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June 14, 2006
A CLASH OF NEWSPAPER FAMILIES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Silkos]
Harry Chandler of The Los Angeles Times and Colonel Robert R. McCormick of The Chicago Tribune were both towering figures of newspaper publishing in the first half of the 20th century. And like many newspaper moguls, both created trusts to safeguard the papers they built and the causes they championed. Both wanted to extend their fortunes and influence down through the generations. But decades after their deaths, the Chandler and McCormick legacies have come into stark contrast on the board of the Tribune Company, the media giant that today publishes 11 daily newspapers, including The Times and The Tribune, and owns 26 television stations. At stake in the dispute is not just money, but possibly control over the company's direction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/business/media/14tribune.html
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* Local Moguls Express Interest in Buying L.A. Times
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-tribune14jun14,1,6476...
A Clash of Newspaper Families
FCC Commissioners to Headline ‘Town Meeting on the Future of Media’ in Asheville
June 28 forum will offer rare opportunity for North Carolinians to speak directly to Washington decision-makers
Federal Communications Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps will visit Asheville, N.C., on June 28 to listen to local citizens’ concerns about media consolidation. This “Town Meeting on the Future of the Media†is a rare opportunity for the public to participate directly in crafting media policies that serve their community.
WHAT: Town Meeting on the Future of Media
WHEN: Wednesday, June 28, 2006, 6 p.m.
WHERE: Ferguson Auditorium in the Laurel Building at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in Asheville, North Carolina.
WHO: FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, local leaders and media representatives, concerned citizens.
The Town Meeting on the Future of the Media is taking place as the FCC prepares to review federal rules on media ownership. Shortly before the event, the FCC is expected to propose changing how many television stations one company can own in a single market and whether one company should be allowed to own television stations, radio stations and the major daily newspaper in the same market.
“For far too long, major decisions about the media have been made behind closed doors without any public involvement,†said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, a national, nonpartisan media policy group that has helped organize similar hearings across the country. “Media consolidation has come at the expense of investigative journalism, local coverage, and meaningful political dialogue. This forum will give citizens in North Carolina a chance to participate directly in the debate over the future of media ownership.â€
The forum, which is free and open to the public, will feature panel discussions on how media concentration affects local news and information. The forum will also include an open microphone session for the public to offer testimony on media issues to Commissioners Adelstein and Copps. All testimony will be recorded and submitted to the FCC and North Carolina’s elected officials.
"The disappearance of local voices from the public airwaves is a concern shared by citizens of all political stripes,†said Wally Bowen, executive director of the Mountain Area Information Network. “With Congress and the FCC revisiting many of our current media rules, this is an historic opportunity for real public input on the future of the media."
For more information on the Town Meeting on the Future of Media, please visit: http://www.freepress.net/future/=asheville
June 13, 2006
WHAT COMMUNITY SERVICE?
On June 12, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) hosted the Service to America Awards Celebration. During the event, broadcasters will announce that they deliver $10.3 billion in community service. Using self-reported data from stations, the NAB attempts to put a value on the advertising time, promotion, and informational campaigns offered by local television and radio stations. But even thought more than three-quarters of U.S. adults rely on local TV news, according to a January 2006 Harris Poll, the NAB is unlikely to tout the service delivered by local television newscasts; the attached explains why.
What Community Service?
What Community Service?
Submitted by benton on Tue, 06/13/2006 - 10:55June 12 Even though more than three-quarters of U.S. adults rely on local TV news, according to a January 2006 Harris Poll, the NAB doesn't tout the service delivered by local television newscasts; the attached explains why.
June 13, 2006
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is open to consumer protections but is loath to interfere with commercial deals among phone and cable companies and the content providers, a committee staffer said. "If they [consumers] want Google, we want them to be able to access Google. I think that's Senator Stevens's view -- that people should be able to pick whatever content, whatever applications, whatever software . . . that they want," Stevens staff director Lisa Sutherland told reporters, saying a compromise had yet to be reached with the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (Hawaii). "A compromise requires two to tango, so we are not done tangoing yet," she added.
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/2668
June 13, 2006
DEAL ON NET NEUTRALITY IN US SENATE ELUSIVE: AIDES
[SOURCE: Reuters]
The Senate Commerce Committee so far has been unable to reach a compromise on Internet network neutrality, a week before the panel is supposed to vote on it as part of a broader communications reform bill, Senate aides said on Monday. Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) proposed on May 1 studying the issue. The top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, and others have pressed for more extensive protections. One possible compromise on Net neutrality could be adopting language approved last week by the House of Representatives bill, according to one committee aide. It gave the Federal Communications Commission the authority to enforce principles the agency adopted last year. Those principles called on broadband providers to provide consumers unfettered access to Internet content and permit them to use whatever legal applications and services that are available.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID...
* Latest Senate Draft Bill Leaves 'Net Neutrality' Issue Unsettled
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-SPQD1150139988712.html
* New Senate Telecom Bill Stays the Course on 'Net Neutrality'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR200606...
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* Senate Commerce Adjusts Franchise-Plus Bill
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6343136?display=Breaking+News
* Witnesses Set for Senate Hearing
Witnesses at today's Senate Commerce Committee hearing will include: Motion Picture Association of America Chairman Dan Glickman; Dave McCurdy, president of the Electronic Industries Association; Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press; Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association; Walter McCormick, president of U.S. Telecom; Steve Largent, president of the Wireless Association; and Robert Foosaner, senior VP, Nextel.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6343147?display=Breaking+News
June 13, 2006
HOUSE BILL INCLUDES USF MEASURE, IGNORES NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless News, AUTHOR: Heather Forsgren Weaver ]
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a telecom-reform measure late Thursday that includes a plan to make Voice over Internet Protocol providers pay into the universal-service fund. But the House rejected a strict network-neutrality provision. Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) tried three times to amend the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 and each time was outmaneuvered by the telephone and cable companies. During the House floor vote, it was an amendment by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) that did Rep Markey in. Rep Smith, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, was allowed to offer an amendment explicitly saying that nothing in the bill precluded lawsuits based on antitrust laws even though a stricter network-neutrality amendment by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was not allowed. The Smith amendment was an attempt to allow members to say they voted for network neutrality even though the amendment did nothing on the issue, charged Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). The ploy apparently worked. The Smith amendment passed by a vote of 353-68. On universal service, the third time was a charm for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) who gained enough support for an amendment that allows the Federal Communications Commission to impose universal service and intercarrier-compensation obligations on Voice over Internet Protocol providers. By including a universal-service provision, the House has a bargaining chip with the Senate, which is expected to include strong universal-service language in its bill.
http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=26570
http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=26570
June 13, 2006
THIS IS WHY WI-FI
[SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] Politicians are on the verge of controlling Internet access.
Municipalities worldwide are creating wireless Internet services that promise universal accessibility. Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) virtually guarantees to be fast, free and far-flung with construction costs paid for by government-approved providers. But government's main motivation is self-interest, according to business consultant Craig Settles, author of "Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless: Applying lessons from Philadelphia's WiFi story." Wi-Fi can eliminate paper work while improving worker productivity. Wi-Fi hype is like cable TV's nascent "Blue Sky" period in the late 1960s when its potential seemed limitless. Well before fat franchise fees paid to local governments for the respective monopolies ensured that captive audiences of subscribers would get miserable cable service if they got any at all. Politicians having de facto control of Internet access -- to tax Wi-Fi users, prioritize service or hire political hacks for customer service -- make "Blue Sky" pale in comparison.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_457376....
See also --
* Only 6 Million US Homes Will Have Access to Municipal Broadband
[SOURCE: Strategy Analytics press release]
June 12, 2006--Public broadband networks planned by major cities and smaller municipalities could provide access to as many as six million homes within five years, predicts a new report from technology research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics. Despite heated rhetoric for and against, municipal broadband will play only a small role in the rapidly growing US broadband market, with incumbent telecom and cable operators still attracting the vast majority of consumers. This report, "Municipal Broadband in the US: How Real a Threat to Incumbent Operators?" projects that by 2010 about five percent of all US households, some six million homes, will be able to access broadband networks operated by cities, towns and other municipalities. But with prices for commercial broadband services continuing to decline, only a small number of households will be likely to rely on low-cost or free public networks as their primary source of Internet access.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/charlotte/index.jsp?epi-content...
* Faster Wi-Fi Hits Hurdles
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com]
Today's wireless networks struggle with some jobs, such as sending high-definition video signals from a personal computer to a television set. Companies have been racing for years to fix the problem. But they can't agree on whether the race is over. Computer equipment makers this spring introduced devices incorporating a faster version of Wi-Fi, the wireless technology commonplace in laptop computers. But chips in those devices were based on interpretations of an unfinished set of technology specifications. Among the results: The new devices often can't communicate with one another at their intended top speeds. The Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry organization that tries to ensure products work together, is withholding its endorsement of any of the new products until a formal standard is approved -- a milestone not expected until next year.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115015087219878208.html?mod=todays_us_ma...
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June 13, 2006
REHR: FCC SHOULD MAKE MUST-CARRY CALL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Saying he was both "disturbed" and "confused" by House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton's letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last week opposing digital multicast must-carry, National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr wrote Barton and FCC Commissioners Monday to try and "correct the record." Rep Barton, along with House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton, had asked Chairman Martin not to reverse an earlier decision confining DTV must-carry to a single channel, saying he would be straying into Congress' territory and that the commission was right the first two times when it found that what Congress meant in its DTV must-carry mandate was one channel, not the several channels broadcasters can fit in their DTV spectrum. Rehr argued that there is no statutory barrier to "full" digital must-carry, pointing out that the FCC itself has said that the analog must-carry regime does not directly translate to digital and that Congress "did not expressly compel a particular result." He also said that independent programmers will not suffer from full carriage because broadcasters will need new shows to fill their new channels. Rehr asked Rep Barton to let the FCC make the call, "as the expert agency...in the best position to resolve the issue in a manner that will serve the public interest."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6343175?display=Breaking+News
* See the NAB letter at: http://www.nab.org/images/xertimages/corpcomm/pressrel/060806_DKR_Barton...
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6343175?display=Breaking%20News