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MIAMI PUBLISHER STEPS DOWN OVER PAYMENTS TO REPORTERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Katharine Seelye]
The publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, its Spanish-language sister paper, resigned yesterday, saying he had lost control of his newsrooms over a growing controversy involving payments from the Bush administration to some reporters of El Nuevo Herald for their commentary broadcast on the anti-Castro outlets Radio and TV Martí. The publisher, Jesús Díaz Jr., had fired two staff reporters and discontinued the services of a third, who is a freelancer. But in a surprising reversal in his resignation letter, Mr. Díaz invited the three back yesterday, saying the policy against accepting payment for such appearances had been ambiguous and enforced selectively. Mr. Díaz said six more reporters were found to have taken money but would not be disciplined. His announcement reignited a fierce debate within the two newsrooms, raising fundamental questions about the role of journalists, particularly in what could be propaganda and with respect to Fidel Castro. While The Herald is a traditional American newspaper that prizes neutrality, El Nuevo Herald tends toward partisanship, especially against Mr. Castro. The firings had unleashed an outcry among some Cuban-Americans in Miami who complained of a double standard and demanded Mr. Díaz’s resignation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/us/04paper.html
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QUIBBLES AND BITS: REHR, MCSLARROW TUSSLE OVER TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
At the Maximum Service Television (MSTV) conference in Washington, the heads of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the National Association of Broadcasters squared off Tuesday over the issues of cable's down conversion of broadcasters' high-definition, digital TV signals and multi-cast must-carry. Broadcasters want cable to have to pass along a broadcaster's HDTV signal as is--saying that not to is to strip out material, while the cable industry wants that ability to downconvert them to standard-definition where capacity is an issue, saying the government should not be forcing what it sees as additional carriage obligations.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6377760.html?display=Breaking...

* Digital Transition Date Will Stick, Congressional Staffers Say
Key House and Senate legislative staffers predicted Tuesday that the digital transition date of February 2009 will "stick."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6377768?display=Breaking+News

ADVERTISERS GET WARMER RECEPTION FROM PBS
[SOURCE: MediaDailyNews, AUTHOR: Tom Siebert]
Faced with a shrinking budget from Congress and the loss of major supporters for two of its most popular programs, PBS is embracing new ways for its sponsors to air their company messages. The nonprofit net has brokered creative deals through its advertising arm, The Sponsorship Group for Public Television. Just like for-profit broadcast and cable networks, PBS is offering sponsors increased exposure across a variety of platforms, including the Internet, podcasts and product tie-ins, as well as longer-form sponsor messages. The increased aggressiveness for corporate dollars follows a House of Representatives subcommittee's June vote to reduce federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which oversees PBS and National Public Radio, by $115 million. The cuts don't take effect, however, unless both houses of Congress approve them. Last year, a similar recommendation failed. Still, there is an increased urgency for PBS. ExxonMobil, a leading sponsor of "Masterpiece Theater," has dropped the program. Toyota has left "Antiques Roadshow."
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=48...

ADVOCATE QUESTIONS APPROACH OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY/MEDIA TASK FORCE
[SOURCE: AgapePress, AUTHOR: Ed Thomas]
While announcing a new task force to examine the links between media and childhood obesity last week, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the group will look at industry solutions first before threatening any government regulation. Dr. Susan Lynn, founder of Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCC), thinks that suggestion might not be a good approach, however. Her organization, a coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents that collectively battle consumerism targeted at children, has been trying to get private companies that market to kids to voluntarily police themselves ever since the coalition's inception at the beginning of the decade. "I think any conversation about marketing to children and food marketing to children, has to include the possibility of regulation, Lynn insists. "It's the threat of regulation that has gotten the food companies to take any steps at all," she notes. Based on the CCC's experience with lobbying private companies, the coalition's founder says she questions whether the reported tack of the FCC's new media-and-childhood-obesity working group will really end up serving the best interests of children. "What happens to the task force will depend in part on who's on the task force and also on how they see their mission," Lynn asserts. "And one of the things that's a little concerning to me is that it's my understanding that they've pretty much taken regulation off the table from the start." Also, Lynn feels the task force needs to be composed of appointments that provide a balanced ratio of representatives from advocacy groups and public health organizations to representatives of food marketers. The composition and approach of the new FCC joint task force, she says, will be key factors in determining the study group's success.
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion05158.shtml?from=rss