March 2009

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY MARCH 27, 2009

Some of the biggest news next week will come from Freedom to Connect. Also on the agenda: 1) the 34th Annual Community Radio Conference and 2) for the electronic health geek lurking in all of us, HiMSS09. See next week's events at http://benton.org/calendar/2009-03-29--P1W

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Obama Makes History in Live Internet Video Chat
   A Spokesman, on Suits and Strategy

TELEVISION
   House Panel Investigates Progress on DTV Front
   FCC seeks DTV transition assistance
   TV Is Still King

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
   Copps Says FCC Should Reconsider Newspaper Ownership Rule
   Consolidation won't save the media
   In Hollywood, Reshaping a Business Model That Emerged With the Talkies
   In Washington, entertainment makes its case for funding

JOURNALISM
   New Round of Cuts at Papers
   Sad but true: Journalists need to think about the bottom line

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   EU: net neutrality just "arm wrestling" between companies
   Advice comes in to FCC on where to concentrate rural broadband efforts
   A First Step to Our National Broadband Plan
   It'd Be Irresponsible To Not Map Demand and Track Usage
   Mobile broadband to buoy mobile industry
   The Time Has Come to Cut Off Access at AOL

CONTENT
   AT&T to start sending copyright warnings
   US Internet gambling laws breach WTO rules: EU
   When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking
   Boomers make social networks a place of their own
   Twitter's bid for revenue: paid pro accounts

QUICKLY -- IT Incentives for Doctors, Hospitals Vary Under Federal Stimulus Package; Danes lead world in telecoms technology: WEF index; FCC Technological Advisory Council; Verizon eyes home energy management with FiOS; Cybersecurity review is putting emphasis on privacy; John Lawson Joins NAB Board

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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

OBAMA MAKES HISTORY IN LIVE INTERNET VIDEO CHAT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sheryl Gay Stolberg]
The White House said more than 64,000 people watched President Obama answer questions on Thursday in the first live Internet video chat by an American president. But in declaring itself "Open for Questions," on the economy, the White House learned it must be careful what it wishes for. More than 100,000 questions were submitted, with the idea that Mr. Obama would answer those that were most popular. But after 3.6 million votes were cast, one of the top questions turned out to be a query on whether legalizing marijuana might stimulate the economy by allowing the government to regulate and tax the drug. The marijuana question later took up a good chunk of the daily White House press briefing. Thursday's session, which had been advertised on the White House Web site since Tuesday, is the latest example of efforts by the Obama team to replicate its creative use of the Internet in the election campaign.
http://benton.org/node/23809
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A SPOKESMAN, ON SUITS AND STRATEGY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Lois Romano]
A Q&A with White house Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The Robert Gibbs show is Washington's hottest version of reality TV these days, with his daily briefing becoming a favorite on cable, the Web and Twitter. The White House press secretary, who worked for Barack Obama in the Senate, is one of the president's closest advisers, but in most ways he is his opposite number: hot to Obama's cool, practical to Obama cerebral. He has been in the Democratic communications game for most of his career, but often as a counterpuncher to a Republican White House. Now he is adjusting to being the ultimate insider and voice of the new Democratic administration.
http://benton.org/node/23808
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TELEVISION

HOUSE PANEL INVESTIGATES PROGRESS ON DTV FRONT
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
The House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a hearing titled, "Oversight of the Digital Television Transition" on Thursday. A good time was had by all. The hearing examined the administration of the DTV Converter Box Coupon Program by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), outreach and consumer education efforts by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the status of the transition from the perspective of other stakeholders. Approximately 4 million households are still not prepared for the transition, lawmakers heard. Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) praised the NTIA for clearing up a long-waiting list for DTV coupons, but he also expressed concern that the nation could run out of converter boxes. "I do share (the) concern about whether inventory levels will be sufficient," NTIA's Anna Gomez said. While the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) estimates that there will be an additional 4.2 million converter boxes needed by June 12, there are currently about 9.3 million coupons in circulation. Even if the percentage of coupons cashed in continues at the current rate of about 60 percent, about 5.5 million converter boxes will be needed. Both Members of Congress and regulators raised concerns about signal reception issues. FCC Chairman Michael Copps said the Commission was working on implementing programs to help broadcasters fill in coverage gaps, but that took time and money, both of which were in short supply. The FCC will at least have some more money to bolster call centers and for education and outreach to help inform viewers of potential signal losses no matter what steps they take to prepare.
http://benton.org/node/23799
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FCC SEEKS DTV TRANSITION ASSISTANCE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission announced the first of three sets of solicitations for DTV transition assistance, releasing six Statements of Work (SOW) with Requests for Quotations (RFQs) that seek proposals for Basic In-Home Installation Services to assist consumers in making the transition to digital television. Based on the Commission's DTV transition outreach initiative, proposals are being solicited for each of six U.S. regions - Pacific, West Central, Southwest, East Central, Southeast, and Northeast. The Commission is seeking proposals that focus on providing assistance to low-income individuals, minority communities, non-English speaking consumers, senior citizens, consumers living in rural areas or on tribal lands, and consumers with disabilities. Additionally, because statistical data suggest that certain geographical areas of the country are less prepared than others, the Commission, in conjunction with NTIA, has developed a combined list of the DMAs that appear to be most at risk. While the Commission is seeking proposals with emphasis on these at-risk DMAs, it plans to provide assistance throughout the country, and proposals may address any geographic area where full-power broadcast TV stations have not already fully transitioned to digital broadcasting. The solicitations for Basic In-Home Installation Services will close on April 9, 2009.
http://benton.org/node/23798
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TV IS STILL KING
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Jon Lafayette]
Television is still the most popular medium for all consumers, both young and old. A new study conducted by Ball State University's Center for Media Design and Sequent Partners for the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence, found that 99% of video consumption on televisions, the Web and mobile is on traditional TVs. Even among adults 18 to 24, 98% of video is seen on televisions. The figures confirm numbers generated by other forms of measurement by Nielsen. Live TV was the top way video was consumed, followed by DVDs, with digital video recorders third.
Young Boomers Watch 9.5 Hours of Video per Day; TV Still on Top
http://benton.org/node/23797
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP

FCC HEAD SAYS AGENCY SHOULD RECONSIDER NEWSPAPER OWNERSHIP RULE
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
The Federal Communications Commission may reconsider restrictions on combined ownership of broadcast stations and newspapers as daily publications struggle with a plunge in revenue. The FCC should "visit this whole problem" before long, Chairman Michael Copps said. Members of Congress and Attorney General Eric Holder have said they're concerned with the newspaper industry after four bankruptcies in as many months. Sales and advertising are dropping amid the recession and a migration of readers to the Internet. Daily papers have announced staff or pay cuts in New York, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Boston in the past two days. Chairman Copps said the FCC's rule didn't meet "the needs of the industry, the economy or the public." The rule generally bans combined ownership of a daily newspaper and nearby broadcast station, except in the largest markets.
http://benton.org/node/23796
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CONSOLIDATION WON'T SAVE THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron, Joseph Torres]
[Commentary] Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), whose hometown San Francisco Chronicle is in trouble, asked Attorney General Eric Holder to consider loosening antitrust laws to help out struggling newspapers by allowing more media mergers. AG Holder responded by saying he is open to revisiting the rules. Pelosi's request sounds innocuous at first ­ after all, struggling newspapers seem to need all the help they can get. But opening the door to more media consolidation is not the cure for the crisis in journalism. More of this bad medicine will only weaken reporting and worsen the health of our democracy. How to support serious journalism and local coverage in the new media landscape is a complicated question that surely requires a menu of answers, forward-looking policy ideas and lots of experimentation. But we know what won't work: the exact same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. Media consolidation is the problem, not the answer.
http://benton.org/node/23794
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IN HOLLYWOOD, RESHAPING A BUSINESS MODEL THAT EMERGED WITH THE TALKIES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steven Pearlstein]
The entertainment industry has a history of almost unbroken success. Things have been so good for so long, and the companies have been so successful in fending off competitive threats, that it has grown incredibly fat and happy. From superstar actors, their agents and business managers to gaffers and on-set caterers, the money people make is vastly out of proportion to what similarly skilled people make in most other industries. And, even allowing for the process of trial and error inherent in any creative process, its ways of doing business remain stubbornly inefficient. Now, however, there is a sense that it may all be coming to an end, that the threat this time is real and that the old business models can't survive. With the rise of legal and illegal downloading, the Internet has already decimated the music business, and it is just beginning to overturn the economic foundations of the movies, television and electronic gaming as well. Financing is drying up, once-sacred expenses are being cut, whole layers of management eliminated and work shifted elsewhere.
http://benton.org/node/23806
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IN WASHINGTON, ENTERTAINMENT MAKES ITS CASE FOR FUNDING
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Ben Meyerson]
As the economy stumbles, artists are feeling the hurt as badly as workers in other industries, entertainment professionals told a House committee Thursday. And arts funding, often a target when budget cuts are made, should be protected, they said. The National Endowment for the Arts reported this month that 6% of all artists were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2008 -- twice the rate of other professional workers -- and that the number of unemployed artists grew to 129,000 last year, from 50,000 in 2007. In the current climate, Americans need to understand how essential the entertainment industry is to the economy, said actor Tim Daly, co-president of the nonprofit entertainment advocacy group the Creative Coalition. Trumpeting the arts as the country's second-largest export, Daly said he was appalled to hear an interview on National Public Radio in which $50 million for the NEA in the stimulus package was derided as "pork."
http://benton.org/node/23805
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JOURNALISM

NEW ROUND OF CUTS AT PAPERS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Robert MacMillan]
Two of the most respected U.S. newspaper publishers, The Washington Post Co and The New York Times Co, are embarking on new cost cuts in the face of dramatic declines in advertising revenue. The Times said it laid off 100 workers and is cutting non-union salaries. It is also asking unionized employees to accept similar concessions to avoid layoffs in the newsroom. The Post is offering a new round of buyouts to newsroom, production and circulation employees, and said it could not rule out laying off staff. In addition, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on its Web site that it will slash its full-time news staff by about 90 people -- nearly 30% -- in its continued effort to lower costs and return to profitability.
http://benton.org/node/23795
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SAD BUT TRUE: JOURNALISTS NEED TO THINK ABOUT THE BOTTOM LINE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
[Commentary] Used to be that a newspaper editor would bark the paper's ad manager right out of the newsroom. But used to bes don't count anymore. They just lay on the floor til we sweep them away. In that earlier epoch newspapers were fat, virtually monopolizing local and classified advertising. Now newspaper people track their falling fortunes daily and talk about "monetizing content" on the Web. The debate has gotten tiresome and dispiriting. The recession has turned a painful evolution into life-threatening revolution.
http://benton.org/node/23800
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
   EU: net neutrality just "arm wrestling" between companies
   Advice comes in to FCC on where to concentrate rural broadband efforts
   A First Step to Our National Broadband Plan
   It'd Be Irresponsible To Not Map Demand and Track Usage
   Mobile broadband to buoy mobile industry
   The Time Has Come to Cut Off Access at AOL

EU: NET NEUTRALITY JUST "ARM WRESTLING" BETWEEN COMPANIES
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, says that an open Internet is "crucial" to Europe. But that doesn't mean a little traffic shaping, service prioritization, and discrimination won't be allowed. In a September 2008 speech in Copenhagen, Reding told a network neutrality conference that "a cynical observer may note that in the end this whole Net Neutrality debate is about hard cash. Dollars and euros... This is just arm wrestling between big network providers and successful providers of Internet services." That doesn't sound like the position of someone inclined to push network openness rules into law, and indeed Reding has repeatedly make clear that she doesn't favor such an approach. Instead, she wants to rely on competition to solve any problems that arise—competition that does tend to exist more in Europe thanks to widespread line-sharing rules.
http://benton.org/node/23807
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ADVICE COMES IN TO FCC ON WHERE TO CONCENTRATE RURAL BROADBAND EFFORTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Just two weeks ago, the Federal Communications Commission asked for public input on a comprehensive broadband strategy it must deliver to Congress this Spring. The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council focused on better broadband mapping to find out just where the greatest need is. It also said that un-served minority rural communities should be the first priority. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association argued for a three-pronged strategy: first, coordination among agencies; second, the grant process under any program must be transparent; third, the program's goals must be clearly defined and focus on helping folks in underserved areas buy and use existing services--rather than underwrite new competition to those services--and only after that is done upgrade facilities in underserved areas to meet "today's current generation broadband services." NCTA also argued for reforming the Universal Service Fund by reducing support for areas where competitive service is available and better targeting the money and apply the same pole-attachment rate to all providers. The American Cable Association (ACA) wants the FCC to give preference to small and mid-sized cable operators
http://benton.org/node/23793
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A FIRST STEP TO OUR NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Charles Benton]
[Commentary] With the rush to implement the broadband-related provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, little attention has been paid to a provision of the 2008 Farm Bill with requires the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Agriculture to craft a comprehensive rural broadband strategy. This plan is due to Congress this Spring and the FCC has requested public input. On March 25, the Benton Foundation filed comments at the FCC based mainly on our Action Plan for America. We argue that the rural broadband strategy should address the rural aspects of the comprehensive national broadband plan required of the FCC in the Recovery Act and due in early 2010. With historian Michael Copps at the helm of the FCC, we remind the Commission that the plan should not depart from the over arching purposes of U.S. Telecommunication Law: "to make available to all people of the United States a rapid, efficient, nation-wide and world-wide, wire and radio communications service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges."
http://www.benton.org/node/23781
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IT'D BE IRRESPONSIBLE TO NOT MAP DEMAND AND TRACK USAGE
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
1) Map broadband market demand: Rather than just finding out where broadband's available and where it isn't, it's essential that we also know where there are people who want it but can't get it. If I'm the government and I'm trying to define "underserved" then it makes a lot of sense to be able to compare the availability of broadband relative to the demand for it so that we can identify those areas where the market alone is not serving this demand. Without this market demand data we could end up subsidizing network buildouts to areas that don't currently want it, and that doesn't seem like the most prudent use of limited government dollars. 2) Track actual usage: What good will funding programs that spur demand be if we don't have a way of measuring whether or not they were successful at getting people to use broadband more? In fact, not only is tracking usage a good idea, but I'd argue that it should be mandatory for all broadband demand programs. We first need to establish a baseline for how people, businesses, and public entities are using broadband so we can have something to compare future results of these surveys against to gauge the growth in demand. Not doing this means risking government dollars on programs with no metrics to measure success, and that seems like a very irresponsible thing to be doing.
http://benton.org/node/23791
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MOBILE BROADBAND TO BUOY MOBILE INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: telecoms.com, AUTHOR: ]
Mobile broadband has become one of the key growth engines for the global mobile industry, driving major increases in data subscribers and revenues over the past year, and is set to play an increasingly central role in the success of the industry. So says telecoms.com parent and analyst house Informa Telecoms & Media, which notes that with mobile broadband subscribers worldwide jumped 84 per cent to 186 million at the end of 2008, compared to 101 million at the end of 2007. By 2013, the analyst anticipates that mobile broadband subscribers will represent almost one third of total mobile subscribers worldwide.
http://benton.org/node/23790
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THE TIME HAS COME TO CUT OFF ACCESS AT AOL
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Martin Peers]
Now that AOL is preparing to leave home, it needs to figure out what it wants to do with the rest of its life. For all of AOL's focus on transforming itself into an advertising-driven business with a powerful Web portal, the business is still dominated by the declining Internet-access service. Its subscriber base has slumped to 6.9 million at the end of last year from 19.5 million in 2005. Yet it still accounted for nearly half of 2008 revenue and the majority of the $1.56 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and write-downs. Access doesn't require the same level of ongoing investment as the ad-dependent business. Now Time Warner has to decide whether AOL should hang on to the access operation when AOL, as now seems likely, is spun off. If it keeps access, new AOL CEO Tim Armstrong could tap the cash it will continue spewing, at a declining rate, for a few years. But its limited life span will weigh on the valuation of the new company. And it would force Mr. Armstrong to devote precious time to managing the decline. That is why Time Warner should sell access. Now.
http://benton.org/node/23803
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CONTENT

AT&T TO START SENDING COPYRIGHT WARNINGS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Peter Svensson]
AT&T, the nation's largest Internet service provider, will start sending warnings to its subscribers when music labels and movie studios allege that they are trafficking in pirated material. The phone company thus joins other major ISPs that either go beyond legal requirements or interpret their duties under the law to mean that they have to forward such notices.
http://benton.org/node/23801
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US INTERNET GAMBLING LAWS BREACH WTO RULES: EU
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Foo Yun Chee, Dale Hudson]
A US crackdown on European online gambling breaches World Trade Organization rules and would justify action at the World Trade Organization, the European Commission said on Thursday. The European Union executive, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, said its draft report found that such U.S. laws hampered trade and thus were inconsistent with WTO rules but stressed it would seek a negotiated solution. "It is for the U.S. to decide how best to regulate Internet gambling in its market, but this must be done in a way that fully respects WTO obligations," EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said.
http://benton.org/node/23784
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WHEN STARS TWITTER, A GHOST MAY BE LURKING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Noam Cohen]
In its short history, Twitter — a microblogging tool that uses 140 characters in bursts of text — has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal. But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers — ghost Twitterers, if you will — who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star's own voice. Because Twitter is seen as an intimate link between celebrities and their fans, many performers are not willing to divulge the help they use to put their thoughts into cyberspace.
http://benton.org/node/23804
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BOOMERS MAKE SOCIAL NETWORKS A PLACE OF THEIR OWN
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Marco della Cava]
Whether it's congressmen Twittering during presidential speeches, parents connecting with high school flames on Facebook or empty-nesters planning group outings on grown-up sites such as Eons.com, Baby Boomers are speeding up the Web's ongoing metamorphosis from limitless void to global watering hole. Social networking is fast becoming a staple for a growing number of adults as Web use surges. One-third of adult Internet users have a profile on a social networking site, up from 8% in 2005, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And though adults share some teen habits — checking in with friends, planning get-togethers — they differ from the younger set in their desire to use the medium to meet new friends from across the country. Their reasons for connecting with others online vary, but the passion for it is unwavering.
http://benton.org/node/23802
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TWITTER'S BID FOR REVENUE: PAID PRO ACCOUNTS
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: David Chartier]
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has confirmed that paid accounts with enhanced features are on their way. A number of other opportunities exist for the social messaging startup, but it appears that 2009 will indeed be the year that Twitter begins to make money.
http://benton.org/node/23785
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QUICKLY

IT INCENTIVES FOR DOCTORS, HOSPITALS VARY UNDER FEDERAL STIMULUS PACKAGE
[SOURCE: iHealthBeat, AUTHOR: Protima Advani]
Health information technology is expected to experience a huge boost with the new economic stimulus package. The health IT provisions of the stimulus bill aim to accelerate the adoption of electronic health record technologies and facilitate nationwide health information exchanges to improve the quality and coordination of care between health care providers, thereby reducing medical errors and duplicative care. Most of the package's health IT funding -- approximately $17 billion over five years -- will be made available across the next 10 years as Medicare and Medicaid payment incentives to health care providers who adopt certified health IT systems. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed incentive structure is expected to boost health IT adoption rates to about 70% for hospitals and to about 90% for physicians within the next decade -- a significant improvement over the projected adoption rates of 45% and 65% for hospitals and physicians, respectively, by 2019, in the absence of any incentives.
http://benton.org/node/23789
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DANES LEAD WORLD IN TELECOMS TECHNOLOGY: WEF INDEX
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Laura MacInnis]
Denmark boasts the world's most networked economy, putting it and its Nordic neighbors in a good position to rebound from the current global downturn, the World Economic Forum said. Sweden ranked second in the annual WEF Networked Readiness Index, sponsored by Cisco, which measures information and communications technology availability and use, such as access to mobile phone and Internet services. The United States placed third, Singapore fourth and Switzerland fifth among the 134 economies listed in the index; poor states including Bangladesh, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Timor-Leste and Chad rated worst. In the report, the WEF said that investing in telecoms infrastructure and services could help "general competitiveness and progress" and put countries on a better footing to take advantage of an eventual return to economic growth. High-speed Internet should be now seen as "part of the basic infrastructure of any country and one of the foundations of the knowledge economy," the study said, urging countries ranked low on the index to do all they can to improve their connectivity.
http://benton.org/node/23788
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FCC TECHNOLOGICAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Federal Communications Commission intends to reestablish a Technological Advisory Council (TAC). The purpose of the TAC is to provide technical advice to the Federal Communications Commission and to make recommendations on the issues and questions presented to it by the FCC. The TAC will address questions referred to it by the FCC Chairman, the FCC Chief Technologist, the Chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, or the TAC Designated Federal Officer. The questions referred to the TAC will be directed to technological and technical issues in the field of communications. The duties of the TAC will be to gather data and information, perform analyses, and prepare reports and presentations to respond to the questions referred to it.
Jon Peha, the FCC's Chief Technologist, is the lead contact person.
http://benton.org/node/23779
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VERIZON EYES HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT WITH FIOS
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Martin LaMonica]
Verizon Communications is exploring ways to use its FiOS broadband service to give consumers ways to remotely control their thermostat and view their energy usage. Company engineers are now designing applications, including energy management, to work with the routers that come with its FiOS service. The first application Verizon expects to roll out will be videoconferencing by the end of the year, according to company spokesman Jim Smith, who said home security and energy management are also being considered.
http://benton.org/node/23787
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CYBERSECURITY REVIEW IS PUTTING EMPHASIS ON PRIVACY
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stephanie Condon]
The House Cybersecurity Caucus on Thursday met with Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, who is conducting for the administration a 60-day cybersecurity review. As the National Security Council works on its comprehensive review of federal cybersecurity programs for President Obama, it is going to great lengths to consider privacy and civil liberty issues, some Congress members said.
http://benton.org/node/23786
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JOHN LAWSON JOINS NAB BOARD
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: ]
Ion Media Networks Executive Vice President John Lawson has joined the board of the National Association of Broadcasters. Prior to joining Ion Media Networks, Lawson was president-CEO of the Association for Public Television Stations, an advocacy organization representing local US public television stations. He is a founding board member of the Open Mobile Video Coalition and has served on the FCC's Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee.
http://benton.org/node/23783
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... and we are outta here. Have agreat weekend, Pittsburgh.