Nov 12, 2009 (Stimulus and National Broadband Plan updates)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2009 -- A busy day http://bit.ly/pDl0K
THE STIMULUS
NTIA and RUS seek Input on Final Round of Broadband Stimulus Funding
NTIA and RUS to Consolidate Final Two Funding Rounds
Stimulus ties spending on broadband to civic participation
Broadband stimulus cash going quickly—who's making a grab?
NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
FCC Nov 18 Meeting Agenda -- Broadband & Wireless
FCC Seeks Comment on Broadband Adoption for National Broadband Plan
Smartgrids, telemedicine could drive broadband adoption [Audio]
Genachowski Pitches For Net Neutrality, Mobile Broadband in Beirut
New Staff Bring Deep Experience to National Broadband Plan
Lenard Critiques Berkman Center Broadband Study
Broadband Breakfast Club Environmental Session Prompts Debate Over Systems Reliability
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
The Hidden Harms of Application Bias
Black Elected Officials Question Network Neutrality Proposal
New York City Council To Consider Network Neutrality
MORE ON BROADBAND
The Dirty Truth about Rural Broadband
China proves to be an aggressive foe in cyberspace
FTC Urged To Clamp Down On Data Collection Online
Hotels Find Keeping Travelers at Home Can Be Good Business
It's time to reinvent in-car broadband pricing
WIRELESS
Spectrum debate escalates, broadcasters step up lobby
Sen Klobuchar to introduce bill on cancellation fees after Verizon's increase
Scenarios for Android, Minus the Phones
Mobile Venture Lifts Hope in West Bank
FCC "WiMAX Auction" Already Over
Everywhere you look, porn is suddenly inescapable
AT&T demands that Verizon pull its ads comparing coverage
iPhone Apps Take Root as Cottage Industry
See also:Employment in Technology Sector Stuck in a Slump
OWNERSHIP
Lots of smoke but likely to be few flames in D.C. for Comcast-NBC
Vivendi in No Rush to Sell NBC Stake, May Bargain Hard on Price
Tribune Co. to pay back some high-interest loans
TELEVISION
Digital-TV coupons expire; 54 percent used
TV Viewing Hits Record High
Making Broadcast Television More Accessible for American Families
Bewkes: Broadcast Nets Need Carriage Fees
FCC is scrutinizing details of TV stations' agreement
ED TECH
Schools shun Kindle, saying blind can't use it
See also: Intel alternative -- IDG News Service
Site simplifies text for students with disabilities
States lag on school innovation
Ed-tech showcase inspires lawmakers
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Government Will Release Some Telco Wiretap Lobbying Documents
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Lawmakers ask FCC, DHS to consider cell phone alert system
San Francisco Police Add Email, Voice Mail to Their Ranks
JOURNALISM
The case for (smart) government support of journalism
Free Press asks White House for a 'Knight 2.0' commission
Can Steve Waldman Save U.S. Journalism?
Newspaper Execs And Readers View Online News Availability Differently
News behind pay walls is no help to democracy
Blocking Google Could Cost WSJ.com 25% of Traffic
News Websites Less Like Newspapers, More Like TV
Fort Hood Shootings Top Interest, Coverage and The Army Base Massacre Dominates the Week
Prosecutors Allege Journalism Class Sought Testimony to Overturn Murder Conviction
From Justice Kennedy, a Lesson in Journalism
HEALTH IT
Drug Makers to Press for Guidance on Web Marketing
Cough into your mobile phone for instant diagnosis
Boom Times For Health IT Sector
TELECOM
FCC Proposes Change in High-Cost Universal Service Support
THE STIMULUS
NTIA AND RUS SEEK INPUT ON BTOP AND BIP
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are seeking public input on certain issues relating to the implementation of the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to inform a second and final round of funding. In particular, the agencies seek to gather information that will help them improve the broadband programs by enhancing the applicant experience and making targeted revisions to the first Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA), if necessary. The agencies are seeking input on the application and review process and specific policy issues raised in the funding notice. Comments are due in approximately two weeks.
benton.org/node/29584 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | Craig Settles says Simplify!
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NTIA AND RUS TO CONSOLIDATE FINAL ROUNDS
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration]
The Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) say they are streamlining the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's broadband grant and loan programs by awarding the remaining funding in just one more round, instead of two rounds, to increase efficiency and better accommodate applicants. "This will get the funds out the door faster to stimulate the economy and create jobs. It gives applicants and communities a greater opportunity to come together to form networks and find more creative ways to connect to the global economy through broadband," said Jonathan Adelstein, Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, USDA. "We are listening to applicants, reviewing applications received, and all indications suggest a need to revisit the application process. We will consider changes in the next NOFA to make the process more 'applicant friendly' from beginning to end."
benton.org/node/29583 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration | B&C | BroadbandCensus | TechDailyDose | WashPost | WSJ | Giga OM
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NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
FCC NOV 18 MEETING AGENDA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an open meeting on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 10am. The Commission will consider a Petition for Declaratory Ruling which requests that the Commission establish timeframes for State and local zoning authorities to consider wireless facilities siting applications. The meeting will also include a presentation on the status of the Commission's processes for development of a National Broadband Plan and an analysis of the major gaps in broadband in America.
benton.org/node/29625 | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON BROADBAND ADOPTION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: ]
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking public comment on measuring broadband adoption, quantifying the individual costs to non-adopters, measuring the cost to society of having a large group of non-adopters, and identifying and remedying barriers to adoption. The FCC would also like data about existing adoption programs and studies, in order to contribute to and facilitate the Commission's development of the National Broadband Plan. The FCC has tentatively concluded that the chief barriers to broadband adoption include: "Affordability of service, affordability of hardware, insufficient digital and technical literacy levels, unawareness of the personal relevance and utility of broadband technology and online content and an inability to use existing technology and applications due to physical or mental disabilities." Comments are due December 2, 2009.
benton.org/node/29582 | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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SMARTGRIDS, TELEMED TO DRIVE BROADBAND ADOPTION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
The advent of sensors that let systems talk to each other via the Internet--think smart-grid technologies, telemedicine programs, homeland security surveillance--will begin to fuel the demand for broadband services. So much so, in fact, that it could eclipse consumer demand in the future, said John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director of the FCC's National Broadband Plan. Before joining the FCC's broadband task force, Horrigan was associate director of research for the Pew Internet & American Life Project. He's responsible for directing most of the research about broadband adoption that has been cited over and over since the FCC began the process of developing a national plan. "Machine-to-machine will be increasingly important," Horrigan said yesterday at the Brookings Institution during a panel about broadband innovation and investment. "Today video is driving the demand" for consumers, he said. "In the future, it will be machine-to-machine that will have tremendous demands on the infrastructure."
benton.org/node/29622 | Hill, The | Brookings
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GENACHOWSKI IN BEIRUT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski spoke at the International Telecommunication Union Global Symposium for Regulators in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday. He said communications is being transformed by two forces, digital and mobile, which he suggested could be harnessed for peace and prosperity and the economic and physical well-being of nations around the globe. Chairman Genachowski talked of the importance of reaching out to the international community, including from 22 nations that already have broadband plans. He said the FCC's broadband focus is on universal availability, seizing the opportunity of mobile, promoting competition, network openness, and regulatory transparency.
benton.org/node/29581 | Broadcasting&Cable | Chairman Genachowski
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NEW STAFF FOR NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN TEAM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Eric Garr]
The Federal Communications Commission has added some new members to the National Broadband Plan team: 1) Dr. David S. Isenberg will serve as an Expert Advisor, working on how physical infrastructure choices facilitate or impede policy options. 2) Dr. Mohit Kaushaul will head up the newly formed digital healthcare team that is focusing on the convergence of connectivity, technology and healthcare. He will be looking at the potential promise of broadband to both cut costs out of the health care system and improve outcomes for people. 3) Dr. Douglas C. Sicker will be Expert Advisor to the task force on Research and Development issues. His team will develop a set of research recommendations to enable the United States to be a global leader in broadband networking in the years 2020 and beyond, as well as to further broadband R and D in the US over the next decade. 4) Carol Mattey also returns to the FCC as Senior Policy Advisor to the team, focusing on Universal Service issues. [more at the URL below]
benton.org/node/29624 | Federal Communications Commission
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LENARD CRITIQUES BROADBAND STUDY
[SOURCE: Technology Policy Institute, AUTHOR: Thomas Lenard]
The broadband study prepared by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society to help the Federal Communications Commission develop a National Broadband Plan is "incomplete and not objective," according to TPI President and Senior Fellow Thomas Lenard. Lenard said the study "did not accomplish its intended purpose," in an analysis submitted in response to the Commission's request for comments on the study. The Berkman study's principal conclusion is that the United States should adopt an open access policy in order to improve its broadband performance. However, "the study ignores important contributions to the literature by prominent telecommunications scholars that don't support this conclusion," according to Lenard. The Berkman study does not take into account any of the extensive literature that shows the U.S. experience with unbundling requirements under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was not successful. It also ignores econometric evidence that shows that mandatory unbundling adversely affects investment in next-generation networks.
benton.org/node/29620 | Technology Policy Institute
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
THE HIDDEN HARMS OF APPLICATION BIAS
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Press release]
Four consumer and public interest groups sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission seeking clarity regarding Network Neutrality. In the letter, the groups express strong concern with a statement made last week by a senior commission official that the FCC would allow the speeding up or slowing down of applications like video or voice as part of "reasonable network management" -- a sentiment that appears to prejudge the outcome before the FCC completes its rulemaking process. Communications Daily reported on Friday that Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, said at the Open Mobile Summit that reasonable network management would include giving voice and video special high priority and that the commission is specifically going after different treatment of comparable applications in the Net Neutrality rulemaking proceeding. Public interest groups disagree that application-based priority is necessary and argue that the harm this would do to the Internet would outweigh any unproven benefits, and most importantly, that the agency must wait for the rulemaking process to complete a full record before making any decisions. The groups that signed on to the letter include Free Press, Media Access Project, Consumers Union, New America Foundation and New America Foundation's Open Technologies Initiative. Free Press and the Open Technologies Initiative also released a new policy brief today that lays out the case against explicit bias in favor of or against particular applications like video or voice. The Hidden Harms of Application Bias offers an engineering perspective on why prioritization by type would harm the Internet by decreasing performance and restricting consumer choice and innovation.
benton.org/node/29580 | Free Press | CongressDaily
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BLACK OFFICIALS QUESTION NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The heads of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, The National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and the National Association of Black County Officials have written to David Honig of the Minority Media and telecommunications Council applauding questions he's raised about the impact of network neutrality policies on broadband deployment and adoption.
benton.org/node/29616 | Broadcasting&Cable
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NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER FCC'S NET NEUTRALITY RULES
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: ]
The New York City Council Committee on Technology in Government plans to hold a public hearing to consider the Federal Communications Commission's proposed rules to regulate Internet access. The hearing will examine so-called Net Neutrality or open Internet principles and whether they "would effectively obtain the goal of maintaining a free and open Internet."
http://broadbandcensus.com/2009/11/new-york-city-council-to-consider-fcc%e2%80%99s-net-neutrality-rules/
Resolution 712-2007 (New York City Council)
benton.org/node/29615 | BroadbandCensus.com | New York City Council
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MORE ON BROADBAND
THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT RURAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Adam Lynn]
The largest Internet service providers have long paid lip service to connecting America's rural areas to broadband, even as rural residents remain without service because these ISPs fail to connect them. But Verizon is now divesting its wireline business in 14 states. Verizon simply doesn't want to interact with anyone but the highest paying customers. In its own financial speak, Verizon hopes "to transform our growth profile and asset base" to focus on "more densely populated markets." The company is quick to note this move would "return a total value of $8.6 billion to Verizon and shareholders." The company's statement was made less than two months after Verizon paid lip service to the importance of rural broadband in its comments to the FCC. Verizon hopes to use a tax loophole known as a reverse Morris trust (RMT) to dump its rural operations on Frontier. In a nutshell, a RMT allows a company to sell something tax free as long as the recipient is a much smaller company. In sum, Verizon's new business strategy is offloading its rural customers to small (now debt-ridden) companies tax free because it can't be bothered with rural America anymore, preferring to focus on those high-paying urban and suburban customers.
benton.org/node/29621 | Free Press
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CHINA A FOE IN CYBERSPACE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima, John Pomfret]
In 2008, both the Obama and McCain campaign teams were targets of cyber-espionage. But American presidential campaigns are not the only targets. China is significantly boosting its capabilities in cyberspace as a way to gather intelligence and, in the event of war, hit the U.S. government in a weak spot, U.S. officials and experts say. Outgunned and outspent in terms of traditional military hardware, China apparently hopes that by concentrating on holes in the U.S. security architecture -- its communications and spy satellites and its vast computer networks -- it will collect intelligence that could help it counter the imbalance. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit China next week, has vowed to improve ties with the Asian giant, especially its military. But according to current and former U.S. officials, China's aggressive hacking has sowed doubts about its intentions.
benton.org/node/29604 | Washington Post
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FTC URGED TO CLAMP DOWN ON ONLINE DATA COLLECTION
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Privacy advocates are renewing calls for the Federal Trade Commission to impose limits on online data collection and ad targeting. "It should be evident to all that self-regulation to protect consumer privacy online has been a dismal failure," the Center for Digital Democracy and U.S. Public Interest Research Group wrote in comments submitted to the Federal Trade Commission in advance of its privacy roundtable next month. "We need strong baseline laws and regulations to ensure serious industry compliance." The privacy advocates argue that Web companies are not providing consumers with enough power over the collection and use of their data. "Consumers are faced with a largely invisible and all-encompassing data collection apparatus, often operating automatically, that makes decisions about the prices and services they are offered," the groups write. They add that Web users "need to know, and should have the right to approve, the marketing segments into which they have been placed." The advocacy groups also say the industry's new self-regulatory principles -- unveiled in July by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers, Council of Better Business Bureaus, Direct Marketing Association, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau -- do not adequately protect consumers. Among other criticisms, the privacy groups allege that the ad associations' new guidelines don't sufficiently guard sensitive data. The principles require companies to obtain consumers' consent to collect such data, but define it as financial account numbers, social security numbers, pharmaceutical prescriptions, or medical records about a specific individual. The privacy groups argue that the industry's definition of "sensitive" is far too narrow.
benton.org/node/29603 | MediaPost
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WIRELESS
SPECTRUM LOBBYING ESCALATES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
A debate is escalating over the Federal Communications Commission's plan to use television broadcast spectrum for mobile broadband services. Broadcasters have been quick to tell to FCC that they need to keep airwaves to pursue their own plans to bring television to mobile devices. They say over-the-air television is a service to the public. This is while FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has promised to bring new spectrum to the wireless industry.
benton.org/node/29610 | Washington Post
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KLOBUCHAR VS VERIZON CANCELLATION FEES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Monday she plans to introduce legislation to keep wireless carriers from unfairly raising penalties on consumers who cancel their contracts early. The decision comes after Verizon Wireless said last week it plans to double the early termination fees it assesses smart phone owners who ask to get out of their two-year service contracts. The new fees, which would total $350, are scheduled to go into effect Nov. 15. Sen Klobuchar also wrote a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski asking that the agency also investigate Verizon's move.
benton.org/node/29578 | Washington Post
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AT&T DEMANDS VERIZON PULL ADS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Leslie Cauley]
AT&T on Wednesday upped the ante in its legal spat with Verizon, accusing it in an amended complaint of twisting facts in a trio of holiday ads to make AT&T's wireless network coverage look a lot worse than it is. AT&T on Wednesday night asked the federal court in Atlanta to force Verizon to pull the ads immediately. Verizon spokesman Jim Gerace says it is holding firm: "What we are saying doesn't change." What Verizon has been saying is this: AT&T's advanced "3G" wireless coverage is paltry in comparison with Verizon's. Its ad campaign, launched in October, features side-by-side coverage maps. The ads, which sparked AT&T's initial lawsuit, say Verizon has five times more 3G coverage than AT&T. AT&T doesn't dispute the accuracy of the maps, but it says they are misleading. It says "white space" in the maps, which denotes no 3G coverage, could be read to mean that AT&T has no coverage at all in those areas.
benton.org/node/29629 | USAToday
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IPHONE APPS COTTAGE INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yukari Iwatani Kane, Ryan Knutson]
There is a hint of that old boomtown feeling again in the Bay Area -- this time in living rooms and garages and cubicles where a cottage industry is unfolding around the iPhone app. Despite the recession, hundreds of start-ups have sprung up in the area since Apple Inc. launched the iPhone two years ago and opened up the device so third-party developers could create games and other software applications for it. Apple, which has sold more than 30 million iPhones and 20 million iPod touches, boasts more than 100,000 apps on its App Store, through which people can download games, entertainment and utility applications. Most are free -- and make money from ads -- or cost less than a dollar. Developers get 70% of any revenue they make from app sales, with the remaining 30% going to Apple. That is a better proposition than app development for other mobile phones has been in the past. Rivals now offer similar revenue-share models. As a result, many Silicon Valley techies have been lured to the iPhone app start-up scene. According to Mobclix Inc., which operates the iPhone's largest ad-exchange network -- a marketplace to connect advertisers and app developers -- 41% of its 4,000 app developers are in Northern California. The region with the second-largest number of app developers is New York-New Jersey, with 14%.
benton.org/node/29631 | Wall Street Journal
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OWNERSHIP
SMOKE, NO FIRE IN COMCAST-NBC DEAL
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
The takeover of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal by cable giant Comcast Corp. is expected to be announced very soon, and already public interest groups are lining up to do battle in DC against the deal. Yes, a deal between Comcast and NBC Universal should be scrutinized. But the bottom line is there are -- on the surface anyway -- no major regulatory hurdles here that could seriously impede Comcast's taking a majority stake in NBC Universal. Many keep mentioning Federal Communications Commission rules that prohibit a cable operator from owning a TV station in the same city. Alas, those rules were blown out ten years ago. No headaches there. There is talk that having the biggest cable operator own so much programming (NBC, E! USA, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, etc.) will also automatically raise red flags. Well, until it spun off its cable systems, Time Warner owned the nation's second-largest cable operator and several big cable networks including CNN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network and HBO. The FCC has rules already (the so-called program access regulations) that safeguard against distribution companies withholding their content from competing distributors. Those rules are set to expire in three years, although this deal could give the commission juice to argue to keep them around a little longer. Furthermore, the deal probably will be a merger of Comcast's programming units with NBC Universal into a new company. Comcast's cable systems, which reach almost 25% of the country, would not be part of the new entity.
benton.org/node/29577 | Los Angeles Times
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VIVENDI IN NO RUSH TO SELL NBC
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Kristen Schweizer]
Vivendi SA, owner of the world's biggest music company, may hold out to get a higher price for its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal because it faces little pressure to sell right away. The Paris-based media company may drop out of the running for GVT (Holding) SA after Spain's Telefonica SA increased its bid last week for the Brazilian phone operator, reducing any pressure the French company may have faced to raise money from the NBC stake sale. Vivendi can notify General Electric Co., which owns the rest of NBC, during an annual window between Nov. 15 and Dec. 10 whether it wants to sell the stake. Vivendi's decision on its NBC Universal stake is key to a plan being put together by GE and the largest U.S. cable company Comcast Corp. to combine their media assets. GE is in talks to sell a majority stake in the unit to Comcast via a joint venture, people with knowledge of the discussions said last month. Comcast could take full ownership of NBC Universal in seven years
benton.org/node/29606 | Bloomberg | Reuters
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE WIRETAP LOBBYING DOCS
[SOURCE: dslreports.com, AUTHOR: Karl Bode]
A Federal Judge has demanded, three times now, that the Obama Administration hand over documents that highlight how major phone companies AT&T and Verizon lobbied for legal immunity for their involvement in the government's warrantless wiretap program. The government, with no real legal footing to stand on, has now tried to delay that release three times in order to keep those documents out of the ongoing Congressional discussion about domestic wiretapping. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation they're finally making headway, and some documents should be released this week.
benton.org/node/29599 | dslreports.com
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
LAWMAKERS ASK FCC, DHS TO CONSIDER CELL PHONE ALERT SYSTEM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Kim Hart]
Five dozen lawmakers want the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Homeland Security to develop an alert system using radio tuners and cellphones. A group of 60 House members sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, requesting their agencies explore the potential benefits of including FM radio tuners in mobile handsets for a national emergency alert system. The letter points out that the Warning Alert and Response Network Act of 2006 authorized the wireless industry to create an alert system and says that incorporating FM tuners "could help achieve this goal... Radio's emergency alert system is a proven, reliable service." Few mobile devices in the US have radio tuners, even though 700 million phones available in other countries offer radios, the letter says.
benton.org/node/29598 | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM
THE CASE FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT OF JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] When in September President Obama said he would be "happy to look" at congressional proposals designed to help the beleaguered newspaper industry, the president's throwaway line provoked a flurry of articles about how government help for newspapers would compromise editorial integrity and stifle innovation and competition rising from the digital frontier—and wouldn't save the doomed newsrooms anyway. Even the Newspaper Association of America said it wasn't looking for "a specific handout, bailout, financial assistance, what have you." We are not in favor of a bailout for the newspaper business, and we certainly don't support subsidies that would simply prop up the status quo. But it seems increasingly clear that, at least in the short term, sustaining the kind of accountability journalism that our society needs—and that newspapers have been the chief producers of—will require some creative help from Uncle Sam. And not because newspapers failed to adapt to the digital age. Ultimately, this isn't about newspapers. Government has always subsidized the press in this country, starting with legislation in 1792 that established below-cost mail rates for newspapers. Over the years, some subsidies have worked well, others less so. But the idea that a purely commercial media alone can continue to deliver the journalism we need is becoming difficult to swallow. If we don't get beyond the rational but outdated fear of government help for accountability journalism—if we just let the market sort it out—this vital public good will continue to decline.
benton.org/node/29592 | Columbia Journalism Review
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FREE PRESS CALLS FOR KNIGHT 2.0
[SOURCE: Current, AUTHOR: Karen Everhart]
There's been more than enough talk about restructuring public broadcasting as digital public media. The time to start walking the walk has arrived. So says Josh Silver, executive director and co-founder of Free Press, the media reform group that has had a seat at the table in talks about redefining public broadcasting as public media. Following the release of the Knight Commission and Columbia j-school studies recommending major reforms for publicly supported media, Free Press has asked the Obama administration to appoint a commission to flesh out a legislative proposal. "These are behind-the-scenes conversations and nothing that I can talk about publicly," Silver said. "It's too soon and it's not there yet." Free Press's agenda for pubcasting reform includes a substantial increase in federal funding, strengthening firewall protections, diversifying the audience and content and an "expanded definition of what public media is in a digital environment," Silver said. Cable access TV channels, community radio and low-power FM stations would be among the groups eligible for federal aid under Free Press's proposal.
benton.org/node/29596 | Current
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CAN WALDMAN SAVE JOURNALISM?
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Kim McAvoy]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has charged Steven Waldman with helping traditional journalism as now practiced by newspapers and TV stations find its place in the digital age. As a special adviser to Genachowski, a former Columbia classmate and business associate, Waldman says he will study the "the very worrisome and deep contraction of journalism" and then come up with some ideas for revitalizing it. "The future of news and the future of journalism and information cuts across all these different platforms — local broadcast news, cable, mobile, the Internet, newspapers and radio. They are all interconnected now. So you can't really assess policy in silos. The chairman is interested in making sure we're thinking creatively and in a coordinated way."
benton.org/node/29591 | TVNewsCheck
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VIEWS ON ONLINE NEWS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
American Press Institute, with ITZ Publishing and Belden Interactive, recently published initial results of a study designed to help Newspaper executives understand the current peer practices in generating revenue from digital content, the various pay models, success levels, and approaches to issues like site registration, electronic editions and tracking original content across the Web. Among the preliminary findings, nearly 60% of respondents are considering initiating paid access for currently open/free news and information online, and nearly 25% expect to implement a paid strategy in the next six months. This is a big change, says the report, considering that 90% of the responding newspapers currently do not charge for content, and only 3% currently have a paid-only site. Capturing new revenue and preserving print are likely the key drivers of any final decision to adopt a paid-content strategy. 34% of respondents think capturing new revenue opportunities is or will be the most important factor, while 28% think it is or will be preserving print circulation.
benton.org/node/29590 | MediaPost
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NEWS BEHIND PAY WALLS IS NO HELP TO DEMOCRACY
[SOURCE: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, AUTHOR: Jim Naureckas]
There have been various proposals to "save journalism" from the crisis brought on by digitalization. But by and large these ideas have less to do with meeting the information needs of a democratic society than with preserving the profit potential of existing media outlets. Take the various suggestions as to how to get news outlets to stop giving away their content for free. At root, the pay-wall proposal is an attempt to turn news into a commodity again, something that people are willing to pay for. Central to the idea of a commodity is scarcity: People pay for things that aren't available to everyone, that they won't benefit from unless they can afford them. The reason there are so many uninsured people in the U.S. is because healthcare is treated as a commodity here—which inevitably means that some people aren't going to get it.
benton.org/node/29589 | Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
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