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STEVENS PLEASED THAT SCHOOLS WILL NOT LOSE E-RATE FUNDING BECAUSE OF MISSED DEADLINES
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
The Federal Communications Commission last week issued an order to ensure 128 school districts around the nation will not lose their E-rate funding because of late filed applications. Last week’s order is consistent with a recent order by the full Commission in the "Bishop Perry Middle School" proceeding, which was released May 19, 2006. In the Bishop Perry case, the FCC decided that the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) may depart from otherwise required deadlines upon careful review of individual circumstances and where the doing so will serve the public interest. The 128 school districts, including several in Alaska, sought waivers of USAC's filing deadline on the ground that the application process is complicated and time-consuming. Thursday's order directs USAC to not penalize school districts who filed late because their initial applications had ministerial or clerical errors.
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Det...

MEDIA CONSOLIDATION SHUTS OUT WOMEN AND MINORITIES
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: S. Derek Turner & Mark Cooper]
As the Federal Communications Commission considers sweeping changes to the nation's media landscape, Free Press today released a new report on female and minority media ownership that shows the consequences of further consolidation. The new study, Out of the Picture, is the first complete assessment and analysis of female and minority ownership of full-power commercial broadcast television stations. The report argues that the FCC has abandoned its responsibility to monitor and foster the diversity of media owners, while ignoring the impact of its own policies. Out of the Picture finds that pro-consolidation policies enacted by the FCC already have had a significant impact on minority ownership, indirectly or directly contributing to the loss of 40 percent of the stations that were minority-owned in 1998. Among the report's findings: 1) Women comprise 51 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own only 4.97 percent of all TV stations. 2) Minorities make up 33 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own only 3.26 percent of all stations. 3) While the level of female and minority ownership has advanced in other industries since the late 1990s, it has worsened in the broadcast sector. 4) Hispanic- or Latino-owned stations reach just 21.8 percent of the Latino TV households in the United States. 5) 91 percent of African-American TV households are not reached by a black-owned TV station. 6) Markets with minority owners are significantly less concentrated than markets without them -- even if the size of the market is held constant.
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=167

* Copps: Lack of Minority TV Owners is 'Disgrace'
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/09/20/daily.12/

FCC LISTENS TO AUSTIN ABOUT MEDIA CONSOLIDATION
[SOURCE: Austin Statesman, AUTHOR: Joe Gross]
Opening a public hearing on media consolidation and diversity at the University of Texas, veteran Tejano broadcaster Marcelo H. Tafoya said that when he started in radio in 1962, one was taught to fear God and the FCC, not necessarily in that order. But according to Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, those days are long gone, mostly because of loosened ownership rules that shut out local voices and give large media corporations a good deal of control. "We're like a paper tiger, and (media corporations) know better than to fear us," Adelstein said at the Tuesday night hearing. The Federal Communications Commission "should be promoting localism, diversity and competition. We've failed on all three fronts." The hearing, organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Latino Media Council, was tied to the public comment period on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal to modify restrictions on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. The proposal would change rules that prevent a company from owning a major daily newspaper and radio or television station in the same area. The proposal also wants to alter restrictions that ban one company from owning two or more TV stations in a single market. At this hearing, the primary interest was in the absence of Tejano music from the Austin airwaves. Of the eight Spanish radio stations in the area, six are owned by Border Media Partners, and two are owned by Univision.
http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/09/20/20fcc.html

* FCC Commissioner seeks input on media ownership expansion
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2006/0...

* Adelstein: Public Deserves to See All Studies
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2006/09/20/daily.8/

FCC SEEN BACKING AIRLINE'S BROADBAND AT LOGAN
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
Boston airport authorities cannot stop Continental Airlines from offering wireless Internet service in its frequent flier lounge under a proposed Federal Communications Commission ruling. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed backing Continental's request to keep its free service running. The proposed ruling favoring Continental has been sent to the four other FCC commissioners for a vote. If Continental wins, the FCC ruling could serve as a precedent for other airlines and Internet service providers to offer airport Internet access, often sought by business travelers.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...