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"THERE'S A FAILURE OF PROCESS HERE"
[SOURCE: Lasar's Letter on the FCC, AUTHOR: Matthew Lasar]
On September 12th, the Federal Communications Commission granted closed-captioning exemptions for two religious broadcasters, a fairly rare occurrence until recently. But this decision went further, noting that in future cases if a non-profit demonstrates that it receives no compensation from video program distributors and that "in the absence of an exemption, may terminate or substantially curtail its programming," the FCC will favor a closed captioning exemption request. The American Association of People with Disabilities quickly denounced the decision. Rep Edward Markey (D-MA) sent an open letter to FCC Chair Kevin Martin expressing his concern. Karen Peltz Strauss, who served as attorney for the National Association for the Deaf and helped to draft language included in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that created closed captioning mandates, says she's "very concerned about the process that the FCC has followed, or failed to follow, in taking this new step." She adds, "The new standard seems to suggest that a non-profit organization can get an exemption when it does not receive compensation from program distributors and when it claims that, without getting an exemption, it might terminate or substantially curtail its programming or curtail other activities important to its mission. Being able to get an exemption when the entity even alleges that activities important to their mission would be curtailed—that is not a standard in the rules. It's a standard that is created by this order. There was no notice and public comment. So it is very upsetting that the FCC would go ahead and create a standard like this without issuing notice and comment to the public. Now on top of that there have been hundreds of additional letters sent out from the FCC granting additional exemptions."
http://lasarletter.com/freepage.php?id=200610101

WVII/WFVX CUTS LIVE LATE NEWSCASTS
[SOURCE: Bangor Daily News, AUTHOR: Andrew Neff]
How can you broadcast a newscast when there’s nobody in the studio? Bangor television station and ABC network affiliate WVII (Channel 7) will answer that question next week as it takes a new approach to its late night newscasts. Starting Monday, WVII and sister station/Fox Network affiliate WFVX (Ch. 22) will pre-tape their respective 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts. "We’ll tape it a couple of hours earlier because — frankly, for the same reason there isn’t an afternoon newspaper — not a whole lot happens in Bangor, Maine late at night," said Mike Palmer, WVII’s vice-president and general manager. "We can save some efficiency that way by sending everyone home a couple hours earlier and still have an 11 o’clock newscast." Palmer said the 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts will be the same, but they won’t be the same as the early evening (6 p.m.) newscast on WVII.
http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/sports.aspx?articleid=141755&zoneid=23

* What's Local about local news in Bangor? See http://www.benton.org/publibrary/television/whatslocal.html#Bangor

SPECTRUM POLICY COMMITTEE REMAINS SHROUDED IN SECRECY
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless News, AUTHOR: Jeffrey Silva]
Nearly two years after President Bush authorized the creation of an advisory committee as part of spectrum policy initiative launched in 2003, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has yet to disclose identities of members, whether any meetings have been held or explain what progress has been made on White House-driven spectrum program that from the beginning has been shrouded in secrecy and yielded few tangible results to date. NTIA, a unit of the Commerce Department that advises the president on telecom policy and manages federal government spectrum, last week declined to provide any details on the status of advisory committee and the Bush spectrum initiative. Todd Sedmak, an NTIA spokesman, said the agency may say more publicly by the end of the year or early 2007. But Sedmak did not elaborate on what NTIA planned to announce. The spectrum advisory committee, which is allotted between five and 20 members, is chartered for two years. The charter can be renewed. While NTIA has tried to keep the matter quiet, criticism has surfaced about financial disclosure statements required of advisory committee participants. At least one top industry lobbyist invited to join the panel is said to have refused to be part of the advisory committee as a result of financial filing requirements. Some federal advisory committees do not require financial disclosures. It is unclear whether the structuring of the Commerce spectrum management advisory committee, with its financial disclosure requirements, has caused NTIA to lose talent that otherwise it might have been able to attract.
http://www.rcrnews.com/lockland.cms?articleId=51823
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MEDIA "RESEGREGATION"
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
BET, Radio One, Inner City, Viacom, Post-Newsweek, Emmis, Granite and LIN TV were among 24 companies that weighed in on school desegregation at the Supreme Court, arguing that “a ruling that racial diversity in K-12 public education is not a compelling government interest would send a devastating message to Americans and to the world that, as a nation, we believe that we have done enough with respect to racial integration and are prepared to accept the resegregation of our schools.” Elizabeth G. Taylor, counsel to the petitioners, says she sent questionnaires to the communications companies about their positions and found, “to a company, they all said it really does make a difference that people don't just go through diversity training when they are hired but learn it from a young age. I don't think it is something they are making up. They really believe it.” David Honig of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council helped to assemble the group and points out that the companies are hoping a finding that diversity is a compelling government interest could help in the effort to restore the FCC's tax-certificate policy, which gave media companies a tax break for selling to minority owners. “Congress' consideration of whether to bring back tax certificates could be affected by what the court says about diversity in education,” says Honig.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6381206.html?display=News