September 2005

There's a bust telecom agenda this week, kicked off by a discussion
tomorrow on new legislation: "Revising the Telecom Act: Solving the
Persistent Problem of the Digital Divide." For this and other upcoming
media policy events, see http://www.benton.org

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
A Story Better Told in Print
Katrina could Forever Change how TV News Covers Storms
The Rising Tide for Environmental Reporting
Free Some Spectrum for Public
Companies Work to Repair Phone Service

BROADCASTING/CABLE/SATELLITE
Battle Over CPB Chief, Round Two
APTS to Fight Renewed Efforts to Kill Federal Funds for CPB
Viewers Want Family-Friendly Programs That Resonate
A TV Channel Takes Aim at Toddlers
Cable's Digital Drive irks Basic Customers
News Corp. Leads Digital TV Investor Group
Satellite Policy May Shift

INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC Releases Policy Statement on Broadband Internet Access
FTC Comr. Blasts Municipal Broadband Opponents

TELECOM
Telco Critics Hit Telecom Draft
Universal Service Bill Moving
Verizon Wireless, Alltel Emerge As Suitors for Midwest Wireless
VoIP wants to cut the computer cord

INTERNATIONAL
China Stricter on News Websites
Media Counter Piracy in China In New Ways

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

A STORY BETTER TOLD IN PRINT
[Commentary] By their disposition, hurricanes are a television story: great
pictures, an informational crawl at the bottom, and a wind-swept,
rain-soaked anchor. But big papers like The Washington Post, The Chicago
Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times all dug in,
sending dispatches out of New Orleans that shed light where there had been
only heat. What exactly happened at the convention center? Is Mayor Ray
Nagin a saint or a kook? Were the levees overtopped or undermined? Will New
Orleans be a real city again, or just Disneyland with Jell-O shots? Those
are not questions that get asked or answered much on television. The New
Orleans story needed the big muscles of print journalism to gain custody of
facts that seemed beyond comprehension. People could Google their way
through the storm, but for a search engine to really work, you need women
and men on the ground asking difficult questions and digging past the
misinformation and panic that infect a big story. Newspapers are a civic
good, especially right now, but they cannot function as a nonprofit. Make
all the jokes you want about dead trees, a printed artifact that people pay
to read and advertise in is an absolute necessity. On television, it always
seems like Groundhog Day - get wet, rinse, repeat. There is undeniably
something compelling about Anderson Cooper standing in wind and rain in
Galveston at 3 a.m. on Saturday as Rita blew ashore - "You feel very much
at the edge of the world," he said, blinking against the rain - but that
does not address the issues of governance, logistics, race and class that
the hurricanes reveal. Those are stories newspapers tell well. But with
department stores consolidating both their operations and their advertising
and with readers canceling the newspapers that land on their doorstep in
favor of more instant gratification on the Web, big newspapers full of deep
reporting and serious ambitions seem like dinosaurs at the beginning of a
very cold age.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/business/media/26carr.html?pagewanted=all
(requires registration)

KATRINA COULD FOREVER CHANGE HOW TV NEWS COVERS STORMS
Given the impact of Katrina, Hurricane Rita was covered differently than
any other storm. Television outlets devoted great resources to coverage.
Before Katrina, "the thinking had always been, 'It's no longer a story once
it's no longer a hurricane. Be there when it hits, get out by the time it's
downgraded to a tropical storm,' " CNN chief Jon Klein says. Katrina, he
says, taught news outlets that post-hurricane storm surges and flooding,
which destroyed levees and much of New Orleans, "are even more dangerous
than the initial wind and rain. We know to stick around and wait to see how
the story plays out." The human side of Katrina -- tales of agony and
misery that thousands of Katrina's victims still endure a month after the
storm -- also has gripped many reporters, who want to stay on the story
indefinitely. "Katrina made a lot of us in the media realize that we can't
undersell a hurricane," MSNBC anchor Rita Cosby says from Galveston. "News
organizations, the government, everybody now realizes you've got to take
Mother Nature seriously." But news executives' ability to balance budgets
also is being sorely tested: Not only must they operate in a tight economy,
but many must also meet profit goals set by news organizations' corporate
owners. And this has been one of the costliest years in terms of coverage:
There has been the war in Iraq, the death of one pope and the election of
another, the Asian tsunami, the London terrorist attacks and now hurricanes.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050926/d_mediamix26.art.htm

THE RISING TIDE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING
Eight days after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast, CNN's
"Anderson Cooper 360" included in its coverage of the storm's aftermath a
report on toxic water and another piece on global warming. The story on the
toxic soup created by the New Orleans floodwaters raised issues about the
environmental impact of the cleanup as the dirty water is drained into Lake
Pontchartrain. The global warming story explained the complicated cycles of
increased and decreased hurricane activity and their relationship with
rising temperatures in the oceans. These types of pieces-taking a
long-range look at environmental issues-were less likely to generate
attention in newsrooms in a pre-Katrina world. The destruction caused by
Katrina may have created a defining era for environmental journalism.
Coverage of environmental topics has been sparse on television over the
past few years. Now viewers appear more keenly invested in such issues
because Katrina isn't just the story of the worst natural disaster to hit
the United States, it's also a story that has brought into sharp focus the
issues of man's impact on the environment. In fact, the ongoing cleanup and
the assessment of the impact of Katrina are likely to usher in a new wave
of environmental reporting on TV in the next few months. What is unknown is
whether that attention will translate into a long-term, consistent focus.
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Daisy Whitney]
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=8603
(requires free registration)

FREE SOME SPECTRUM FOR PUBLIC
[Commentary] One lesson of Hurricane Katrina and the terrible chaotic
aftermath is this: The public needs direct, unlicensed access to cheap,
robust communications. The FCC can make this happen. A portion of the
analog TV spectrum that will be clawed back from broadcasters in the next
several years should be made license-free. Let the technical circus -- that
world of geeks, entrepreneurs, companies and venture capitalists -- seek
profits by making a mass market of super-duper WiMax gear. This will make
future communications blackouts, like that which helped to cripple rescuers
in New Orleans, much less likely.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR:Larry Honig, Volvoxx]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6260401?display=Opinion&refer...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

COMPANIES WORK TO REPAIR PHONE SERVICE
Telephone and cellphone outages persisted in parts of Texas, Louisiana and
Mississippi on Sunday as crews repaired damage caused by Hurricane Rita.
Joe Chandler, spokesman for BellSouth, said about 560,000 customers were
without service, mainly in northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi. He
said crews were at work in areas that weren't severely flooded. San
Antonio-based SBC Communications said its core network in Texas "is fully
functional, with the exception of a small central office in Sabine Pass,"
near hard-hit Port Arthur. Mark Siegel of Cingular Wireless said that "well
over half of our sites are up" in Texas and Louisiana.
[SOURCE: USAToday,
AUTHOR:]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050926/a_katbriefs26.art.htm

BROADCASTING/CABLE/SATELLITE

BATTLE OVER CPB CHIEF, ROUND TWO
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) board will name a successor
to the controversial head of the organization -- with another candidate who
could also draw fire. Outgoing board Chairman Ken Tomlinson, who drew
strong criticism from the public-broadcasting community and some key
legislators for what they see as pushing a Republican agenda, saw his role
as balancing a liberal-programming bias. Despite indications that veteran
broadcaster Claudia Puig (Univision Radio) might be picked by midweek, most
expected CPB board member Cheryl Halpern, who some say would continue the
Tomlinson policy, to take over the post. In her confirmation hearing in
2003, Halpern said CPB should have more muscle to counter bias. "There has
to be recognition that an objective, balanced code of journalistic ethics
has got to prevail across the board, and there needs to be accountability,"
she said, according to CPB mag Current at the time. "When that fails,
guilty parties need to be penalized." There are currently five Republicans
and three Democrats on the CPB board, with the public-radio seat
(Democratic) vacant. Word is, moderate former Sen. David Pryor (D-Ark.) is
the choice for the seat and the nomination has been at the White House
since July.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6260341?display=News&referral...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

APTS TO FIGHT RENEWED EFFORTS TO KILL FEDERAL FUNDS FOR CPB
Public broadcasters are taking seriously proposals by Republicans to
eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and
will fight such attempts, Association of Public TV Stations (APTS)
President John Lawson said. In measures to cut federal costs to pay for
Katrina relief, the House Republican Study Committee (RSC) urged slicing
$400 million in annual CPB appropriations, which it says would save $1
billion over 5 years and $2.5 billion over 10 years. RSC's war on CPB
funding seems to be a "kind of willful disregard of the fact that public
broadcasters are part of the solution to recovery in the Gulf states,"
Lawson said. "We will be vigilant in ensuring that CPB funding is not
singled out." Gulf state Congressional representatives know the "positive
impact" public broadcasters are making in the region, he said, "and we are
confident that our funding will be protected." Public TV and radio stations
in areas hit by Katrina are broadcasting special programming to help
children deal with the disaster. They also are distributing educational
DVDs and free books at shelters, an plan job training programming and
outreach, he said. "So they are definitely playing a very constructive and
cost-effective role in recovery." Still, public broadcasters are bracing
for some sort of across-the-board cuts in all domestic discretionary
spending to pay for Katrina relief, Lawson said, and "we will certainly be
willing to do our part." But they will fight any bid to eliminate CPB
funding, he added.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Dinesh Kumar]
(Not available online)

VIEWERS WANT FAMILY-FRIENDLY PROGRAMS THAT RESONATE
Proctor & Gamble's Lance McAlindon says a study he conducted found that
viewers think available family-oriented television is not as good as other
programming. McAlindon's research also found that the 800 viewers surveyed
for the study think family television creates happy and memorable
experiences that bring families closer together and that they want more
family-friendly programming choices.
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Natalie Verdugo]
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=8602
(requires free registration)

A TV CHANNEL TAKES AIM AT TODDLERS
"PBS Kids Sprout," a national 24-hour channel aimed at the very young,
debuts today on cable and satellite systems. Sprout, which will initially
be available to about 16 million homes, will carry ads and will join the
other new, commercial entrant vying for toddlers' TV time this fall. The
Cartoon Network, which is owned by Time Warner, has converted two hours of
its morning lineup to TickleU, a block of shows like "Gerald McBoing Boing"
that the network says have a pedagogic foundation in encouraging a sense of
humor in preschoolers. Nielsen Media Research estimates that there are 15.9
million children aged 2 to 5, and Nielsen figures show that the children
watched an average of 3 hours and 40 minutes of television a day during the
2004-5 TV season -- 13 minutes more than the 2000-1 season.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/business/media/26kids.html?pagewanted=all
(requires registration)

CABLE'S DIGITAL DRIVE IRKS BASIC CUSTOMERS
Across the country, cable operators have been moving popular channels from
analog to digital service, which offers customers better picture and sound
but also can handle much larger volume, allowing cable operators to use
their networks for more lucrative options such as video on demand and
Internet and telephone services. Cable operators such as Comcast, Time
Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Cablevision are tight-lipped about the
changes, which affect many of the nation's cable subscribers. Markets
seeing the change include cities in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois,
Michigan, Massachusetts, California, Louisiana, Nevada, Colorado, and
Texas. "They're trying to reclaim some of the capacity, mostly for HD" or
high-definition TV, said Bruce Leichtman, president of the Leichtman
Research Group. Digital services let cable operators better compete with
satellite TV and soon, phone companies, said Jimmy Schaeffler, an analyst
with The Carmel Group, a market research firm. Another reason why digital
is alluring to cable: "It's hugely more profitable," Schaeffler said. Fees
for advanced services can inflate a basic subscriber's bill by 30 percent
to 40 percent or more. "If you're paying $40, it could be $60 to $70 or
higher," Schaeffler said. Advanced services such as digital packages have
driven revenue per subscriber at Comcast to $83 in the second quarter of
this year from $42 in 1998, John Alchin, co-chief financial officer, said
at the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference on Sept. 13. The
figure does not reflect revenue from the company's phone service. But to
increase their offering of digital services, cable companies need to free
up space on their cable lines - which means cutting back on analog
channels. "It's a clear industry strategy: They are trying to find ways to
push customers to spend more," said Gene Kimmelman, senior director of
public policy at Consumers Union. "There's no other reason for this other
than their greed."
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Deborah Yao]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/12741933.htm

NEWS CORP LEADS DIGITAL TV INVESTOR GROUP
News Corp. is teaming up with five other companies to invest a total of $26
million in U.S. Digital Television, a recently launched digital-broadcast
TV service that charges a low fee for a limited selection of cable
channels. The group, which includes several broadcasters such as
Hearst-Argyle Television Inc. as well as News Corp.'s Fox Television
Stations unit, will get majority control of the service. U.S. Digital
Television will use the funds to expand into new markets and to offer other
services such as video-on-demand. U.S. Digital Television leases unused
digital spectrum of local TV stations to broadcast 12 cable channels, such
as ESPN and Fox News Channel, for $20 a month. Its signals can be received
by a digital set-top box and aerial antenna. Regular cable service, in
comparison, offers an average of 80 channels for about $40 a month. The
service is targeted at the roughly 20 million U.S. households that do not
subscribe to cable or satellite television services, as well as those who
want a cheaper option. "The target market is a value-oriented home," says
Steve Lindsley, chief executive of U.S. Digital Television. The service,
initially financed by private investors, has so far signed up 4,500
subscribers.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin julia.angwin( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112769120182351628,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)

SATELLITE POLICY MAY SHIFT
In a potentially controversial policy shift affecting future government
space programs, the Bush administration wants the U.S. intelligence
community, the military and various domestic agencies to share many of the
same satellite systems. Plans to develop fleets of such multifunctional
spacecraft -- which for the first time would simultaneously serve a broad
range of federal agencies -- are partly intended to build political support
for satellite projects. It also may benefit U.S. satellite makers such as
Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Still, the initiative flies
in the face of restrictions separating intelligence-gathering satellites
from those designed for domestic or civilian purposes. The proposal to
develop government-wide satellite systems is likely to face criticism and
opposition from two directions. Some military and intelligence
bureaucracies, long used to controlling their own satellite constellations,
are likely to balk at giving up that independence. A second set of critics
is likely to raise privacy and Constitutional concerns. Mr. Rouge
acknowledged that "there probably will be civil-liberty groups who will
raise challenges" to systematically combining intelligence and domestic
functions. U.S. law prohibits using spy satellites or other intelligence
systems to observe American citizens on U.S. soil, though the U.S.
president can sign directives lifting those restrictions for specified
periods and methods. Pentagon officials said that's what has happened, for
example, before unmanned Predator aircraft have been used to detect illegal
immigrants or drugs near U.S. borders.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Andy Pasztor andy.pasztor( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112770179544551814,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)

INTERNET/BROADBAND

FCC RELEASES POLICY STATEMENT ON BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS
Adopted last month, the FCC released a policy statement last week to
encourage : 1) broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and
interconnected nature of the public Internet, consumers are entitled to
access the lawful Internet content of their choice, 2) broadband deployment
and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public
Internet, consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of
their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement, 3) broadband
deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of
the public Internet, consumers are entitled to connect their choice of
legal devices that do not harm the network, and 4) broadband deployment and
preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public
Internet, consumers are entitled to competition among network providers,
application and service providers, and content providers.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-151A1.doc
Aug 5 press release:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-260435A1.doc

FTC COMR BLASTS MUNICIPAL BROADBAND OPPONENTS
Speaking at the National Association of Telecom Officers & Advisors (NATOA)
meeting last week, Federal Trade Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said the
municipal broadband dispute fits within the FTC's advocacy ambit, since
competition over consumers' pocketbooks is its focal point. Intensified
legislative efforts regarding urban broadband and bars to it on the books
or being considered in many states has spurred the Commission's Policy &
Planning Office to do a study. Commissioner Leibowitz said he wants
staffers to come to consensus on "whether we should be on record opposing
attempts to restrict municipal broadband." His mind is made up, he said,
reminding NATOA the FTC is a consensus-driven body, "so we'll see what our
policy staff and my colleagues on the Commission think collectively." The
FTC isn't in the business of deciding what model or technology may work for
a given municipality, or even whether broadband is right for every
community, Commissioner Leibowitz said. "At a minimum, we could provide
guidance concerning the competition and consumer protection issues that
state and federal legislatures may want to consider before enacting
legislation in this area," he told the group. "The interests of consumers
and competition seem squarely aligned with your efforts to provide broadband."
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
(Not available online)
* Municipal Broadband: Should Cities Have a Voice? (full text of speech)
http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/leibowitz/050922municipalbroadband.pdf

TELECOM

TELECO CRITICS HIT TELECOM DRAFT
A draft bill being circulated on Capitol Hill reflects a compromise that
House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) and
Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee chairman Rep. Fred Upton
(R-Mich.) struck with Democratic Reps John Dingell of Michigan and Edward
Markey of Massachusetts. Although it has a deregulatory thrust, the House
draft contains various digital-age consumer and competitive safeguards,
including mandates on broadband-network owners to ensure nondiscriminatory
treatment of unaffiliated Web merchants, a policy called network
neutrality. A huge fight is expected before net neutrality principles are
enshrined in law. "The reality is that what's going to emerge for
consideration is going to look nothing like the draft because I can't
believe [House lawmakers] would spend a lot of time looking at the draft as
it is now," said David McClure, chairman and CEO of the U.S. Internet
Industry Association. "There are too many problems. It's just unworkable."
In reviewing the House draft, Progress & Freedom Foundation senior fellow
Randolph May indicated that lawmakers made unsupported predictions about
consumer technology preferences in linking "streamlined franchising
treatment" to "certain types of not-yet-offered integrated Internet
functionalities."
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6260376.html?display=Policy
(requires subscription)
For more on this bill, see: http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/65

UNIVERSAL SERVICE BILL MOVING
A House bill (H-2533) to exempt the Universal Service Fund (USF) from
Antideficiency Act rules won endorsement Friday from 44 telecom, education,
health and consumer groups. The bill, introduced by Reps. Cubin (R-WY) and
Gonzalez (D-TX), would make the exemption permanent. The groups wrote to
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Co-Chairman
Inouye (D-Hawaii), and members Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Snowe (R-ME)
lauding them for pushing Senate passage last week of a one-year ADA
exemption in an amendment to the Commerce-State-Justice appropriations bill.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily]
(Not available online)
See text of letter at: http://www.neca.org/wawatch/wwpdf/092305_2.pdf
For more on efforts to reform universal service, see:
http://www.benton.org/?q=tracking_legislation

VERIZON WIRELESS, ALLTEL EMERGE AS SUITORS FOR MIDWEST WIRELESS
Verizon Wireless and Alltel Corp. are among those expected to consider the
acquisition of rural wireless company Midwest Wireless. The closely held
carrier could fetch upwards of $1 billion. Verizon Wireless, with some 47
million customers and the U.S.'s second-largest carrier behind Cingular
Wireless, already has a pre-existing network-sharing agreement with
Midwest. Alltel, which is now the nation's fifth-largest wireless player,
has 10 million customers in 34 states. Earlier this year it purchased
Western Wireless Corp. for $6.5 billion, expanding the company largely in
the West and Northwest.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dennis K. Berman dennis.berman( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112769688266651732,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)

VOIP WANTS TO CUT THE COMPUTER CORD
It may be only a matter of time before people across the country will be
able to use VoIP-enabled softphones on a mobile device. Web surfers are
already warming up to PC-to-PC voice dialing in popular instant chat
applications from America Online, Yahoo, Google and Microsoft's MSN. The
big question, however, is how exactly do all these companies plan to
deliver a VoIP service beyond the PC and onto some sort of mobile device?
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stefanie Olsen and Marguerite Reardon]
http://news.com.com/VoIP+wants+to+cut+the+computer+cord/2100-7352_3-5879...

INTERNATIONAL

CHINA STRICTER ON NEWS WEBSITES
China said Sunday that it was imposing new regulations to control content
on its news websites and that it would allow the posting of only "healthy
and civilized" news. The new rules take effect immediately and will
"standardize the management of news and information" in the country, the
official New China News Agency said Sunday. Sites should post news only on
current events and politics, according to the new regulations issued by the
Ministry of Information Industry and China's cabinet, the State Council.
The subjects that would be acceptable under those categories was unclear.
Only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the
improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic
development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, the news
agency said. "The sites are prohibited from spreading news and information
that goes against state security and public interest," it added.
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-china26sep26,1,342315...
(requires registration)

MEDIA COUNTER PIRACY IN CHINA IN NEW WAYS
China is the world's epicenter of entertainment piracy, a vast market where
knockoffs are so common that illicit street vendors are often the major
source of videos, music and games. Some 85%, or $411 million, of recorded
music sold in China last year was pirated, according to the International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry. U.S. film companies last year lost
an estimated $280 million in box-office and video sales from piracy in
China, says the Motion Picture Association of America. Some top
entertainment companies are taking a new tack in dealing with knockoffs of
movies, music and videogames in China: Instead of fighting to end piracy,
they're working around the pirates. U.S. videogame giant Electronic Arts
Inc. has moved its global online-games operation to China, and is opening
an online-games studio there in an effort to thwart piracy of its products.
Time Warner Inc. film studio Warner Bros. is breaking a Hollywood tradition
by releasing movies on DVD in China the same day they premiere in the U.S.,
beating copycats at their own distribution game. Music labels are profiting
by selling songs to advanced cellphone services, while also pushing into
artist management, concert promotion and commercial sponsorships.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Geoffrey A. Fowler
geoffrey.fowler( at )wsj.com and Jason Dean jason.dean( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112769450481151682,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------