survey found that twice as many still rely on newspapers: 44% daily vs. 22% daily for Internet use. An additional 13% say they rely on newspapers "several times a week," meaning 57% use the papers a lot. Behind local news and newspapers come the network news at 35% daily and cable news at 34%, and public television at 28%. Radio talk shows fall far behind at 20%. Gallup reports: "Only 7% of Americans say they read a national newspaper (such as USA Today or The New York Times) every day. An additional 6% read these several times a week.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
* See Gallup release
http://www.galluppoll.com/content/Default.aspx?ci=26053&VERSION=p
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=…
IN TRYING TIMES, PAPERS RETREAT FROM WASHINGTON
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
Faced with declining advertising revenues and competition from the Web, midsize, regional dailies across the country have been retrenching in recent years to focus on local news. That has scaled back their Washington coverage, and their national ambitions. Journalists generally lament such cuts, saying they can lead to generic articles from news services and less investigative or original reporting. But some say the cuts are useful because they mean less redundancy and can force a smarter use of resources, since newspapers long ago lost their monopoly on the Washington scoop. Unlike in most cities, events all over the highly wired capital are broadcast live and transcripts are instantly available. Congressional committees Webcast their hearings. Scores of industry newsletters track incremental steps in legislation. The Supreme Court releases same-day audio recordings of some cases. Public-interest groups do original research and are making raw data available on the Web.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/business/media/08bureau.html
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In Trying Times, Papers Retreat From Washington
FOR JOURNALISTS, POLITICS NOT AS USUAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
As many newspapers across the country are cutting their staffs and trimming back on Washington coverage, The Politico is finding younger journalists and some veterans — including John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei from The Washington Post, Mike Allen from Time magazine and Roger Simon from Bloomberg News — who are willing to leave the once-secure confines of traditional print to join a start-up. If The Politico succeeds, it could signal that the Web has become a more plausible alternative for mainstream journalists. (Most bloggers offer their Web logs free, and rare is the site that pays reporters to create original content.) But there are skeptics who say that the focus of The Politico is too narrow and that the marketplace too crowded with sources of political news, from sites like RealClearPolitics.com to scores of other publications, including newspapers and their Web sites. Partisans, especially, feast on sites that affirm their views; The Politico says it will be nonpartisan. The Politico, financed by Allbritton Communications and based in suburban Washington in a glassy tower that once housed Gannett, has smoothed the transition for print journalists with handsome salaries, though no one is talking exact figures.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/business/media/08washington.html
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For Journalists, Politics Not as Usual
CELL-PHONE VIDEOS TRANSFORMING TV NEWS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: David Bauder]
Michael Richards in a West Hollywood comedy club and the authorities in Iraq who executed Saddam Hussein painfully learned that the prying eyes of television news can belong to anyone who carries a cell phone. Saddam's execution and Richards' flameout illustrate the growing power of cell-phone video as a news tool, not only to supplement stories but to change them. "It brought to a fore the sense that wow, this is a ubiquitous technology," said Mark Lukasiewicz, NBC News vice president for digital media. "Cameras are now in places where cameras never used to be. That's transformational."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TV_PHONE_VIDEOS?SITE=TXBRY&SECTIO...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TV_PHONE_VIDEOS?SITE=TXBRY&SECTION=HOME&T…
BE MORE, UM, AGGRESSIVE?
[SOURCE: Michael Getler, PBS Ombudsman]
[Commentary] This is not a typical ombudsman's column and this proposed resolution of mine for PBS is not accompanied with any specific ideas. Rather it is to express a sense that we are at a troubling time in our history and that journalists and producers of news and public affairs programs who have access to the nation's airwaves need to ratchet up their determination to challenge, to explore and to cut through spin. And, it seems to me, that public television and its 350 independent but affiliated stations may be able to play a special role, both in making lots of voices, including new ones, heard and in stirring some sort of national dialogue about these troubles, broadcast soon and in real time.
http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2007/01/be_more_um_aggressive.html
Be More, um, Aggressive?
MUSIC FANS: DISMANTLE DRM
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Catherine Holahan]
When it comes to legal action over downloaded music, the defendants are often individuals: The lone user downloads one too many copyrighted files and Big Media goes on the offensive. But now, the little guy is turning the tables. A fresh crop of lawsuits filed on behalf of individuals argue that it's the big companies that are ripping off the consumer. Melanie Tucker, a San Diego resident, says Apple Computer unfairly restricts how its iTunes Store customers can use legally purchased music. Apple uses its so-called Digital Rights Management, or DRM, software to prevent iTunes songs from easily running on media players that compete with its iPods. (The files can be converted but the process is time-consuming and can be confusing.) Apple's brand of DRM software, called FairPlay, also prevents music purchased through services other than iTunes from playing on the iPod. Tucker maintains that the company, which controls between 70% to more than 85% of the legal music download market and perhaps a 90% share of the digital music player market, is behaving like an overly aggressive monopoly, stifling competition in violation of antitrust legislation. A 2006 class action filed by Scott Ruth against music industry players including Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Time Warner Music Group, and EMI, argues that the labels are violating antitrust agreements by using DRM to prevent music from being sold by a variety of retailers, thereby stifling competition that could keep prices down. Both Ruth and Tucker's suits seek compensation for music download customers as well as a change in the restrictions.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2007/tc20070105_896787...
Music Fans: Dismantle DRM
TRIBUNE DEAL SPECULATION POINTING TO MANAGEMENT
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: Michael Oneal and Becky Yerak]
As the auction for Tribune Co. winds down to its Jan. 17 bid deadline, a key question emerging from the situation is what role, if any, Tribune Co. management will play in a possible deal for the company. The question gained new currency on Thursday, when two foundations with close ties to the company announced they had hired New York's Blackstone Group to advise them as they consider alternatives for their combined 13.1 percent stake in Tribune stock. Since the foundations -- charitable organizations set up by Robert R. McCormick, the legendary editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune -- are controlled by current and former Tribune Co. management, the move raised speculation that they might be gearing up to support some sort of management buyout of the company. Sources close to the situation said the special Tribune board committee in charge of the process likely would frown on any management effort to guide a buyout, since it could raise conflict-of-interest issues. But they also said there is little doubt that Tribune's top managers, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis FitzSimons, would like to keep their jobs and continue running the company. Under the right circumstances, they said, management would likely try to participate in a deal for the company, and such a transaction could be made easier now that the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the Cantigny Foundation have officially signaled a more active stance.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0701060150jan06,0,4260694.sto...
Tribune deal speculation pointing to management
FIRST WIRETAPPING, NOW LETTER-OPENING?
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] The Bush administration seems determined to raise the specter of surveillance over every means of communication within the United States. Not content to monitor selected phone calls and e-mails in secret, it recently hinted that letters and packages may be opened without a search warrant too. Befuddled, some privacy advocates started asking why the White House felt compelled to assert these surveillance powers when the issue wasn't even on the table. Was Bush trying to provide cover for another secret monitoring program? Was he laying the groundwork for a new one? Was he prodding balky government agents into being more aggressive on mail searches? It's hard not to be suspicious of the president's position on mail privacy, given the administration's record on the issue of domestic surveillance. In the name of the "war on terror," it has taken an unusually expansive view of government power and a correspondingly restrictive view of individual privacy rights. It also has sought to redefine what constitutes a "reasonable" search, and has often done so unilaterally and in secret. The administration may indeed be up to nothing new when it comes to mail — and that's not the least bit comforting.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-mail08jan08,1,44...
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First wiretapping, now letter-opening?
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WANTS PHONE COMPANIES TO DELAY TELLING CONSUMERS THAT THEIR CALLING RECORDS HAVE BEEN STOLEN
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to "include a mechanism of delay" in any rules requiring phone companies to notify consumers that their records have been "pretexted" — that is, stolen. The delay would last at least a week, and could go on indefinitely. "Allowing for delayed consumer notification in appropriate cases enhances our ability to investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of the data and, thereby, advances consumer protection," Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty wrote to the FCC on December 28th, 2006. The DOJ request comes in the context of an FCC proceeding to establish security measures against "pretexters"—con artists who trick phone companies into disclosing customer records, then sell those records to others.
http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/node/276
Justice Department to FCC: Delay Telling Victims of Pretexting
FCC RULES EXPECTED ON PHONE RECORDS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
Four months after Hewlett-Packard's spying scandal, the Federal Communications Commission is expected within weeks to set new rules protecting personal phone records from unauthorized disclosure. The move follows last summer's revelations that investigators for Hewlett-Packard used deception to obtain the phone records of board members and reporters in an effort to identify the sources of news leaks about company matters. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending the FCC order land-line and wireless phone carriers to require that customers use a password to immediately obtain their calling records from a representative by phone, FCC officials say. Customers also could obtain their records without a password by asking phone companies to send the information to their home addresses, or having a phone company representative call them back at their home or cellphone number of record. Those trying to obtain their calling data online would have to use a password. A majority of the FCC's five commissioners support the proposal, though some details could be modified before the new rules are approved in the next few weeks
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20070108/1b_phonerecords08.ar...
FCC rules expected on phone records