August 2008

Endorsement From Winfrey Quantified: A Million Votes

Economists Craig Garthwaite and Timothy Moore of the University of Maryland, College Park have found a correlation between subscriptions to O: The Oprah Magazine, sales figures for books that were included in Oprah Winfrey's book club and votes for Sen Barack Obama (D-IL). The researchers estimate that Winfrey's endorsement of Sen Obama translated into 1,015,559 primary votes. In their as-yet-unpublished research paper on the topic, the economists trace celebrity endorsements back to the 1920 campaign of Warren Harding (who had Al Jolson, Lillian Russell and Douglas Fairbanks in his corner), and call Ms. Winfrey "a celebrity of nearly unparalleled influence." The economists did not, however, look at how Ms. Winfrey's endorsement of Mr. Obama may have affected her own popularity. A number of people -- women in particular -- were angry that Ms. Winfrey threw her first-ever political endorsement to a man rather than his female opponent.

Verizon, 2 unions agree on new 3-year contact

Verizon Communications Inc. and two unions representing 65,000 workers who had threatened to strike within hours agreed Sunday on a new three-year contract that provides 10.5 percent wage increases and changes in retirement benefits. The pact, which must be ratified by union members, was hailed as a "breakthrough agreement in many ways" by Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen. The deal "provides a framework for growth at Verizon and a good standard of living with careers for our members," Cohen said. It also extends union recognition to 600 former MCI technicians who had sought it since joining Verizon two years ago, the union said. Verizon said another 900 temporary employees would be regularized. Verizon's Executive Vice President Marc C. Reed said the contract will allow the company to remain "focused on delivering to our customers the best in broadband, communications and entertainment." Job security and health care were among the main points of contention. A key element of the agreement was a provision for the company to contribute a fixed dollar amount per year of service toward future retiree health care costs. In addition, Verizon said it and the unions would work together on a health care reform initiative. The union workers are in the traditional telephone part of the company, which is engaged in the labor-intensive process of replacing most of its copper phone lines with optical fiber. Verizon Wireless, the company's big growth driver, has few union employees.

All of Us, the Arbiters of News

Editors often tell young journalists "We decide what the news is." That truism still attains; it's just the meaning of the pronoun has changed. Yes, we decide what is news as long as "we" now includes every sentient human with access to a mouse, a remote or a cellphone. On Friday, NBC spent the day trying to plug online leaks of the splashy opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in order to protect its taped prime-time broadcast 12 hours later. There was a profound change in roles here: a network trying to delay broadcasting a live event, more or less TiVo-ing its own content. Consumers have no issue with time-shifting content — in some younger demographics, at least half the programming is consumed on a time-shifted basis — they just want to be the ones doing the programming.

Web Privacy on the Radar in Congress

Questions of data collection and privacy policies are attracting the attention of Congress. There is no broad privacy legislation governing advertising on the Internet. And even some in the government admit that they do not have a clear grasp of what companies are able to do with the wealth of data now available to them. "That is why Congress, at this point, is wanting to gather a lot more information, because no one knows," said Steven A. Hetcher, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. "That information is incredibly valuable; it's the new frontier of advertising." Beyond the data question, there are issues of how companies should tell browsers that their information is being tracked, which area of law covers this and what -- if anything -- proper regulation would look like.

Media Outlets Losing Money From a Lack of Auto Ads

The flight of advertising dollars to the Internet is one explanation for the pain felt by traditional media. Another culprit that is increasingly to blame is Detroit. For all the discussion of new media's role in hurting profits and revenues at traditional media outlets -- newspapers, magazines, broadcast television and radio -- the sharp downturn in the auto industry is another big culprit, and is taking an increasing toll on the advertising revenue generated by the media. In the first quarter alone, the auto industry spent $414 million less on advertising than in last year's first quarter, according to TNS Media Intelligence. And it's not just the local newspaper or television station that is hurting from cutbacks in advertising by the local car dealerships. In recent earnings reports from the major media companies, like Viacom and Time Warner, executives mentioned the downturn in the auto industry as one reason for lagging revenue at cable networks and magazines. Newspapers were the hardest hit, losing $131 million in auto advertising, much of the decline coming from local dealerships that are having trouble moving cars off their lots.

Is Google a Media Company?

Some media companies fear that Google is increasingly becoming a competitor. They foresee Google's becoming a powerful rival that not only owns a growing number of content properties, including YouTube, the top online video site, and Blogger, a leading blogging service, but also holds the keys to directing users around the Web. Money, of course, is very much at issue. The lower a site ranks in search results, the less traffic it receives from search engines. With a smaller audience, the site earns less money from advertising.

San Francisco Case Shows Vulnerability Of Data Networks

San Francisco is being forced to overhaul security measures on the computer network that controls data for its police, courts, jails, payroll and health services, as well as other crucial information, after the technology administrator entrusted with the system blocked access for everyone but himself last month and for days refused to reveal the password, even from jail. The ordeal has spurred the city's IT department to bolster network oversight and to consider hiring outside auditors to monitor a security upgrade. City officials also will review all access to its FiberWAN network, the hub through which payroll, e-mail and criminal files flow. It has also persuaded other cities to scrutinize their own systems.

Hawaii Broadband Task Force Aims to Tackle Problems of Speed, Competition

In an attempt to increase speeds, lower prices and enhance consumer choices, the Hawaii legislature last year created a Hawaiian Broadband Task Force to study problems associated with high-speed Internet access. Download speeds on the island state are the slowest in the nation, according to a May 2008 report by Akamai, a company that helps web operators manage and accelerate bandwidth delivery. Only 2.4 percent of Hawaiian users reached Akamai's network at speeds of more than 5 Megabits per second, according to the report. That compares to 60 percent of Delaware users, 42 percent of Rhode Island users, and 36 percent of New York users. The goal of the Hawaiian Broadband Task Force is to "encourage lower prices for broadband services and create more consumer choices." The task force highlighted the role of "gaining wider access to public rights-of-way" in its December 2007 initial report. In addition to removing barriers to broadband access, the Task Force is assigned to finding ways to increase broadband deployment and adoption and enable the development and distribution of new communication technologies in the state of Hawaii.

Reticence of Mainstream Media Becomes a Story Itself

For almost 10 months, the story of John Edwards's affair remained the nearly exclusive province of the National Enquirer — through reports, denials, news of a pregnancy, questions about paternity and, finally, a slapstick chase through a hotel in Beverly Hills. Political blogs, some cable networks and a few newspapers reported on it — or, more accurately, reported on The Enquirer reporting on it. Jay Leno and David Letterman made Mr. Edwards the butt of jokes on their late-night shows, but their own networks declined to report on the rumors surrounding him on the evening news. Why? A number of news organizations with resources far greater than The Enquirer's, like The New York Times, say they looked into the Edwards matter and found nothing solid enough to report, while others did not look at all. Reaction from across the political spectrum has been strong to the news, with many condemning Edwards' actions and denials. But it may also produce an unwanted aftershock for John McCain, reviving references to his own extramarital affairs back in the mid-1970s. Elizabeth Edwards released a statement in support of her husband and saying their family has been "through a lot" due to, in part, "the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences."

Conservative Journalists Rip Old Media For Light Scrutiny of Democratic Congress

Panelists and the moderator of a panel at the Young America's Foundation national conservative student conference on Thursday decried the old media's reluctance to continue to keep Reps John Murtha (D-PA) William Jefferson (D-LA) under the microscope for alleged ethical lapses. Moderator Jason Mattera, of Young America's Foundation, and panelists Kathryn Lopez of National Review Online, Mary Katherine Ham of Washington Examiner, and A.J. Rice of Talk Radio Network decried what they view as mainstream liberal bias for not giving adequate press coverage of Reps Murtha and Jefferson.

Benton

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