FCC
NYT: At F.C.C. Confirmation Hearings, Emphasis Will Be on Competition
Advertising
NYT: Magazine Publishers Circling Wagons Against Advertisers
WSJ: Brawl Erupts over Do-Good Advertising
Media Ownership
WP: Who's Calling the Shots?
Intellectual Property
WP: Making Their Watermark On the World
Campaign Finance Reform
WSJ: How McCain-Feingold Would Alter Campaign Finance
Minorities
WP: Revving Up Their Computer Power
International
WSJ: Telecom Market In Switzerland Faces Changes
WSJ: Europeans Listening to Ads Get Free Phone Calls
*********************************************
* FCC *
*********************************************
Title: At F.C.C. Confirmation Hearings, Emphasis Will Be on Competition
Source: New York Times, D1,D10
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/fcc-chairman.html
Author: Seth Schiesel
Issue: FCC
Description: Confirmation hearings take place this Tuesday and Wednesday for
nominees to the Federal Communications Committee. It is expected that the
majority of the hearings will focus around competition, or lack there of, in
the telecommunications industry.
*********************************************
* Advertising *
*********************************************
Title: Magazine Publishers Circling Wagons Against Advertisers
Source: New York Times, D1,D6
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/mpa-conflict-media.html
Author: Robin Pogrebin
Issue: Advertising
Description: The magazine industry has decided to fight back against the
advertiser strong-arming that has been taking place recently. Last week the
Magazine Publishers of America and the American Society of Magazine Editors
joined together and issued a statement asking magazines "not to submit table
of contents, text or photos from upcoming issues to advertisers for prior
review." The statement warned that such practices may "at the very least
create the appearance of censorship and ultimately could undermine editorial
independence." Publishers and editors are hoping the statement will help to
demonstrate that they have joined forces and put advertisers on notice.
Title: Brawl Erupts over Do-Good Advertising
Source: Wall Street Journal, B1,B10
http://wsj.com/
Author: Sally Goll Beatty
Issue: Advertising
Description: Public-service campaigns are losing space in prime-time
television slots. The majority of public-service ads are now being shown
between the hours of 11pm to 7am. Although "federal law requires broadcast
licensees to act in the 'public interest, convenience and necessity'", the
law unfortunately does not spell out what that means. In an effort to fight
back, the ad industry is considering buying their own air-time. This would
allow the industry to dictate what media pieces are shown and during what
time in an effort to get messages out to targeted audiences.
*********************************************
* Media Ownership *
*********************************************
Title: Who's Calling the Shots?
Source: Washington Post (D1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Howard Kurtz
Issue: Media Ownership
Description: Since there is no "church-and-state" separation between press
barons and their journalistic troops, "critics invariably raise questions --
fair and otherwise -- about their stewardship." Kurtz examines a recent case
with US News & World Report's owner Mort Zuckerman, his relationship with
New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and a recent cover story by the magazine
on the big Yankee fan.
*********************************************
* Intellectual Property *
*********************************************
Title: Making Their Watermark On the World
Source: Washington Post, Washington Business section p15,18
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-09/29/012l-092997-idx.html
Author: John Burgess
Issue: Intellectual Property/Internet
Description: Artwork and other electronic creations of "intellectual
property" are now being digitally "watermarked". Although it is still in
the experimental phase the goal of this new technique is to guarantee
identification of authorship and ensure payment of use. The developers of
this technology are hoping that these stamps will open up the Internet to
artists around the world as they will no longer have to worry about theft
and mass replications. In addition to security, it will allow the user of
the image to connect to the person who holds the copyright and the creator
to keep a database of where their work is being displayed.
*********************************************
* Campaign Finance Reform *
*********************************************
Title: How McCain-Feingold Would Alter Campaign Finance
Source: Wall Street Journal, A24
http://wsj.com/
Author: John Harwood
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Description: The sponsor's of the bipartisan campaign-finance reform bill,
Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are attempting to
increase their chances of success by getting rid of their proposal to offer
"free or reduced-price television air time for candidates who accepted
voluntary restrictions on their spending." The five remaining revisions
include: "banning soft-money donations to national political parties,
tightening restrictions on unregulated 'issue ads' by third parties,
speeding disclosures of contributions and expenses used in campaigns,
allowing nonmembers of unions who must pay dues to receive refunds for
portion spent on political activity, and barring wealthy candidates who
spend more than $50,000 of their own money from using certain funds from
their political parties." Voting on the bill will begin next month on the
Senate floor.
*********************************************
* Minorities *
*********************************************
Title: Revving Up Their Computer Power
Source: Washington Post (Wash Tech p.5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Michelle Singletary
Issue: Minorities
Description: In 1996, the earnings of African-American households rose 13%
to $367 billion. With these growing paychecks, these households are starting
to outspend white households (per capita) in such categories as new cars,
clothing, and computer services. Blacks per capita spent twice as much as
whites for online services last year. "The black middle class is making sure
they have access to cyberspace, especially for their kids and the
educational value it has for them," says a research firm.
*********************************************
* International *
*********************************************
Title: Telecom Market In Switzerland Faces Changes
Source: Wall Street Journal, B9H
http://wsj.com/
Author:Andreas Weber
Issue: International
Description: In three months, deregulation will take place in the 15-nation
bloc of the European Union telecom markets. Although Switzerland is not a
member of the bloc, state-owned Swiss Telecom follows an identical policy
and will thus be losing its monopoly as their local market also opens up to
competition. It is predicted that they will be facing fierce competition
since Switzerland is "the world's 12th largest telecom market with more
telephones per capita than any nation except Sweden." In an effort to
remain competitive Swiss Telecom, soon to be called Swisscom, will become a
joint-stock company on Jan. 1 "with as much as 49% of its equity being
placed publicly in the second half of 1998. The federal government will
hold the remainder in the largest privatization in Swiss history."
Title: Europeans Listening to Ads Get Free Phone Calls
Source: Wall Street Journal, B9L
http://wsj.com/
Author: Gautam Naik
Issue: International
Description: Is the telephone going to become our next medium for sales
pitching? In Sweden, the new company, Graistelefon Svenska, is offering
residential customers free local and long-distance calls to anywhere in the
country with one catch. Users of the offer will be subjected to 10-second
advertising jingles every three minutes during their phone calls.
Surprisingly enough, users of this service do not seem to mind as it saves
them money. Companies in Norway, Finland, Germany, Australia and the
Philippines are already or in the process of offering similar phone services
to their customers.
*********