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July 2008

House Sets DTV Converter-Box Hearing

The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee will hold a hearing this week looking into the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's handling of the digital-TV-to-analog converter-box-coupon program, as well as concerns about getting DTV-transition information to minority communities. The hearing -- which will be in the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement -- will be held July 18 at a Brooklyn community center in the district of House Energy & Commerce Committee member and subcommittee chair Edolphus Towns (D-NY), who called for the hearing.

Verizon Wireless Supports Cell Tax Fairness Act

Verizon Wireless has made it known that the company supports the introduction of the Cell Tax Fairness Act by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The legislation demands the end of taxes imposed by state or local authorities on mobile services. The Cell Tax Fairness Act prohibits states or local governments from imposing any new discriminatory tax on mobile services, mobile service providers, or mobile service property for five years after the passing of this Act.

D-Block, AWS-3 auctions may wait until next year

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said it appears increasingly doubtful that either the D-Block re-auction or advanced wireless services-3 bidding will happen this year, which means competition for the two valuable blocks of public airwaves likely will play out under a new administration and Congress. The FCC chief told reporters it might be possible to begin one of the two auctions -- D Block, most likely -- but he didn't appear confident even that would materialize. Comments on an open-ended rulemaking to re-auction the D Block -- left stranded in the 700 MHz auction earlier this year after no bidder met the $1.3 billion minimum price -- were filed at the FCC last month. Reply comments arrived last week.

July 15, 2008 (Barack Obama is not funny)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY JULY 15, 2008

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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Obama Is From Google, McCain Is From AT&T on Digital Age Rules
   Election Narrative July 7-13: "Got Your Gaffe Here"
   Want Obama in a Punch Line? First, Find a Joke

JOURNALISM
   At the Uneasy Intersection of Bloggers and the Law
   American journalism, still a model

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   Sinclair's Media Ownership Challenge Stays in Ninth Circuit
   Two Leaders to Step Down at Tribune Newspapers
   NBC Affiliates Prepare to Swallow Bitter Reverse-Compensation Pill

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Strike up the broadband
   Business takes sides in Network Neutrality debate

QUICKLY -- Court: Let FCC Handle Challenges to New Disclosure Rules; Just having TV on can distract kids; Cell phone companies scramble to halt trafficking; FTC Report on Phishing


ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

OBAMA IS FROM GOOGLE, MCCAIN IS FROM AT&T ON DIGITAL AGE RULES
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Christopher Stern]
Sens Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ) approach regulation in the information age from fundamentally different perspectives. Sen Obama, who clinched the Democratic nomination with an Internet-savvy campaign, wants the government to take an active role in wielding the Web as a weapon against poverty and rural isolation, an approach that could benefit Google. Sen McCain sees the Internet mainly as a business and trusts market forces to foster innovation for society's benefit. It's the same tack he has taken in Congress, advocating a hands-off approach to telephone-industry mergers that created the new AT&T.
http://www.benton.org/node/15210


ELECTION NARRATIVE JULY 7-13: "GOT YOUR GAFFE HERE"
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
Last week, Sen Barack Obama was at least a significant presence in fully 77% of the campaign stories studied, compared with 48% for Sen John McCain. Obama has led in coverage in all five weeks since the race narrowed to two presumptive nominees. A week earlier, that gap narrowed to 11 points and offered the prospect that the coverage might equalize, but last week suggested that might not be the case. If this trend continues, it hints that the media narrative could make this race largely a referendum about Obama and whether the country is willing to make him the next President, with John McCain playing the role of the alternative. The Jesse Jackson brouhaha filled 13% of the campaign narrative last week. The Phil Gramm remarks filled 10%.
http://benton.org/node/15209


WANT OBAMA IN A PUNCH LINE? FIRST, FIND A JOKE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Bill Carter]
Note to all you media funny guys: Barack Obama is not funny. There is no comedic "take" on him, nothing easy to turn to for an easy laugh, like allegations of Bill Clinton's womanizing, or President Bush's goofy bumbling or Al Gore's robotic persona.
http://benton.org/node/15208


JOURNALISM

AT THE UNEASY INTERSECTION OF BLOGGERS AND THE LAW
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan Glater]
A grand jury subpoena sent by prosecutors in the Bronx earlier this year sought information to help identify people blogging anonymously on a Web site about New York politics called Room 8. The subpoena carried a warning in capital letters that disclosing its very existence "could impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with law enforcement" -- implying that if the bloggers blabbed, they could be prosecuted. This, of course, is a blogger's nightmare: enforced silence and the prospect of jail time. The district attorney eventually withdrew the subpoena and lifted the gag requirement after the bloggers threatened to sue. But the fact that the tactic was used at all raised alarm bells for some free speech advocates.
http://benton.org/node/15207


AMERICAN JOURNALISM, STILL A MODEL
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Gideon Rachman]
A comparison of the British and American flavors of journalism. American journalists regard themselves as members of a respectable profession -- like lawyers or bankers. Their British counterparts generally prefer the idea that they are outsiders. This Brit concludes, "[T]those American journalists who insist on the civic importance of good journalism are correct. What we write does matter - even if it is sometimes easier to pretend that it doesn't."
http://benton.org/node/15206


MEDIA OWNERSHIP

SINCLAIR'S MEDIA OWNERSHIP CHALLENGE STAYS IN NINTH CIRCUIT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia has rejected Sinclair Broadcasting's challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's new media ownership rules, deciding that the case should be heard by the Ninth Circuit of Appeals. Sinclair objects to the FCC's rules that allow ownership of two TV stations in a market only if at least eight independent voices remain. Sinclair, which challenged that limit in the DC Court in 2002, went back to that court after the FCC's December vote, arguing that the Commission neither justified the rules nor threw them out, as the DC Court asked in its 2002 decision in the case. But the DC Court said Sinclair's petition belonged in the Ninth Circuit, where all of the challenges to the FCC's December vote have been referred.
http://benton.org/node/15202


Two Leaders to Step Down at Tribune Newspapers
TWO LEADERS TO STEP DOWN AT TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
The upheaval at the Tribune Company continued Monday as the publisher of The Los Angeles Times and the top editor of The Chicago Tribune stepped down, both at a time when their papers were preparing for major redesigns and deep cuts in their newsroom staffs. Ann Marie Lipinski, editor of The Tribune, announced her resignation after seven years in that job. David Hiller, the publisher of The Times, made it clear that it was not his choice to go.
http://benton.org/node/15211


NBC AFFILIATES PREPARE TO SWALLOW BITTER REVERSE-COMPENSATION PILL
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Michele Greppi]
For television stations affiliated with NBC, it's not whether they'll have to pay up to stay in the relationship, it's how much. The reverse-compensation shoe has dropped for NBC affiliates and they are unhappily contemplating the pinch. Before Labor Day, representatives of the affiliates body and the network will begin hashing out parameters of a reverse-compensation plan under which stations will be compelled to pay for programming as they renew their affiliation contracts with the network.
http://benton.org/node/15201


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Strike up the broadband

STRIKE UP THE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Boston Globe, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Not everyone has equal access to the Internet. Broadband users tend to be wealthier people who live in suburban and urban neighborhoods. Meanwhile, some 17 percent of Internet households still dwell in the slow world of dial-up. And while South Korea has the most widespread high-speed services, the United States is seventh on this list. Rather than accept this uneven playing field, a growing chorus is wisely asking the federal government to develop a national broadband policy to ensure that every resident and business has fast, affordable Internet access. What would a plan look like? Approaches to consider include more government and nonprofit coordination with the broadband industry, which is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure. The policy could also seed public/private partnerships to put fiber optics in rural areas. And federal grants could fund more school-based programs that put low-income students on the Internet's fast track. Education is essential. More people and institutions need the skills and motivation to use broadband. More should be done to target nonusers.
http://benton.org/node/15204


Business takes sides in Network Neutrality debate
BUSINESS TAKES SIDES IN NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE
[SOURCE: Toronto Star, AUTHOR: Prof Michael Geist]
[Commentary] For most of the past two years in Canada, the Network Neutrality issue, which focuses on equal treatment of Internet traffic, was limited to academics and consumer groups pointing to the dangers to the public of a two-tier Internet. That dynamic changed dramatically this year when Bell Canada began "deep-packet inspection" of its traffic and limited the bandwidth it allocates to certain applications at peak times (a practice known as "throttling"). The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is unlikely to quickly solve the net neutrality issue or leave all parties satisfied with Bell's throttling policy. However, the issue has had a galvanizing effect on the Canadian business community, with many lining up with consumer groups and independent ISPs by pointing to the link between net neutrality and a robust innovation framework.
http://benton.org/node/15199


QUICKLY

COURT: LET FCC HANDLE CHALLENGES TO NEW DISCLOSURE RULES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Last week, the DC Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission should address challenges to its new broadcaster disclosure rules before courts step in. Broadcasters had asked the court to step in after the FCC voted to require enhanced station disclosure of their programming -- part of an effort by the agency to boost localism requirements in the wake of criticism of an increasingly consolidated broadcast media market. The court also directed the FCC to file a status report within 60 days on its progress with hearing those challenges and ruled that it will not hear any challenges until 30 days after the FCC reconsiders its vote.
http://benton.org/node/15203


Just having TV on can distract kids
JUST HAVING TV ON CAN DISTRACT KIDS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Greg Toppo]
Researchers say that even having a TV on in the background could be "an environmental hazard" for children. Researchers observed 50 children, ages 1 to 3, for an hour at a time as they played alone in a small room with a variety of toys. Parents sat nearby, and for half of each session, a small TV showed a taped episode of Jeopardy. After videotaping and carefully analyzing the children's reactions, researchers found that kids watched the TV only in snippets but that it modestly shortened their playtime. TV decreased play's intensity and cut by half the amount of time children focused on a given toy.
http://benton.org/node/15205


Cell phone companies scramble to halt trafficking
CELL PHONE COMPANIES SCRAMBLE TO HALT TRAFFICKING
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Curt Anderson]
Traffickers have figured out they can make big profits by purchasing thousands of these low-cost phones and tweaking the software so that calls can be made on any cell network. The problem for the phone companies is that they often sell the phones at a loss, instead making their money when customers have to buy additional minutes from them -- a guaranteed profit once the phone is sold. But the phone companies have no guarantee that customers will buy minutes from them after the phones are hacked or shipped to a far-off country. Led by Miami-based TracFone Wireless Inc., makers of the low-cost prepaid cell phones are suing traffickers in federal courts around the country.
http://benton.org/node/15200


FTC Report on Phishing
FTC REPORT ON PHISHING
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission]
The Federal Trade Commission released a staff report on a Roundtable Discussion on Phishing Education that it hosted in April.
http://benton.org/node/15198

-----------
Let's go NL!

Two Leaders to Step Down at Tribune Newspapers

The upheaval at the Tribune Company continued Monday as the publisher of The Los Angeles Times and the top editor of The Chicago Tribune stepped down, both at a time when their papers were preparing for major redesigns and deep cuts in their newsroom staffs. Ann Marie Lipinski, editor of The Tribune, announced her resignation after seven years in that job. In an interview and in a note to her staff, she insisted that there was no single reason for her departure, but hinted at discomfort with the direction Tribune was taking. David Hiller, the publisher of The Times, also announced that he was leaving, after a stint of less than two years during a turbulent time for the paper. He fired the top editor in 2006 for refusing to make budget cuts and forced out that editor's successor this year in a similar dispute. The company said that Mr. Hiller had resigned, but in a memo to his staff, he made it clear that it was not his choice to go. "Sam had other ideas and I will be leaving The Times," he wrote. "Sam's the boss and he gets to pick his own quarterback."

Obama Is From Google, McCain Is From AT&T on Digital Age Rules

Sens Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ) approach regulation in the information age from fundamentally different perspectives. Sen Obama, who clinched the Democratic nomination with an Internet-savvy campaign, wants the government to take an active role in wielding the Web as a weapon against poverty and rural isolation, an approach that could benefit Google. Sen McCain sees the Internet mainly as a business and trusts market forces to foster innovation for society's benefit. It's the same tack he has taken in Congress, advocating a hands-off approach to telephone-industry mergers that created the new AT&T. "McCain is a traditional, market-oriented conservative, and Obama is more comfortable with government intervention in the marketplace to promote competition," says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project. John Kneuer, a former Bush administration official who now advises McCain on technology issues, says the senator wants the government to leave private industry alone so the marketplace can solve problems.

Election Narrative July 7-13: "Got Your Gaffe Here"

Last week, Sen Barack Obama was at least a significant presence in fully 77% of the campaign stories studied, compared with 48% for Sen John McCain. Obama has led in coverage in all five weeks since the race narrowed to two presumptive nominees. A week earlier, that gap narrowed to 11 points and offered the prospect that the coverage might equalize, but last week suggested that might not be the case. If this trend continues, it hints that the media narrative could make this race largely a referendum about Obama and whether the country is willing to make him the next President, with John McCain playing the role of the alternative. The Jesse Jackson brouhaha filled 13% of the campaign narrative last week. The Phil Gramm remarks filled 10%. The other top campaign storylines last week in the media narrative were the economy (which was connected to the Gramm statements). It filled 8% of the newshole studied. Next came coverage of Obama moving to the ideological center on issues (8%). That was followed by competition for the country's Hispanic vote (4%), Iran as an issue (mostly the response to that country's missile tests), and divisions among Democrats (mostly relating to the retirement of Clinton's campaign debt). Overall, the campaign filled 29% of the newshole studied by PEJ last week. For the year to date the campaign has accounted for 37% of the overall newshole.

Want Obama in a Punch Line? First, Find a Joke

Note to all you media funny guys: Barack Obama is not funny. There is no comedic "take" on him, nothing easy to turn to for an easy laugh, like allegations of Bill Clinton's womanizing, or President Bush's goofy bumbling or Al Gore's robotic persona.

At the Uneasy Intersection of Bloggers and the Law

A grand jury subpoena sent by prosecutors in the Bronx earlier this year sought information to help identify people blogging anonymously on a Web site about New York politics called Room 8. The subpoena carried a warning in capital letters that disclosing its very existence "could impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with law enforcement" -- implying that if the bloggers blabbed, they could be prosecuted. This, of course, is a blogger's nightmare: enforced silence and the prospect of jail time. The district attorney eventually withdrew the subpoena and lifted the gag requirement after the bloggers threatened to sue. But the fact that the tactic was used at all raised alarm bells for some free speech advocates.

American journalism, still a model

A comparison of the British and American flavors of journalism. American journalists regard themselves as members of a respectable profession -- like lawyers or bankers. Their British counterparts generally prefer the idea that they are outsiders. They like to quote the adage of the late Nicholas Tomalin that: "The only qualities essential for real success in journalism are rat-like cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability." This Brit concludes, "[T]those American journalists who insist on the civic importance of good journalism are correct. What we write does matter - even if it is sometimes easier to pretend that it doesn't."

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