Benton's Communications-related Headlines For Tuesday September 12, 2006
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TELECOM REFORM
Boucher: Net Neutrality stalls Broadband Measure
CONTENT
How 9-11 Changed the Evening News
ABC follows a Path to Shame
NBC sees $1 billion digital revenue by '09
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Study: Promising Future for Power-Line Broadband
Proceeding on Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands
Valleywide WiFi would keep area on cutting edge, but project faces hurdles
Louisiana Utility Continues Broadband Fight
'Blogosphere' Spurs Government Oversight
Court Panel Denies Blogger's Appeal
Wi-Fi gives kids access to unchaperoned Net
QUICKLY -- Televisa Still Covets Univision; Cell phones: Over 2.5
Billion served; Program Offers Affordable Cell Plans
TELECOM REFORM
BOUCHER: NET NEUTRALITY STALLS BROADBAND MEASURE
[SOURCE: FCW.com, AUTHOR: John Monroe]
The debate over network neutrality could be resolved if the United
States were to follow the lead of Japan, Korea and other countries in
ensuring that high-speed Internet access is widely available to the
general population, said Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA). The net neutrality
debate threatens to sink a telecommunications reform bill that would
make it easier for state and local governments to extend broadband
services to rural areas, said Rep Boucher, speaking Monday at the
Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium in Roanoke,
Va. But this need not be the case, he said. The issue of net
neutrality is really an issue of high-speed communications over "the
last mile," Rep Boucher said. Although high-speed fiber-optic
networks crisscross many regions of the country, a lot of people
still have slower links for accessing those backbone networks.
http://www.fcw.com/article96017-09-11-06-Web&RSS=yes
CONTENT
HOW 9-11 CHANGED THE EVENING NEWS
[SOURCE: Journalism.org]
Looking back five years later, how did 9-11 change the news? If the
network evening news is any proxy, the attacks of September 11th 2001
in Washington and New York and the wars that resulted have led to
increased coverage of foreign policy and global conflict on the
network evening news, but less coverage of domestic issues, according
to data from ADT Research's Tyndall Report, which monitors those
newscasts. The mix of traditional hard news and feature of lifestyle
coverage, meanwhile, has remained virtually the same on the evening
newscasts. Those are the findings drawn from examining the four years
of network newscasts prior to 2001 (1997 to 2000) and the four years
since (2002 through 2005) according to data generated for the Project
for Excellence in Journalism by ADT Research, which publishes the
Tyndall Report. The number of minutes devoted to coverage of foreign
policy was up 102%, according to ADT's data. Coverage of armed
conflict rose 69%. Coverage of terrorism rose 135%. At the same time,
there has been a serious decline in reporting about domestic issues.
Coverage of crime and law enforcement dropped by half (47%). Science
and technology coverage fell by half (50%). Coverage of issues
involving alcohol, tobacco and drugs dropped 66%. A rise in foreign
coverage may not surprise anyone. U.S. troops are currently fighting
and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The issue of global terrorism is
the new question of our times. It may dictate the outcome of the 2006
midterm elections and define the Bush presidency. What is less
obvious is the effect of the shift in coverage on the overall tone of
the newscast. For instance, the balance between reporting-driven
"hard news" and softer features, interviews, and commentaries
remained virtually unchanged after 9-11. The newscast minutes devoted
to hard news increased by a mere 2 % in the years after the attacks
while the airtime given to softer coverage decreased by only 5%.
http://www.journalism.org/node/1839
ABC FOLLOWS A PATH TO SHAME
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times 9/9, AUTHOR: Tim Rutten]
[Commentary] Surveying the smoking ruin that is ABC's reputation
after the "The Path to 9/11" debacle, it's hard to know whether
you're looking at the consequence of unadulterated folly or of a
calculated strategy that turned out to be too clever by half. At the
end of the day, it probably doesn't make much difference because,
either way, the lacerating controversy surrounding the network's
docu-dramatic re-creation of events leading to Sept. 11 is an
entirely self-inflicted wound. For most of the week, ABC rather
haughtily attempted to characterize itself as the victim of
philistines, or self-righteously as a champion of free speech or,
more pathetically, as just plain misunderstood by people who just
don't understand how television is done. It is none of those things.
It's an opportunistic and self-interested organization that somehow
thought it could approach the most wrenching American tragedy since
Pearl Harbor with the values that prevail among network television
executives -- the sort of ad hoc ethics that would make a
streetwalker blush -- and that nobody would mind. did the people who
run ABC Entertainment -- the network division directly responsible
for this mess -- really believe that Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright
and Sandy Berger would watch themselves on television doing and
saying thing they never did or said and not object? One of the most
unfortunate consequences of all this was that most of the news media
completely overlook a stunning affront to 1st Amendment freedoms that
occurred when the Democratic leadership of the U.S. Senate sent Iger
a letter Thursday appearing to threaten the network's licenses unless
"The Path to 9/11" was altered or killed.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-rutten9sep09,1,7622080.c...
(requires registration)
* The Fictional Path to 9/11
"Perhaps the entertainment industry will come up with a few lasting
lessons from the outcry over ABC's "dramatization" of the events
leading up to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. One suggestion: when
attempting to recreate real events on screen, you do not show real
people doing things they never did."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/opinion/12tue2.html
* In response to complaints from former members of the Clinton
Administration and their supporters, ABC edited several scenes in the
film that critics said suggested Clinton officials had been negligent
in their efforts to stop Osama bin Laden in the years leading up to
the attacks, including historically inaccurate scenes that they said
had been simply made up. But other disputed scenes remained, and
several notable mistakes or inventions remained. Among them was the
film's opening scene, which showed Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of
the terrorists who hijacked four airplanes on Sept. 11, buying a
ticket to board an American Airlines flight in Boston on that
morning. In fact Mr. Atta boarded a USAirways flight in Portland,
Me., which connected in Boston to an American Airlines flight bound
for Los Angeles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/arts/television/12path.html
(requires registration)
* With 9/11 Film, Kean Finds Tough Critic in Hamilton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/11/AR200609...
NBC SEES $1 BILLION DIGITAL REVENUES BY '09
[SOURCE: Reuters]
Media conglomerate NBC Universal aims to more than double revenue
from its digital businesses to about $1 billion by 2009 from an
estimated $400 million this year. NBC purchased women's lifestyle Web
network iVillage this year for about $600 million. The owner of the
NBC television network and Universal film studios plans to make
iVillage the centerpiece of its Internet strategy, according to a
report in the Financial Times based on an interview with NBC
Universal Chief Executive Bob Wright. That strategy would be similar
to how MySpace.com is now the cornerstone of News Corp.'s digital
plans, according to the FT. It also reported NBC is readying an
online video subscription service for its CNBC financial news cable TV network.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&story...
INTERNET/BROADBAND
STUDY: PROMISING FUTURE FOR POWER-LINE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Caroline McCarthy]
The demand for using traditional electrical lines as a medium for
broadband technology in the residential sector is rising worldwide
and will continue to grow, according to a study by market research
firm In-Stat. Broadband service over power lines (BPL), which allows
an Internet connection to be established through a standard
electrical outlet, is seen as a potential rival to coaxial (coax) and
twisted-pair wiring, the fixed-line technologies most commonly used
for cable and telephone service, respectively. Incorporating BPL into
a residence or business requires no additional wire installation. It
may sound too good to be true, and indeed BPL has had a rocky history
because of technical limitations, high development costs and its
potential for interference with ham radio and emergency radio
signals. But according to In-Stat's research, it's catching on. The
number of broadband power-line equipment units sold passed the 2
million mark in 2005, and the research firm expects that the number
will increase by 200 percent this year.
http://news.com.com/Study+Promising+future+for+power-line+broadband/2100...
PROCEEDING ON UNLICENSED OPERATION IN THE TV BROADCAST BANDS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
In 2004, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
proposing to allow the operation of unlicensed devices on TV channels
that are unused at any given location. On Monday, the Commission
released a public notice establishing a schedule for resolving
outstanding issues in that proceeding so that unlicensed devices
designed to operate on unused TV frequencies may be placed on the
market with the completion of the DTV transition. The staff schedule
includes adopting a first Report and Order as well as a Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at the FCC's October open meeeting.
After field tests in 2007, the staff project products being available
for sale at retail by February 2009. For further information, contact
Mr. Bruce Romano, Office of Engineering and Technology, (202)
418-2124, Bruce.Romano( at )fcc.gov or Mr. Hugh L. Van Tuyl, Office of
Engineering and Technology, (202) 418-7506, Hugh.VanTuyl( at )fcc.gov.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267322A1.doc
VALLEYWIDE WIFI WOULD KEEP AREA ON CUTTING EDGE, BUT PROJECT FACES HURDLES
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News 9/11, AUTHOR: Mike Langberg]
[Commentary] The 42 local cities involved in the Wireless Silicon
Valley proposal, as well as the team they selected last week to build
the ambitious regional WiFi network, have clearly learned from the
mistakes of others. There's a long list of reasons why the project
may never get off the ground, or pay for itself if it does get built.
But I can't find much to criticize in how Wireless Silicon Valley, or
WSV, has unfolded up to now. If any project in the over-hyped field
of municipal wireless is going to succeed, this is it.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/columnists/mike_lang...
LOUISIANA UTILITY CONTINUES BROADBAND FIGHT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
Lafayette Utilities System of Louisiana has been trying for more than
two years to develop a broadband system in competition with Cox
Communications and BellSouth. The latter two entities went to the
state legislature in 2004, and lawmakers passed a bill that severely
limits the ability of municipal entities to get into competitive
broadband businesses. LUS held a referendum on the project in order
to comply with the new state law. In July 2005, that was approved
overwhelmingly by voters. But this past May, a local resident sued in
district court to block the project. She alleged that the funding for
the broadband system -- based on bonds guaranteed with revenue from
utility customers -- violates the 2004 law. She lost in lower court,
but the state's Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the
utility's bond ordinance violates state policy. Now LUS has gone to
the state's Supreme Court in an effort to overturn lower-court
rulings. The appeal asserted that the bond program adheres to state
law, and attorneys will argue that the lower court's interpretation
of the state law is a barrier to community progress and to recovery
from Hurricane Katrina.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6370673.html?display=Breaking+News
'BLOGOSPHERE' SPURS GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Richard Wolf]
When watchdog groups that monitor federal spending wanted more
information on 1,800 "pork barrel" projects buried in a House
appropriations bill, they listed them on the Internet and asked
readers to dig deeper. Within days, details began pouring in. The
same thing happened when Porkbusters.org enlisted readers of its
website to find out which senator had blocked legislation that would
create an online database of federal grants and contracts. One by
one, senators were eliminated until Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Robert
Byrd, D-W.Va., were uncovered. The two episodes illustrate the latest
trend in government oversight: More light is being thrown on
Congress, not just by the media and public interest groups, but in
the "blogosphere" where Internet users meet. "It's probably the
biggest expansion of government oversight that we'll ever have," says
Thomas Schatz of Citizens Against Government Waste, one of the groups
pioneering the effort. "It will turn every American into a watchdog."
Their involvement is getting action: House Majority Leader John
Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised a vote this week on a rules change that
would ensure the sponsors of individual projects are identified. And
Republicans in the House and Senate say they will approve the
national database this year.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060912/a_earmarks12.art.htm
COURT PANEL DENIES BLOGGER'S APPEAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jesse McKinley]
In a case closely watched by First Amendment advocates, a federal
court panel has rejected an appeal by a freelance journalist and
blogger who has refused to appear before a grand jury or turn over
video he shot of a violent protest last summer. The decision, filed
Friday by a three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,
reaffirmed a contempt charge against the journalist, Josh Wolf, who
was sent to prison on Aug. 1 by a lower court for refusing to
cooperate with an investigation into an anti-capitalism protest in
San Francisco in July 2005.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/us/12video.html
(requires registration)
WI-FI GIVES KIDS ACCESS TO UNCHAPERONED NET
[SOURCE: News.com, AUTHOR: Stefanie Olsen]
An increasingly wide range of mobile devices are giving the kids who
use them entry points to wireless broadband outside of the home and
parental control. Portable game players like Sony's PSP (PlayStation
portable system) and Nintendo DS are just a couple of the popular
mobile gaming devices that also let kids log onto the Net or connect
to a peer-to-peer chat network. And Microsoft's upcoming Zune
portable media player will likely let kids join social networks on
the fly via built-in Wi-Fi. Couple those gadgets with free wireless
broadband in parks, cafes and even entire cities and all bets are off
when it comes to parents maintaining control of their kids online,
consumer advocates worry.
http://news.com.com/Wi-Fi+gives+kids+access+to+unchaperoned+Net/2009-102...
QUICKLY
TELEVISA STILL COVETS UNIVISION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin & Peter Edmonston]
A consortium of investors led by Grupo Televisa, Mexico's largest
media company, is considering a plan to make a $13 billion bid for
Univision Communications after losing an auction for the company this
summer. This effort could reignite a bidding war for Univision, the
largest Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States, a battle
that would be complicated by Televisa's role as the main provider of
Univision programming and by its status as a foreign company. Still,
Televisa has previously changed tack on Univision, at times
alienating its partners, and may end up abandoning its effort.
Shareholders of Univision are scheduled to vote on Sept. 27 on its
proposed sale to a group including the billionaire investor Haim
Saban and the private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners,
Providence Equity Partners, the Texas Pacific Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/business/media/12place.html
(requires registration)
CELLULAR CONNECTIONS HIT 2.5 BILLION MARK
[SOURCE: Telecommunications Online, AUTHOR: Iain Morris]
Worldwide cellular connections hit 2.5 billion last week according to
a new report from research group Wireless Intelligence. A quarter of
the 484 million new cellular connections established since September
2005 are in China and India, according to the report. Expansion in
both markets is expected to continue in the future: in China an
estimated five million new connections are activated each month,
while the monthly rate of new Indian connections has quadrupled in
the last 18 months to reach a level similar to China's. Overall, the
Asia Pacific region accounted for 41 percent of the new connections.
Growth spurts were also observed in Eastern Europe and Latin America,
which together claimed 30 percent of new connections.
http://telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_2364
PROGRAM OFFERS AFFORDABLE CELL PHONES
[SOURCE: KOMO News Radio (Seattle), AUTHOR: Herb Weisbaum]
A brief look at the federal Lifeline program aimed at making
telephone service more affordable to low income households --
including wireless plans.
http://komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=45285
--------------------------------------------------------------
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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