February 2009

Newspapers need an antitrust exemption

[Commentary] The US newspaper industry needs help. It could come from the government in the form of a antitrust exemption that would allow all US newspaper companies -- and others in the English-speaking world, as well as popular broadcast-based sites such as CNN.com -- to sit down and negotiate an agreement on how to scale prices and, then, to begin imposing them simultaneously. That, in turn, would set the stage for tackling the other leg of this problem -- how to extract reasonable fees from aggregators like Google and Yahoo, which currently use their search engines to link to news that newspapers and broadcasters pay to gather.

The Economic Crisis Returns with a Vengeance

In a sign of how quickly the media narrative has shifted from pomp and circumstance to layoffs and bankruptcy, the grim U.S. economy was the overwhelmingly dominant story one week after Barack Obama's festive inauguration. The financial crisis filled 45% of the coverage studied from Jan 26-Feb. 1, as measured by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. A week earlier, it was Obama's move into the White House that consumed most of the media's attention, also accounting for 45% of the newshole, or the time on TV and radio and space in print and online.

Gregg Is Nominated for Secretary of Commerce

President Obama on Tuesday nominated Sen Judd Gregg (R-NH) to help "shore up our financial system and revitalize our economy" by serving as commerce secretary. In naming Sen Gregg to the post, which requires Senate confirmation, the president is seeking to win more bipartisan support for his economic recovery plan. President Obama said that Gregg would be a key member of his economic team. Gregg, who is in the middle of his third Senate term, said he agreed to answer the president's call to serve because of the enormity of the nation's economic crisis. "This is not a time for partisanship," Gregg said. "This is not a time when we should stand in our ideological corners and shout at each other. This is a time to govern and govern well." The Commerce Department has a broad mandate - to promote economic development at home and abroad - but sees little public attention. It includes agencies ranging from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Patent and Trademark Office. It also plays a key role in promoting international trade. Gregg is not known as a fiery ideologue, but his voting record is consistently conservative. He has a 4% lifetime rating from the labor union organization AFL- CIO and most recently voted against pay equity legislation signed into law by Obama, calling it "a boon for trial lawyers." In fact, Gregg voted in favor of abolishing the Department of Commerce as a member of the Budget Committee and on the Senate floor in 1995. Ultimately, the Commerce Department survived, and Gregg has since shown more interest than most of his Republican colleagues in funding some of its agencies, particularly the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

More stories:

Secretary of What? (WSJ editorial)
Republican Senator Judd Gregg would rather work from within the Obama Administration.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123371156343346171.html?mod=todays_us_op...

Sen. Gregg Nominated to Head Commerce (WashPost)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR200902...

His terms met, Gregg says yes to Commerce (USAToday)
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090204/gregg04_st.art.htm

Where Gregg stands on the issues (USAToday)
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090204/gregg04_va.art.htm

Gregg's bank stocks raise questions (LATimes)
The largest holding listed in Gregg's most recent financial disclosure filing was $1 million to $5 million in stock and savings in Bank of America, which has since lost about 85% of its value despite an infusion of $45 billion that Gregg voted to approve as part of last fall's $700-billion bank bailout fund.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-gregg4-2009feb04...

Gregg nominated in stimulus fightback (Financial Times)
Mounting concern in the White House that Republicans are winning the battle for public opinion.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9bd19d28-f223-11dd-9678-0000779fd2ac.html

Gregg's Tech Track Record Has Highs & Lows (CongressDaily)
http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2009/02/greggs-tech-track-recor...

Daschle Withdraws Name for HHS Secretary

Thomas Daschle, President Obama's choice to be secretary of health and human services, withdrew his nomination today, citing the distractions that followed his failure to pay $146,000 in taxes in recent years. Daschle, in a statement, said being chosen for the post had been "one of the signal honors of an improbable career." "But if 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction," Daschle said. "Right now, I am not that leader." Daschle had been appointed to two posts -- both the HHS secretary and the health-care czar, with an office at the White House. He will not serve in either job, officials said. Sen Richard Durbin (IL), the Senate Democratic whip, said the withdrawal could be a serious setback for health-care reform, because of Daschle's unusually strong legislative background and long interest in the issue.

Daschle pushed Hindery for Obama job

Apparently, Tom Daschle backed Leo Hindery, the patron who paid him a million-dollar salary and supplied him with a free car and driver, for a job inside the Obama administration. Hindery, whose InterMedia Partners employed the former Senate majority leader, had been mentioned as a possible secretary of commerce or U.S. trade representative. President Obama's aides rejected Daschle's suggestion that a top job go to Hindery, for whose private equity fund Daschle had served as a rainmaker and adviser. Hindery, who divides his time between New York and Charlotte, N.C., made his money in cable television. A former Seattle newsboy and executive at the San Francisco Chronicle, he came to prominence when he became CEO of cable giant Tele-Communications, Inc. in 1997. He was hailed for turning the company around and sold it to AT&T in 1999, reportedly collecting $300 million in stock options in the process. He also did a stint as CEO of the telecommunications firm Global Crossing, and in 2002 sued the then-bankrupt company for $822,000 in back salary and rent for his apartment in the Waldorf-Astoria.

Citing Tax Troubles, Obama Appointee Killefer Withdraws

Nancy Killefer, President Obama's choice for the position of chief White House performance officer, has withdrawn from consideration for the post after coming forward with concerns about her tax returns. "I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your chief performance officer are urgent," Killefer wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama Tuesday. "I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration."

Ad Experts Talk-Up Google's Obama Appointment

President Barack Obama's move to create a transparent and tech-savvy administration will put Google product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton in the driver's seat as "director of citizen participation" in March. Search engine optimization gurus, industry experts, ad agency executives and Wall Street analysts provided insight on the move. Danny Sullivan, search engine optimization guru at Search Engine Land, said having someone like Stanton who knows Google's products and services may prompt the Obama administration to further adopt them. The Obama administration has already begun to rely on some Google tools. Stanton--a group product manager at Google who co-founded the company's election team--worked on Google Moderator, a tool the public used to submit questions during the presidential debates.

New FTC Chief Faces Tech, Economic Issues

Apparently, Federal Trade Commission member and onetime Hollywood lobbyist Jon Leibowitz is a top contender to lead the agency charged with consumer protection and preventing unfair business practices. Leibowitz, who served as vice president for congressional affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America and worked as Democratic counsel for the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004. He serves alongside Republicans J. Thomas Rosch and William Kovacic, the acting chairman, and Pamela Jones Harbour, an independent. Christine Varney, a former FTC commissioner and a partner at Hogan & Hartson, was in the mix to lead FTC but was nominated last month by President Barack Obama to head the Justice Department's antitrust division. Another former FTC commissioner whose name is being floated is Mozelle Thompson, a policy adviser to social-networking site Facebook.

Copps: Most Stations Could Move Earlier Than June 12

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps has replied to Reps Joe Barton (R-TX) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) saying 61% of TV stations (1,089) should be able to turn off their analog signal before June 12 if they choose to without causing interference to other stations, and that "most" of the remaining 700 or so stations "may" also be able to do so. In the letter, Chairman Copps also told Reps Barton and Stearns that, as of Feb. 2, the FCC had received or granted requests form 143 stations that have already turned off analog, and that an additional 60 had said they were going to do so before Feb 17. In addition, he said, 276 had indicated, even though they were not required to, that they would be ending analog on Feb. 17, though he pointed out some of those could change their minds if the analog cut-off date is extended.

Consumers Union, LCCR Urge Passage Of DTV Date-Delay Bill

Consumers Union and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) say they support passage of the digital television transition delay bill and for a concerted effort to help those still needing information and assistance to make the DTV transition. Consumers Union was effectively the vanguard in asking for the date move, sending a letter to Congress after consultation with then President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, which was followed soon after by the official request for the change by transition team co-chair John Podesta. "Because there will be some markets that will be making the transition to digital [Feb. 17]," said Mark Lloyd of LCCR, we are urging folks to act as if this will occur on Feb. 17, we also realize that even after that date, with or without the delay, there will be a number of consumers who were not ready who will need immediate, rapid response assistance."

Benton

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