BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2008
The weekend's here, but don't forget today 1) The Gore Commission, 10 Years Later: The Public Interest Obligations of Digital TV Broadcasters in Perfect Hindsight and 2) Digital Policy in the Information Age. Starting Sunday there's the 2008 Rural Telecom Conference. See http://benton.org/calendar
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US to Fund Pro-American Publicity in Iraqi Media
Where's the outrage over media mistreatment at the RNC?
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Biden Versus Palin: The Tech Debate
Sexism and Campaign Coverage
BROADCASTING/CABLE
CBC: Localism Changes Would Hurt Minority Broadcasters
Don't Let Google Freeze the Airwaves
House Committee Asks FCC To Investigate Reassignment of PEG Channels
NCTA's McSlarrow on C-Span's "The Communicators"
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC's Martin on Network Neutrality
Experts call for broadband transparency
Logging On for a Second (or Third) Opinion
Sen. Kohl asks for continued Google, Yahoo monitoring
CHILDREN & MEDIA
FDA Will Rewrite Rules For Marketing for Children
Kids play in fractured media playground
QUICKLY -- Wall Street woes won't take down tech; Big Storms: The Month that Was September; Understanding the Personal and Social Benefits of the IT Revolution; Royalty rate doesn't change for Apple, music retailers; Senate Confirms CPB Nominees; What if Google's mission extended to public records?; Sirius Unveils Raft of Options for Programs
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
US TO FUND PRO-AMERICAN PUBLICITY IN IRAQI MEDIA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Karen DeYoung, Walter Pincus]
The Defense Department will pay private US contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to "engage and inspire" the local population to support US objectives and the Iraqi government. The new contracts -- awarded last week to four companies -- will expand and consolidate what the US military calls "information/psychological operations" in Iraq far into the future, even as violence appears to be abating and US troops have begun drawing down.
http://benton.org/node/17549
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WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE OVER MEDIA MISTREATMENT AT THE RNC?
[SOURCE: The Boston Phoenix, AUTHOR: Adam Reilly]
Given the media's reputation for self-absorption, it's remarkable how little attention the press has paid to the crackdown on journalists during September's Republican National Convention. While the exact tally varies from source to source, it seems that close to 50 journalists were detained or arrested in St. Paul (out of approximately 800 arrests total) while covering protests outside the convention. Some of them were treated gently and released quickly, but others were held at length or roughed up by the police. What's more, a pre-convention raid on a St. Paul home targeted members of I-Witness Video, a New York group whose work exonerated hundreds of protesters following the 2004 RNC. And while St. Paul city attorney John Choi announced, on September 19, that many cases against journalists wouldn't be pursued — in particular, those involving the possible misdemeanor count of presence at an unlawful assembly — these decisions are being made on a case-by-case basis and are far from complete.
http://benton.org/node/17544
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
BIDEN VERSUS PALIN: THE TECH DEBATE
[SOURCE: PC Magazine, AUTHOR: Chloe Albanesius]
Sen Joe Biden (D-DE) has positioned himself as an advocate for children's Internet safety and combating Web predators, while also drawing fire for some controversial stances on piracy and copyright issues. He's considered a friend to the recording industry, having sponsored several bills that would go after file-sharing networks hosting copyrighted or illegal material. He co-chairs the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IAPC), a group founded in 2003 that is intended to secure strong international copyright laws as well as the enforcement of those laws. Gov Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) has signed several tech-related bills into law since taking office. In the past two years, she has signed bills that: ban drivers from watching TV, video, or other programming while driving; and facilitate intrastate, online wine shipments. More notable, however, are the projects Gov Palin rejected. She rejected $300,000 for the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, a program intended to increase the number of indigenous Americans who pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. She opposed a $25,000 food bank computer upgrade and refrigeration improvement and $30,000 for EMS technology equipment in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Five of those schools received funding at reduced levels, including $17,000 for computer lab printers and a video camera at Bayshore Elementary, $30,000 for iMac computers and related software at Bowman Elementary, $117,500 for computer lab equipment at Hanshew Middle School, $40,000 for projectors and laptops at Muldoon Elementary, and $40,000 for a computer lab upgrade at Oceanview Elementary. But Gov Palin opted to cut about $2.2 million in funding at those and other schools for things like LCD projectors, security system upgrades, educational software, software licenses, laptops for teachers, equipment upgrades, computer labs, and smart boards. School wireless initiatives also made it to Palin's veto list. The governor rejected wireless access projects in five school districts, ranging in price from $10,000 to $32,000. The governor also cut funding from $5 million to $2.5 million for the Alaska Consortium for Digital Learning, which had planned to use the money for phase two of a student laptop program.
http://benton.org/node/17543
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SEXISM AND CAMPAIGN COVERAGE
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Theresa Poulson]
Two Q&As -- the first with Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. His research shows that the issue of gender has not dominated recent media coverage of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's candidacy as Republican John McCain's running mate, the numbers don't necessarily show the entire picture. In the second piece, Washington Post political reporter Anne Kornblut says reporters have by and large treated female candidates fairly.
http://benton.org/node/17542
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BROADCASTING/CABLE
CBC: LOCALISM CHANGES WOULD HURT MINORITY BROADCASTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have told the Federal Communications Commission not to change its main-studio rules or require 24-hour station staffing. The FCC had asked for comment on proposals to require stations to relocate their main studios in their cities of license and to have a warm body at the station at all times -- part of an effort to close its media-ownership rule review by both loosening the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule and taking various steps to promote localism. But in a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin this week, caucus members said the cost of either measure would impose "a significant financial hardship on minority broadcasters." They point out that the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council also oppose those changes. They legislators argue that forcing stations to break their leases and find new space in their cities of license could put some stations out of business, as would "requiring a station to hire extra personnel to staff a station 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, on the chance that a disaster may occur in the middle of the night," which they said was a "disproportionate burden on stations for a nominal potential increase in public service."
http://benton.org/node/17541
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DON'T LET GOOGLE FREEZE THE AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Hazlett, Vernon Smith]
[Commentary] Google is now pushing a "free the airwaves" campaign, rallying to open TV band frequencies for new wireless services. This is a superb idea. But Google's proposal would actually freeze the airwaves allocated to television prior to World War II. Innovative services would be lost for yet another generation. Were the FCC to "succeed," approving devices for unlicensed use of the band, it would squander any opportunity to reorganize the band and unleash its vast utility. Government management of the white spaces is doomed to fail. That is vividly seen in the wrong question now asked by the FCC: What devices can share the TV band without disturbing current broadcasts? But there is no reason to freeze TV channels in place. The right question is: How can we reorganize TV broadcasts to maximize wireless benefits? Transmissions could be better coordinated. Such innovative moves, however, rely on having spectrum owners.
http://benton.org/node/17546
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ASKS FCC TO INVESTIGATE REASSIGNMENT OF PEG CHANNELS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
The House Appropriations Financial Services and General Services Subcommittee this week asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the treatment of public, educational and government channels by both incumbent and new providers -- especially AT&T. The subcommittee members are concerned about incumbent operators who are digitizing and moving PEG channels from the lowest numbered channels to slots as high as Ch. 999. The legislators also want the FCC to examine AT&T U-verse's PEG application. PEG supporters assert the application is cumbersome, for it aggregates all PEG channels in a region onto one menu that a consumer must search. Further, the content stream does not match the quality of commercial channels. Features such as second audio programming, closed captioning and other features can't be used when viewing AT&T's PEG application.
http://benton.org/node/17540
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NCTA'S MCSLARROW ON C-SPAN'S "THE COMMUNICATORS"
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, is this week's guest on C-SPAN's The Communicators. The fundamentals of the cable business are "pretty strong," he says, but liquidity and the credit markets remain an issue for the industry. He says he's "a little disappointed" that telecommunications policy was not higher on the agenda of either presidential candidate. But he did say he thought he could work with either administration and whoever was picked to staff the Federal Communications Commission (as long as his first name isn't "Kevin"). He said Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) "may be a little better on some of the content side of the spectrum." Asked to elaborate, he said he was talking about an approach to content that recognized that there are technologies available today -- the V chip, set-top boxes -- to empower parents to take responsibility and control over TV viewing, rather than having government step in to regulate content. "I think he has shown recognition of that," McSlarrow said, adding that he was not "hanging his hat on that." Sen John McCain (R-AZ), for his part, "has been clearer that he is very cautious about micromanaging how people operate and run their networks," he said. "It will be a mixed bag." McSlarrow said he was also well aware of where McCain stood on cable a la carte. While McSlarrow said McCain clearly preferred an a la carte world, he added that the Republican candidate did not want it mandated, which McSlarrow called a "significant" difference.
http://benton.org/node/17539
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC'S MARTIN ON NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin martin spoke at a Network Neutrality conference in Denmark Tuesday, saying policymakers have a duty to promote and preserve the vibrant and open character of the Internet while maintaining infrastructure companies' incentive in the infrastructure needed to provide faster broadband to more people. He said, "We should encourage a regulatory environment that promotes competition, fosters investment in broadband networks and infrastructure, and drives innovation. And, at the same time, we must expand affordable access and sustain an open Internet. By doing so, we afford technology innovators and end users the freedom to shape the Internet Economy of today and tomorrow."
http://benton.org/node/17538
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EXPERTS CALL FOR BROADBAND TRANSPARENCY
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Maya T. Prabhu]
Mapping the areas where Americans have access to various broadband Internet services and making this information publicly available are key steps in closing the digital divide, said attendees of a Sept. 26 broadband policy summit -- yet current federal policies prohibit the release of this information. Kenneth Flamm, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said people need to recognize that broadband access is a key piece of public infrastructure. "Broadband infrastructure will become an essential part of the economic structure," he said, adding that fast Internet connections are a "quality-of-life" issue. Rachelle Chong of the California State Public Utilities Commission said California is lucky in that Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed with the need for broadband expansion. "He understood that if you don't have broadband, you're not going to have state-of-the-art economic development," she said. The utilities commission, she explained, had to convince policy makers that broadband access is a necessary piece of infrastructure. "If you let it wane, citizens are disadvantaged when they get their education," she said, noting that providers tend to invest in urban areas but not in disadvantaged areas of California. "We want to ensure that no child is left behind because of the digital divide."
http://benton.org/node/17537
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LOGGING ON FOR A SECOND (OR THIRD) OPINION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Schwartz]
(Sept 29) At least three-quarters of all Internet users look for health information online, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project; of those with a high-speed connection, 1 in 9 do health research on a typical day. And 75 percent of online patients with a chronic problem told the researchers that "their last health search affected a decision about how to treat an illness or condition," according to a Pew Report released last month, "The Engaged E-Patient Population." Reliance on the Internet is so prevalent, said the report's author, Susannah Fox, the associate director at Pew, that "Google is the de facto second opinion" for patients seeking further information after a diagnosis. But paging Dr. Google can lead patients to miss a rich lode of online resources that may not yield to a simple search. Sometimes just adding a word makes all the difference. Searching for the name of a certain cancer will bring up the Wikipedia entry and several information sites from major hospitals, drug companies and other providers. Add the word "community" to that search, Ms. Fox said, and "it's like falling into an alternate universe," filled with sites that connect patients.
http://benton.org/node/17536
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SEN KOHL ASKS FOR CONTINUED GOOGLE, YAHOO MONITORING
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Diane Bartz]
Yahoo's deal to put some Google Inc ads on its searches may hurt the industry, and warrants monitoring by the Justice Department even if the agency eventually approves the deal, according to Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) of the Senate's antitrust subcommittee. He did not urge that the deal be blocked, saying on Thursday his panel was not privy to "confidential business information supplied by the companies to the department." But he added that "should the amount of advertising outsourced by Yahoo to Google grow significantly, we believe the threat to competition will also increase." He urged the Justice Department to step in "if, over time, you determine that Google is gaining a dominant market position as a result of the Google-Yahoo agreement."
http://benton.org/node/17535
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CHILDREN & MEDIA
FDA WILL REWRITE RULES FOR MARKETING FOR CHILDREN
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jennifer Corbett Dooren]
The Food and Drug Administration will rewrite decades-old federal regulations governing how over-the-counter cold and cough medicines are marketed to children amid concerns over whether the products are safe and effective. As part of that effort the agency held a daylong hearing Thursday to solicit views about how the rules should be changed. While the effort is expected to take years, the end result could be a tougher regulatory environment for many over-the-counter cold and cough products -- such as requiring drug makers to seek approval for their products in a manner similar to that for prescription drugs.
http://benton.org/node/17548
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KIDS PLAY IN FRACTURED MEDIA PLAYGROUND
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Dade Hayes]
Mobile devices, Web video, online social networks, vidgames, DVRs and homevid options have disrupted audiences' small-screen habits and upended traditional ad models. Overall TV viewership has remained steady despite it all, but except for rare events (generally sports), the mass-audience virtual campfire has become a thousand points of light. In the kids-and-family racket, business has boomed of late, and yet the old label "fun for the whole family" is about as relevant as a G rating. Nielsen's long-established, overlapping age ranges -- 2 to 11 years old, 6 to 11 and 9 to 14 -- grow more archaic by the hour. Titles such as Disney's "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana" or Nick's "iCarly" and "Naked Brothers Band" manage to pull in mass audiences, but internally, a lot of kid-focused networks target sub-demos.
http://benton.org/node/17547
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QUICKLY
WALL STREET WOES WON'T TAKE DOWN TECH
[SOURCE: InfoWorld, AUTHOR: Patrick Thibodeau]
Information technology spending is faring better than the overall economy, and the sector "will avoid a recession in 2008," says Gartner. But in a report sent to clients this week, the analyst firm says it believes IT budgets will show "very low year-over-year growth rates until business growth significantly improves." Gartner and Forrester Research do not see tech spending traveling into negative territory, but the words "slow" and "slowdown" are used often enough in their reports to get the message across about what's ahead. Forrester released its forecast last week. But Gartner is nonetheless advising clients to hedge a little and not assume that the economy won't improve next year. It's recommending that IT managers prepare two budgets: one budget "based on guidelines and directions of senior executives," as well as a "growth budget for 2009 in the event that healthier economic growth rates begin to return next year." Gartner said overall U.S. economic growth and IT growth were moving at two different speeds and the tech industry may be "even more resilient than we had originally imagined."
http://benton.org/node/17534
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BIG STORMS: THE MONTH THAT WAS SEPTEMBER
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
Sure, we get it -- September is hurricane season. But did anyone predict the storms we've seen in the past month? Hurricane Hanna got every one's attention, especially federal regulators overseeing Wilmington, North Carolina's transition to (almost) all digital television broadcasting. No one saw the technical problems on the DTV radar, however. In was late August when Sen John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his Vice President. The selection led to what some called "Hurricane Palin," a storm that forever changed the dynamics of the 2008 election. These stories nearly drowned out some carry-over issues from August like the FCC's first major Network Neutrality decision. The biggest tempest, however, is a financial crisis that is interrupting the 2008 campaign.
http://benton.org/node/17461
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UNDERSTANDING THE PERSONAL AND SOCIAL BENEFITS OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION
[SOURCE: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, AUTHOR: Robert Atkinson, Daniel Castro]
In the new global economy information technology (IT) is the major driver of both economic growth and improved quality of life. However, IT is also at the core of dramatic improvements in the quality of life for individuals around the world. In our new report, we show how IT is the key enabler of many, if not most, of today's key innovations and improvements in our lives and society -- from better education and health care, to a cleaner and more energy-efficient environment, to safer and more secure communities and nations.
http://benton.org/node/17532
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ROYALTY RATE DOESN'T CHANGE FOR APPLE, MUSIC RETAILERS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Greg Sandoval]
The Copyright Royalty Board on Thursday froze the rate that digital-music stores, such as iTunes and RealNetworks' Rhapsody, must pay music publishers. The three-member board that sets statutory copyright licenses e-mailed the Digital Media Association (DiMA), the National Music Publishers' Association, Apple, and other download stores with its decision to keep the royalty rate 9.1 cents. The board also set the same rate for CDs and mandated established a 24-cents rate for ringtones. The decision is the first time the Board has established mechanical royalty rates for digital downloads.
http://benton.org/node/17531
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SENATE CONFIRMS CPB NOMINEES
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
On Thursday, the Senate confirmed President Bush's nominees for the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They are: David Pryor, Bruce Ramer, Elizabeth Sembler, and Loretta Cheryl Sutliff.
http://benton.org/node/17530
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WHAT IF GOOGLE'S MISSION EXTENDED TO PUBLIC RECORDS?
[SOURCE: The Industry Standard, AUTHOR: Ian Lamont]
[Commentary] What if Google's mission extended beyond indexing the World Wide Web, and organizing private and commercial information such as medical records and books? What if Google also decided to start organizing and indexing public records that are now largely stored in paper form? What would it mean for people, communities, government entities, and other companies and organizations that drive the Internet economy?
http://benton.org/node/17529
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SIRIUS UNVEILS RAFT OF OPTIONS FOR PROGRAMS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sarah McBride, Ethan Smith]
Sirius XM Satellite Radio Thursday announced a range of new programming options that lets subscribers buy programming from both of the recently merged rival services. A new programming package known as "Best of Both" lets subscribers receive a range of stations from each for $16.99 a month, $4 more than the $12.95 a month most XM and Sirius subscribers now pay for over 100 channels.
http://benton.org/node/17545
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Come on, Cubs!
