September 2005

For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Broadcasters Left Hispanics in the Dark During Katrina
VoIP Pioneer: IP Technology Not Effectively Used in Katrina
Katrina Drove Online Traffic in August to Local Media
Media: An Early Warning System Or Hype Machine?

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATION
Critics Blast ED's 'Propaganda' Probe
CPB Says It's Not Subject to FOIA Disclosure Requirements
CPB Grants Help More Local Public Radio Stations Move Toward Digital Services
Rural Broadband Access Grim for Small Businesses

TELECOM MERGERS
Qwest to Try to Sway FCC Review of SBC-AT&T Merger
Mergers May Vex Regulators

QUICKLY -- Authors Slap Google With Copyright Suit; Feds want cell phone
ban for teen drivers; China Gets Tougher on Foreign Media; BBC Tests
Internet TV Viewing; 'Futurama' Writer Is Elected to Head Guild

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

BROADCASTERS LEFT HISPANICS IN THE DARK DURING KATRINA
The FCC should require broadcasters to provide emergency announcements in
multiple languages in markets that include large numbers of people whose
main language isn't English, the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC)
told the Commission in a petition. MMTC asked the FCC, in its emergency
alert system (EAS) rulemaking, to require vital information be made
available to non-English people. After Hurricane Katrina and as Hurricane
Rita nears Florida, this material should be available now, said MMTC Exec.
Dir. David Honig. MMTC, along with the Spanish Bcstrs. Assn. and the United
Church of Christ Office of Communications, seek the EAS rules revised
immediately to allow multilingual broadcast of local, state and national
emergency information. In Aug 2004, the FCC released a notice of proposed
rulemaking seeking comment on whether the EAS is the most effective way to
warn the public of an emergency and how to improve it. The proceeding could
be on the FCC agenda meeting on Oct. 12. MMTC suggested that in each market
the FCC designate a local primary Spanish station to at least monitor and
rebroadcast emergency information in Spanish.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Tania Panczyk-Collins]
(Not available online)
Learn more about MMTC at: http://www.mmtconline.org

VOIP PIONEER: IP TECHNOLOGY NOT EFFECTIVELY USED IN KATRINA
Internet telephone or VoIP technology is well-suited for disaster work but
wasn't used to its full potential after Hurricane Katrina, VoIP pioneer Tom
Evslin said in a speech at the VON Conference on Monday. "We weren't
ready," he said. "Many couldn't find a way to volunteer and donate, we
couldn't get attention from the FCC, we haven't made the case" that VoIP is
better suited than the public switched telephone network (PSTN) for
disaster recovery, he said. VoIP could have connected people along the Gulf
Coast far more quickly than PSTN simply because of VoIP's nomadic, flexible
Internet-based nature, Evslin said. At the very least, public networks such
as BellSouth should have tried gambits such as setting up voice mail hubs
where people could leave messages for one other. "We need to get our
solutions in order before the next catastrophe," he said. "I hope next time
we can come closer to reaching the potential of our technology." Evslin
also said he hopes that government recovery spending does not rebuild
BellSouth's obsolete network when the money could upgrade the region's
facilities.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Edie Herman]
(Not available online)
See more at: http://www.von.com/

KATRINA DROVE ONLINE TRAFFIC TO LOCAL MEDIA
Hundreds of thousands of people looking for the latest news on Hurricane
Katrina went to New Orleans' local media last month to get the latest on
the storm's devastation, a web metrics firm said Monday. Nola.com, the web
home of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper owned by Advance
Publications, saw its traffic soar 277 percent from July to 1.7 million
visitors in August, ComScore Networks said. Meanwhile, the city's CBS
affiliate WWL-TV, owned by Belo Corp., experienced a 258 percent spike in
traffic to its site, WWLTV.com, to 878,000. More than half of the traffic
to Nola.com originated in parts of the country that were outside the
storm's path.
[SOURCE: InternetWeek, AUTHOR: Antone Gonsalves ]
http://www.internetweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170704725

MEDIA: AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM OR HYPE MACHINE?
[Commentary] Do the media overhype minor concerns that pack a visceral
punch and underplay important concerns that are more complicated and/or
less immediate? The challenge for the media lies in figuring out which
stories deserve coverage and which do not. In
[SOURCE: CBS News/Public Eye, AUTHOR: Brian Montopoli ]
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2005/09/19/publiceye/entry859517.shtml

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATION

CRITICS BLAST ED's 'PROPAGANDA' PROBE
Investigators looking into a massive, multimillion-dollar public relations
campaign to support President Bush's top education priorities acknowledge
that taxpayer dollars were used in ways that often were not disclosed to
the public, in clear violation of federal rules -- but they stopped short
of concluding that the government has engaged in any illegal propaganda.
Their report has raised the ire of many Democrats in Congress, who say it
doesn't go far enough in its rebuke. The Bush administration has devoted
too much time -- and money -- to polishing its own public image, and not
nearly enough on providing adequate funding to improve the nation's
schools, the president's critics contend. The report, from the U.S.
Department of Education's (ED's) Office of the Inspector General (OIG )--
the internal investigation unit responsible for policing ED programs --
found that media relations firms, advocacy groups, and other private
companies received nearly $5 million in grants to help galvanize public
support for the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) without disclosing
that they received taxpayer funds to do so, as required by law. In at least
four cases, education officials failed to turn over materials necessary for
investigators to conduct a thorough analysis. In one such instance -- a
$1.7 million public relations effort -- ED was unable to provide a complete
list of work statements associated with the contract and could not specify
what deliverables the investment intended to yield. Though the report,
released by Inspector General John Higgins' office earlier this month,
found no evidence of "covert propaganda" on behalf of education officials,
it did say ED needs to do a better job of tracking and monitoring how
taxpayer dollars are spent and even suggested that the administration move
to recoup some of the monies in those instances where rules governing full
disclosure reportedly were broken.
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Corey Murray]
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5874

CPB SAYS IT'S NOT SUBJECT TO FOIA DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
As controversial Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Kenneth
Tomlinson steps down at the board meeting Sept. 26, the corporation is
coming under pressure from media groups to make its operations and
programming decision making process more transparent. Free Press, Common
Cause and Center for Digital Democracy started an ad campaign this week to
draw attention to CPB board meetings being "largely off limits to the press
and the public" and calling for more "transparency and accountability."
Meanwhile, CPB Inspector Gen. Kenneth Konz, who's probing some of
Tomlinson's actions, including his hiring a Republican consultant to
monitor programming, is unlikely to present a preliminary report by Sept. 26.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Dinesh Kumar]
(Not available online)

CPB GRANTS HELP MORE LOCAL PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS MOVE TOWARD DIGITAL SERVICES
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced grant awards
totaling more than $8.8 million to help an additional 119 local public
radio stations, including 78 serving rural and minority audiences, purchase
the equipment needed to transition to digital radio. This is the fourth
round of grants to bring this exciting advancement in radio broadcast
technology to public local stations. Digital technology will enhance
significantly the quality and scope of program services, as well as provide
richer quality sound than is currently available. CPB is encouraging and
supporting the early adoption of this promising new technology by providing
matching funds to eligible stations. CPB has distributed grants to 405
public radio stations and 285 public television stations to begin their
digital transition. Additional awards for public television to convert to
digital also will be announced this fall. Final grants are contingent upon
final equipment costs and contract negotiations with individual stations.
These funds are part of the nearly $190 million in funding that Congress
has provided to CPB over the last five years to assist both public radio
and public television stations to convert from analog to digital transmission.
[SOURCE: Corporation for Public Broadcasting press release]
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=487

RURAL BROADBAND ACCESS GRIM FOR SMALL BUSINESS
In a Hill forum sponsored by the Rural Broadband Coalition and Hughes
Network Systems, Curtis Anderson, acting administrator of the Rural
Utilities Service at the Department of Agriculture, said the Bush
Administration has spent $3.3 billion on rural broadband deployment since
2001, and has $2 billion left. The funds are available as loans for small
(20,000) towns. the program has linked 1.3 million rural homes and
businesses to broadband, Anderson said. The technology breakdown for
federal funding has been 35% for fiber, 24% for DSL, 24% for wireless, 15%
for hybrid fiber/coaxial cable and 2% for broadband over powerline (BPL).
According to a broadband access study commissioned by Hughes Network
Systems (HNS) and released Tuesday, 76% of small businesses (1-10 people)
in rural locations lack terrestrial broadband access. Anderson said the
USDA defines broadband as moving at speeds of 200 kbps or greater. But part
of the USDA's continuing evaluation of the program is to assess at what
point 200 kbps no longer cuts it and when it will need to develop a "double
track" for rural broadband funding.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Adrianne Kroepsch]
(Not available online)

TELECOM MERGERS

QWEST TO TRY TO SWAY FCC REVIEW OF SBC-AT&T MERGER
Just for fun, Qwest Communications International Inc. yesterday raised
questions about the pending merger of two major rivals, accusing SBC
Communications Inc. of anti-competitive practices as the government
considers SBC's purchase of AT&T Corp. Denver-based Qwest said SBC was
making it harder for competitors to serve lucrative medium to large
companies and was limiting the ability of rivals to lease SBC lines at
cheaper government-regulated rates. It also said SBC appeared to be
pressuring smaller phone companies not to merge with unspecified
"blacklisted" rivals. Qwest is trying to influence the FCC as the agency
weighs both the SBC-AT&T merger and Verizon Communications Inc.'s planned
$8.46 billion purchase of MCI Inc. Qwest was rebuffed in its own effort to
buy Ashburn-based MCI this year, and the two mergers leave Qwest -- the
fourth-largest U.S. telephone company -- at a competitive disadvantage to
the remaining regional telephone giants.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Arshad Mohammed]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR200509...
(requires registration)

MERGERS MAY VEX REGULATORS
As federal regulators weigh what, if any, conditions to impose on two
mammoth phone company mergers, they face a vexing Rubik's cube of
possibilities. Any requirements they attach to SBC Communications'
acquisition of AT&T and Verizon's purchase of MCI could force some
customers to do business with a telecom company they didn't choose. The
Justice Department is largely focused on the effects of the megadeals on
corporate customers, say people with direct knowledge of the situation. In
exchange for the deals' approval, they say, Justice is considering forcing
the combined company to shed up to several thousand lines that serve big
business. The rub: Most corporate customers are under contract and will
likely balk at switching providers. The FCC could impose conditions aimed
at preserving consumer choice. Until recently, AT&T and MCI each have
competed head-on with SBC and Verizon for consumers' home-phone service.
Regulators are less concerned about that segment because the long-distance
companies stopped marketing residential service after adverse regulatory
rulings last year. Still, to promote competition, the FCC could require SBC
and Verizon to offer consumers DSL broadband service without also requiring
them to use the Bells' local voice service. That would allow consumers to
replace the Bells' voice service with an Internet-based phone service, such
as Vonage, that could travel over the DSL line. Both Justice and the
Federal Communications Commission could approve both deals by next month,
though Justice is further along in its review than the FCC.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050921/telecom21.art.htm

QUICKLY

AUTHORS SLAP GOOGLE WITH COPYRIGHT SUIT
On Tuesday, the Authors Guild, a New York non-profit with over 8,000
members who are published authors, filed suit against Google Inc., accusing
the search engine company of copyright infringement under its controversial
program to scan millions of books in university and public libraries and to
make the texts searchable on the Web. The group alleges that Google's plan
to create digital copies of books represented "massive copyright
infringement."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kevin J. Delaney
kevin.delaney( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112725685573346700,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)

FEDS WANT CELL PHONE BAN FOR TEEN DRIVERS
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday voted to add to its
annual list of "Most Wanted Safety Recommendations to States" a ban on
novice drivers using any wireless communication devices.
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/12696914.htm

CHINA GETS TOUGHER ON FOREIGN MEDIA
Last year, prospects looked good when China moved toward loosening rules on
foreign media investments. But in recent months, Liu and other leaders of
the Chinese government have clamped down on foreigners' participation in
China's burgeoning media industry, declaring last month that they wouldn't
allow more foreign television channels and would tighten their grip on the
31 satellite broadcasters in China. Chinese officials say they want to
"safeguard national cultural security." But some analysts believe that the
restrictions are aimed at keeping advertising revenue in the hands of
state-controlled and domestic media enterprises. Even as Beijing has moved
to limit foreign companies, it has encouraged the development of private
Chinese media firms.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Don Lee]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-chinamedia21sep21,1,6...
(requires registration)

BBC TEST MAY PUSH INTERNET TV VIEWING CLOSER TO MAINSTREAM
About 5,000 selected viewers in the United Kingdom will be issued a
computer program called the iMP (interactive media player) that allows them
to download and share most of the British Broadcasting Corp's TV programs
for up to seven days. No other broadcaster has made so many shows available
for download to computers. The BBC hopes its iMP software will become the
iTunes of Internet television, allowing viewers to customize their TV
schedules over the course of a week. If the three-month test is successful,
the BBC plans to make the iMP freely available in the U.K. next year,
becoming the first TV network to show its entire schedule over the Internet.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Aaron O. Patrick aaron.patrick( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112726369569546878,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)

'FUTURAMA' WRITER IS ELECTED TO HEAD GUILD
Animation writer Patric M. Verrone was overwhelmingly elected Tuesday to
head Writers Guild of America, the union representing Hollywood screen and
TV writers, vowing to take a tougher stance with studios and pledging to
step up organizing efforts. Verrone's supporters also won all eight
director seats up for grabs on the guild's 19-member board.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Richard Verrier]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-wga21sep21,1,1558205....
(requires registration)
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I never did like that Bernie the Brewer... Go Bratwurst!
http://www.bratwurstpages.com/
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Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
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