April 30, 2009 (Day 101)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for APRIL 30, 2009
Even more than on most days, you'll find much more online at http://benton.org/headlines -- there's too much news for even digital print to fit today.
100 DAYS
Obama's Enchanting Quizfest
How the President Fared In the Press vs. Clinton and Bush
The President and the Press: Obama Style
Public Sees Too Much Personal Coverage of Obama
Obama at 100 Days - 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda [Video]
Obama at 100 Days - Regulatory Reform [Video]
100 Days In Obama Tech Policy -- A Solid B With Strong Upside
Grading the Internet President
Obama's First 100 Days Online [Video]
Obama's 100 Days: High Marks for Science, Low for Privacy
Obama's First 100 Days Report Card: HuffPost Bloggers Give Their Grades
Spanish-Language Media Outlets Document Obama Administration Outreach to Hispanics
BUDGET/POLICYMAKERS
Congress Approves Obama's $3.4 Trillion Spending Blueprint
FCC Budget Request
Obama to name Mignon Clyburn as FCC commissioner
Telecom Committees in Congress Raise Universal Broadband Issues at Cable Forum
THE STIMULUS
White House's Crawford: Rural Backhaul Key To Internet Buildout
Legislators: Don't Forget Urban Underserved When Doling Out Stimulus Loans
ACA Discusses Stimulus Funds At Summit
Broadband Speed About Latency Not Bandwidth
Texas Seeks to Expand Broadband Connectivity, Create Economic Development
Tough Fight Ahead for Satellite Share of Broadband Stimulus Money
USDA Seeking broadband Applications; Deadline June 19
'Meaningful use' definition will shape health IT agenda, Blumenthal says
Consumers Say Practical Technology Will Improve Future
Tracking How Stimulus Dollars Are Tracked
CYBERSECURITY
Panel Advises Clarifying US Plans on Cyberwar
Policymakers debate White House's role in cybersecurity
Sen Collins questions White House control over cybersecurity
New cybersecurity bill for electric grid readied
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
White House officials discuss technology challenges
GAO: Management and Oversight of Information Technology Projects Need Attention
OPM Chief Thinks Telecommuting Has a Nice Ring to It
JOURNALISM
Can news online realize a profit?
USC Study: Pace of Online Newspaper Readership Accelerating
Baltimore Sun cuts third of newsroom
Ex-Newspaper Staffers Create Online News Sites
BROADCASTING
Radio Stations Playing Same Old Songs
Clear Channel Faces Crisis in Cash Flow
Clear Channel Radio Axes Corporate Marketing
NAB Augments Radio 'Tax' Lobbying Blitz
Panel debates future of television
JUST ONLINE
Mobile Apps To Hit $25 Billion By 2014
Court Upholds FCC Rule On Phone Number Transfers
Recent Comments on:
- Proposal to deregulate could hike Florida phone bills
- Let's get to Work on Criteria for NTIA Grant Awards
- Cablevision rolls out super-fast Internet access
- Twitter Audience Does Not Stick
- Texas Seeks to Expand Broadband Connectivity
100 DAYS
OBAMA'S ENCHANTING QUIZFEST
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Tom Shales]
The questions put to Barack Obama at his news conference last night covered nearly every topic but the Craigslist Killer, and if that had come up, Obama probably would have answered it in stride. You ask, he'll answer -- earnestly, disarmingly, enchantingly, even -- and most of the time convincingly, which is no small accomplishment for a politician. President Obama has given more prime-time news conferences (three) in his first 100 days than Bill Clinton did in his first four years. And he seems to enjoy facing the press as much as Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan did. Obama, celebrating his 100th day in office, has enough seriously worrisome problems to thwart a comic-book hero, but he was his comfortingly cool and collected self last night, even taking the time to answer a marginally frivolous four-part query from a New York Times reporter, about which things had most troubled, enchanted, surprised and humbled him since he took office.
http://benton.org/node/24967
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HOW THE PRESIDENT FARED IN THE PRESS VS CLINTON AND BUSH
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: ]
As he marks his 100th day in office, President Barack Obama has enjoyed substantially more positive media coverage than either Bill Clinton or George Bush during their first months in the White House, according to a new study of press coverage. Overall, roughly four out of ten stories, editorials and op ed columns about Obama have been clearly positive in tone, compared with 22% for Bush and 27% for Clinton in the same mix of seven national media outlets during the same first two months in office, according to a study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study found positive stories about Obama have outweighed negative by two-to-one (42% vs. 20%) while 38% of stories have been neutral or mixed. When a broader universe of media—one that includes 49 outlets and reflects the more modern media culture of 2009, is examined, the numbers for Obama's coverage are similar, though somewhat less positive and somewhat more negative. In this expanded universe of media—which includes news websites, additional regional and local newspapers, plus cable news, network morning news, and National Public Radio, 37% of Obama's coverage has been positive, 40% neutral and 23% negative. Several factors may be at play in the favorable tone Obama has received during these first months. One element is the pace and sweep of Obama's activities.
Another factor may be the media reflecting, and in turn, influencing public opinion.
http://benton.org/node/24928
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THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESS: OBAMA STYLE
[SOURCE: Politics daily, AUTHOR: Martha Joynt Kumar]
[Commentary] In his first 100 days, Barack Obama has demonstrated how a chief executive can use the basic communications tools of the presidency and fashion them to a size and shape to fit his needs. To explain his ambitious policy agenda, Obama has gone to the public more frequently than his predecessors and used news organizations as a vehicle to get his thoughts, words, and image to his intended audiences. Television has been a crucial resource; the five major national television networks have interrupted their regular evening programming to provide the president with three one-hour slots for his two nighttime press conferences and his address on the economy to a joint session of the Congress. None of his five most recent predecessors held even one nighttime East Room news conference in the 100-day period. All of Obama's evening events drew large audiences. [Martha Joynt Kumar is a professor of political science at Towson University.]
http://benton.org/node/24927
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PUBLIC SEES TOO MUCH PERSONAL COVERAGE OF OBAMA
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, AUTHOR: Andrew Kohut et al]
Most Americans say that the news media has devoted too much coverage to Barack Obama's family and personal life during his first months as president, but the right amount of coverage to his leadership style and his policy proposals. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24948
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OBAMA AT 100 DAYS -- 21ST CENTURY RIGHT-TO-KNOW AGENDA
[SOURCE: OMB Watch, AUTHOR: ]
In the months preceding the 2008 presidential election, the right]to]know community worked together to collaboratively develop a set of government transparency recommendations for what was to be the next administration and Congress. The seventy recommendations were published in a report, titled Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda: Recommendations to President]elect Obama and Congress, which was endorsed by more than 300 individuals and organizations. The recommendations urged the new president and Congress to act quickly on a number of key government openness issues while encouraging a more systemic, longer-term approach to a variety of other transparency problems that plague the federal government. Included in the report were five specific recommendations the right-to-know community wanted action on within the first 100 days of the new administration. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24926
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OBAMA AT 100 DAYS -- REGULATORY REFORM
[SOURCE: OMB Watch, AUTHOR: ]
In November 2008, a group of 17 experts in regulatory policy released a report recommending that the incoming administration and the 111th Congress adopt a series of reforms aimed at improving the federal regulatory process. The authors believe these reforms are essential to fixing a system that has lost its ability to protect public health, safety, welfare, and environmental quality. The report, Advancing the Public Interest through Regulatory Reform, includes a chapter that contains recommendations for the new president's first 100 days in office. Overall, President Obama has set a positive tone on key regulatory components, such as transparency, scientific integrity, rolling back harmful deregulatory practices, and appointing well qualified people to top positions at major regulatory agencies. On other major regulatory fronts, it is either too soon to know what the administration plans, or there are reasons for concern about how the administration will address a regulatory process that is highly dysfunctional. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24925
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100 DAYS IN OBAMA TECH POLICY -- A SOLID B WITH STRONG UPSIDE
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Art Brodsky]
[Comentary] The Obama Internet and tech agenda came roaring out of the transition and Inauguration under a full head of steam. Now, it's more or less creeping along, bogged down and becalmed largely by circumstances beyond its control. It may be months before the Obama team regains its full-power tech policy mojo. It may be longer before they regain the tech chops that made the campaign such a juggernaut. And yet, there is reason to hope. The Obama team has only been officially on the job for 100 days, an artificial designation that Franklin D. Roosevelt would probably take back if he knew the pressure it would place on his successors. But, to follow tradition, we'll give the team a 100-day B, based on the vision, personnel and strong potential to do great things. [Art Brodsky is the communications director for Public Knowledge.]
http://benton.org/node/24924
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GRADING THE INTERNET PRESIDENT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Timothy Karr]
[Comentary] Those of us who focus on media and Internet policy were caught off guard in 2008 when a handful of presidential candidates started to talk about the media and not just through it. The problem of the media was mentioned in stump speeches in Silicon Valley and Palm Beach, Florida, and on whistle stops in between. But the campaign rhetoric went beyond the standard refrain about media bias to real discussions about the policy reforms that we need to make American media, and especially the Internet, much better. No one was more outspoken on the trail than then-candidate Barack Obama. Has President Obama lived up to his Internet and media campaign promises in his first 100 Days in office? President Obama has cleared a path to a more democratic, open and accessible media in America, writing Network Neutrality into the DNA of the Recovery Act. But it's only a start. With further leadership from the White House, we can create a media system that's right for the 21st century -- a time when the media is becoming more decentralized, participatory and people-powered.
http://benton.org/node/24923
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BUDGET/POLICYMAKERS
CONGRESS APPROVES OBAMA'S $3.4 TRILLION SPENDING BLUEPRINT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Lori Montgomery]
Congress yesterday easily approved a $3.4 trillion spending plan, setting the stage for President Barack Obama to pursue the first major overhaul of the nation's health-care system in a generation along with other far-reaching domestic initiatives. Despite a persistent recession and soaring budget deficits, lawmakers endorsed the President's request for hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending over the next decade for college loans, early childhood education programs, veterans' benefits and investments in renewable energy aimed at reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Lawmakers also agreed to use a powerful procedural tool known as reconciliation to advance the president's proposal to expand health coverage for the uninsured -- a move that ensures Republicans would not be able to filibuster the legislation. Unlike in 1993, when then-President Bill Clinton unveiled a universal coverage plan that went nowhere on Capitol Hill, President Obama has a strong mandate for change from both chambers of Congress and a mid-October deadline for key congressional committees to send legislation to the full House and Senate.
http://benton.org/node/24968
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FCC BUDGET REQUEST
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps testified before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Wednesday about the FCC's Fiscal Year 2010 budget. The FCC is requesting $335,794,000, which includes approximately $318 million to maintain current service levels, an increase of approximately $6 million over Fiscal Year 2009. This additional funding is needed to offset inflationary increases for salaries, benefits, leasing costs, utilities, and other contractual services. During Fiscal Year 2010, the FCC also proposes to take some necessary steps forward to modernize its technological infrastructure, for which it seeks $15 million. The FCC's aim is to 1) upgrade and integrate its IT systems to make its processes more transparent and easier for the public to access, 2) modernize the Commission's phone system to address present shortfalls that make it difficult, for instance, to route calls throughout the Commission's nationwide footprint, and 3) improve internal coordination and information sharing by its staff. The Commission is also requesting an additional $1 million to meet its staffing needs. Finally, the FCC is seeking $1 million to fund continued DTV efforts in Fiscal Year 2010.
http://benton.org/node/24939
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OBAMA TO NAME MIGNON CLYBURN AS FCC COMMISSIONER
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
President Barack Obama has decided to name Mignon Clyburn as a commissioner to the Federal Communications Commission, the White House said on Wednesday.
Clyburn has been a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission since 1998, involved in regulating the state's investor-owned public utilities, including telecommunications service providers
http://benton.org/node/24960
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TELECOM COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS RAISE UNIVERSAL BROADBAND ISSUES AT CABLE FORUM
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Andrew Feinberg]
Congress is unlikely to act on major broadband issues until after the August recess, aides to House and Senate committee chairs told attendees Tuesday at the American Cable Association summit. On the Senate side, no communications bills are likely to move except the Satellite Home Viewer Extension Reauthorization Act, which expires at year's end. Chairman Rockefeller hopes to hold confirmation hearings for FCC Chairman-designate Julius Genachowski and NTIA administrator Larry Strickling before Congress' Memorial Day recess. In the House, Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) is "singularly focused" on climate change legislation which -- along with health care reform -- will likely dominate the committee's agenda until the Memorial Day recess.
http://benton.org/node/24955
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THE STIMULUS
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: RURAL NETWORKS KEY TO INTERNET BUILDOUT
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
National Economic Council member and special assistant to President Barack Obama Susan Crawford said rural communications networks that connect to major Internet arteries will be key investments that will come from the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money. Telephone carriers and cable operators have said Obama's goal of blanketing the country with high-speed Internet can't be accomplished without significant investment in so-called "backhaul" networks that stretch to hard-to-reach communities. There is some debate, however, about whether those networks should be financed with government money or private-sector investments. Extending cable to rural communities can be prohibitively expensive for Internet carriers, which is why those areas tend to have few connectivity options. Speaking at a briefing sponsored by the Media Access Project, Crawford suggested that government investment in backhaul networks would allow "a variety of service providers" to offer Internet access in the "last mile" of connectivity in rural areas. Crawford said she is "fascinated" by Australia's recent announcement [see Building the Great Wall of Fiber] that it will spend some $30 billion to bring fiber networks to every home. Similar plans are being considered by the Netherlands and Singapore. "These governments understand that a wholesale network can deliver massive economic benefits," she said. "A digital economy requires fiber." A similar investment by the United States would cost several times more than the government has committed thus far.
http://benton.org/node/24959
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LEGISLATORS: DON'T FORGET URBAN UNDERSERVED WHEN DOLING OUR STIMULUS LOANS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Former House Telecommunications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) and a have dozen other members of the panel have written the heads of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Rural Utilities Service and the Federal Communications Commission saying they want to make sure that underserved urban areas are considered for broadband stimulus funds. "Specifically," they wrote, "we request that low-income urban populations be considered as potentially underserved populations when you and your agencies develop the broadband grant programs and finalize the requirements for these programs," arguing that affordability for low-income families should be factored into the definition of "underserved", even where there are "several different options for service." Joining Rep Markey are Reps Doris Matsui (D-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Michael Doyle (D-PA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Donna Christensen of the Virgin Islands, and Diana DeGette (D-CO).
http://benton.org/node/24958
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ACA DISCUSSES STIMULUS FUNDS AT SUMMIT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The American Cable Association, which represents 900-plus smaller and mid-sized cable operators, got right down to business Tuesday, getting insight on how to tap into billions in stimulus funds even before ACA President welcomed the group to its annual DC summit. Representatives of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration and the USDA's Rural Utilities Service, could only provide broad strokes. That is because they have yet to decide on just how they will hand out, and to whom, the $7.2 billion in economic stimulus grant/loan money they are overseeing. But they did say that they hoped to have the details hammered out and the first notice of funding availability (NOFA) ready by June, and at least some of the money handed out by fall. For its part, RUS will only give applicants 60 days after that NOFA to come back with their proposals. That's according to Mary Campanola of RUS, who said that she recognized that was not much time, and that there would probably be more time for responding to the second and third NOFAs. Tom Power, former FCC staffer and three weeks into his posting as a senior advisor to NTIA, also said he hoped to have some of the money out by fall, and acknowledged that it might be frustrating for operators not to have the details yet on how the grants will be given out.
http://benton.org/node/24957
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BROADBAND SPEED ABOUT LATENCY NOT BANDWIDTH
[SOURCE: App-Rising.com, AUTHOR: Geoff Daily]
[Commentary] Whenever anyone's talking about broadband they invariably refer to its speed, asking questions like how fast your service is. The answers are then given in terms of Kbps, Mbps, and Gbps. But in reality these measurements have nothing to do with speed. Instead they refer to bandwidth, which is more accurately described as carrying capacity. Think of it this way: Kbps equals a motorcycle, Mbps equals a car, and Gbps equals a semi-truck. All these vehicles can travel at roughly the same speed, but they each can carry a different amount of stuff. The importance of bandwidth becomes greater the heavier the files you need to transfer. Video, which are typically the heaviest files, requires the most bandwidth. And if your vehicle can't carry the whole thing then it needs to take it in pieces, which equates to when you have to wait for a video to download to start playing. So bandwidth does not equal speed, it equals capacity. But the speed of broadband does make a difference, and its quantified more directly by the measurement of latency, which tells you how much time it takes for a user's actions to make it through the network. There are multiple instances where the latency of a broadband connection matters. Not only does fiber have exponentially more bandwidth than other broadband technologies, it also features far lower latency.
http://benton.org/node/24956
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TEXAS SEEKS TO EXPAND BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY, CREATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
[SOURCE: Texas Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Texas Department of Agriculture is partnering with the Public Utility Commission and other agencies to gather information from broadband providers in an effort to extend broadband connectivity to all areas of Texas. The department will take input on strategies to identify and extend service to areas of the state that are underserved or unserved by broadband providers. Interested parties may access the Request For Information (RFI) by going to this Web site. The deadline for submitting responses to the RFI is May 15. The mapping initiative, and related deployment projects, may be implemented through the Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008, or the Reinvestment Act: Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24954
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TOUGH FIGHT AHEAD FOR SATELLITE SHARE FOR BROADBAND STIMULUS MONEY
[SOURCE: Satellite Today, AUTHOR: Jason Bates]
The $7.2 billion included for broadband stimulus in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is tantalizing to say the least, and the satellite industry seems to be a perfect fit to help meet the goals of expanding broadband connections to areas of the United States largely unserved by terrestrial means. But satellite players in the United States will face a fight for a share of the stimulus money. Terrestrial players will use their connections to convince lawmakers that they can use this funding to finally do what they haven't been doing for years — expand their offerings to unserved parts of the country.
http://benton.org/node/24953
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AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK SEEKS APPLICANTS FOR BROADBAND GRANTS IN RURAL AREAS
[SOURCE: Department of Agriculture, AUTHOR: Press release]
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for grants to bring broadband service to rural areas. State and local governments, corporations and Indian tribes are eligible to apply for grants from $50,000 to $1 million through USDA's Community Connect Grant Program, which was created to help rural residents tap into the tremendous potential of the Internet. Community Connect grants will bring state-of-the-art broadband services to some of America's most isolated and economically challenged communities. Applications are due by the close of business on June 19. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24952
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'MEANINGFUL USE' DEFINITION WILL SHAPE HEALTH IT AGENDA
[SOURCE: GovernmentHealthIT, AUTHOR: Mary Mosquera]
The forthcoming definition of the "meaningful use" of health information technology will set the direction of the Obama administration's strategy for health IT adoption, said David Blumenthal, the new national coordinator for health IT. In his first public remarks since taking over as national coordinator, Blumenthal emphasized the importance of deciding what health IT functions constitute meaningful use of the technology. Once that definition is set, providers must use the specified applications to qualify for health IT funding under the economic stimulus law. "The definition will inform everything that we do that is related to health IT," including product certification, funding and technical support, Blumenthal said during a meeting of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, an advisory panel to the Health and Human Services Department. "This is a complex job, but in some ways, the overall goals are simple," he added. Health IT is important for improving efficiency but more so for its ability to improve the quality of health care, he said.
http://benton.org/node/24951
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CONSUMERS SAY PRACTICAL TECHNOLOGY WILL IMPROVE FUTURE
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Jack Loechner]
A majority of consumers believe advanced technology could be the answer to many of the challenges the U.S. faces today, whether it is a stalled automobile industry, an ailing education system or expensive medical costs. Consumers are looking to technology to improve their lives and want very practical applications to solve their current problems. 73% of Americans believe that investing in innovation and advanced technology sciences in education is the key to the country's long term success. 71% of Americans said not only an investment but a leadership role in these technologies could mean survival for our auto industry, as they invest in hybrids and alternative fuels. 71% of adults believe that travel costs for businesses could be cut if technology such as video conferencing were better utilized. 67% support the use of technology to produce "green products and services." 67% want technology to manage medical records and patient care
http://benton.org/node/24950
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TRACKING HOW STIMULUS DOLLARS ARE TRACKED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ed O'Keefe]
A vocal cross section of technology experts, academics, good-government groups and federal employees weighed in this week on the future of Recovery.gov, the Obama administration's Web site that officials promise will eventually track every single dollar of the federal stimulus. Since the site's launch in late February, observers have raised concerns about its design, the technologies used and whether it will serve its promised purpose. At stake is the government's accounting of the $787 billion stimulus package and the administration's first big experiment in adapting technologies the Obama team successfully used during the 2008 presidential campaign to the task of government oversight.
http://benton.org/node/24965
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CYBERSECURITY
PANEL ADVISES CLARIFYING US PLANS ON CYBERWAR
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff, Thom Shanker]
The United States has no clear military policy about how the nation might respond to a cyberattack on its communications, financial or power networks, a panel of scientists and policy advisers warned Wednesday, and the country needs to clarify both its offensive capabilities and how it would respond to such attacks. The report, based on a three-year study by a panel assembled by the National Academy of Sciences, is the first major effort to look at the military use of computer technologies as weapons. The potential use of such technologies offensively has been widely discussed in recent years, and disruptions of communications systems and Web sites have become a standard occurrence in both political and military conflicts since 2000. The report, titled "Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities," concludes that the veil of secrecy that has surrounded cyberwar planning is detrimental to the country's military policy. The report's authors include Adm. William A. Owens, a former vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; William O. Studeman, former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Walter B. Slocombe, former under secretary of defense for policy. Scientists and cyberspecialists on the panel included Richard L. Garwin, an I.B.M. physicist.
http://benton.org/node/24966
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POLICYMAKERS DEBATE WHITE HOUSE'S ROLE IN CYBERSECURITY
[SOURCE: SC Magazine, AUTHOR: Angela Moscaritolo]
Lawmakers and public policy experts clashed Tuesday at a U.S. Senate committee hearing over whether cybersecurity control should be taken away from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and placed under the White House's purview. The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs heard testimony about whether an executive White House office in charge of cybersecurity coordination should be created, as recommended by the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency in December. That report said that a new National Office for Cyberspace (NOC), an executive White House office in charge of cybersecurity coordination, was essential for the United States. Many have praised the commission's recommendations, but Stewart Baker, former assistant secretary of the DHS said Tuesday that he questions how effective and efficient a reorganization of government cybersecurity coordination would be. James Lewis, director of Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the White House should serve as the coordination point for cybersecurity. Placing control of cybersecurity into an office at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is a message that the country is declaring cyberspace a critical asset that will be protected, he added.
http://benton.org/node/24947
See also:
Sen Collins questions White House control over cybersecurity
New cybersecurity bill for electric grid readied
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS DISCUSS TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Aliya Sternstein]
The preservation of information distributed on commercial content-sharing sites, such as blip.tv or the popular miniblog Twitter, is just one of the hurdles federal Web managers must confront in the era of online government, members of the White House's new media team said on Tuesday. To comply with records management policies, some agencies are not distributing any content on social media applications unless it also is on their Web sites, said Bev Godwin, director of online resources and interagency development at the White House, during a discussion of technology challenges at the annual Web content managers' conference in Washington. But such content -- for example Twitter entries -- often is difficult to reproduce verbatim in a format that doesn't look out of place on government Web sites.
http://benton.org/node/24944
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GAO: MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT OF IT PROJECTS NEED ATTENTION
[SOURCE: Government Accountability Office, AUTHOR: David Powner]
In testimony before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, GAO reports progress implementing several initiatives aimed at improving oversight and transparency of federal IT investments, but as GAO previously reported and recommended, more attention needs to be placed on improving these initiatives. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24943
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OPM CHIEF THINKS TELECOMMUTING HAS NICE RING TO IT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Joe Davidson]
Deep inside the current swine flu scare, there may be a silver lining for federal employees -- greater acceptance of telework in musty bureaucracies. Although increased telecommuting has been a federal workplace goal for many years, statistics show a difference between theory and practice. Part of the problem has been managers who are reluctant to approve at-home working arrangements because they can't see -- which really means they don't trust -- staffers who aren't in their cubicles. John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, wants to change that mind-set. And the swine flu emergency provides a timely, if unfortunate, backdrop to showcase the need for agencies to continue government operations if circumstances make working in the office risky. Saying "I'm here to put some giddyap into telework," Berry yesterday announced a plan to boost telecommuting by federal employees.
http://benton.org/node/24964
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JOURNALISM
CAN NEWS ONLINE REALIZE PROFIT?
[SOURCE: Miami Herald, AUTHOR: Edward Wasserman]
[Commentary] Can journalism continue to happen if there's no money for it? That's a real question right now, as the news business grapples for a way to cope with a craven new world where neither readers nor advertisers will pay what they've traditionally paid for what journalists do. One possibility that seems increasingly likely is both worrying and, in a strange way, reassuring: The decline of journalism as something that's done mainly by professionals who make a living from it. Instead, I think we're beginning to see the rise of the Op-Ed model: More and more news sites that look and feel like the contribution-fed, opinion pages of today's daily newspaper. The work is produced not by staff members but by outside people with some knowledge of a topic. They're not paid much if at all, and their work is assigned, steered and made presentable by full-time editors employed in-house. This model goes beyond aggregation sites, such as the Drudge Report, which summarize and link to news published elsewhere, or blogs like Daily Kos and Instapundit, which are built around opinion. It's also a big step beyond crowd-sourcing, in which civilians roll up their sleeves and start unearthing information to feed staff reporters -- the kind of powerful input that helped the Fort Myers News-Press expose utility overcharges and Talking Points Memo make sense of the firings of eight of U.S. attorneys and force Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation.
http://benton.org/node/24942
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USC STUDY: PACE OF ONLINE NEWSPAPER READERSHIP ACCELERATING
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Jennifer Saba]
The time spent reading newspapers online has increased greatly while the pace of online readership has accelerated, according to new findings from the Center for the Digital Future at USC's Annenberg School for Communications. The study reported that Internet users read online newspapers for 53 minutes per week in 2008, up from 41 minutes per week in 2007. "The most significant trend about how Americans are changing their news reading habits may be found in comparing the use of online media by light users versus heavy users," Jeffrey I. Cole, the director of the Center for the Digital Future, said in a statement. "Heavy Internet users spent 65 more minutes per week reading online newspapers than do light readers." As users get more comfortable reading newspapers on the Web, they are also dropping their print subscriptions. Twenty-two percent of Internet users said they no longer pay for print newspapers or magazines because they could access that content online for free. The change in readership habits has happened more swiftly than expected.
http://benton.org/node/24941
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BROADCASTING
RADIO STATIONS PLAYING SAME OLD SONGS
[SOURCE: Future of Music Coalition, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Future of Music Coalition analyzed radio playlists to determine whether the Federal Communications Commission's policy interventions resulting from 2003-2007 payola investigations have had any effect on the amount of independent music played on terrestrial radio. The data indicate almost no change in station playlist composition. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/24934
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RADIO GIANT FACES CRISIS IN CASH FLOW
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Geraldine Fabrikant]
It is too soon to say who will be the biggest loser among media companies in this recession. But Clear Channel Communications is vying for the title. Clear Channel, the nation's largest radio station operator and an outdoor billboard company, last year became the biggest leveraged buyout ever in the media business, after it was taken private by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. Now its revenues are plunging and so is its cash flow, making it harder to meet the payments on the billions in debt accumulated in the process of buying out its public investors. If it violates some of its loan agreements, those interest payments rise sharply. Bishop Cheen, who follows corporate bonds for Wachovia, wrote recently that Clear Channel was on track to become the biggest default among media companies and therefore the biggest workout ever in the industry. The company's options may be limited. Many financially pressed concerns have been able to persuade creditors to exchange debt for equity and thus avoid a default and a bankruptcy filing. At Clear Channel, getting creditors to go along with such a plan could be tough because the original deal was fraught with so much ill will, including an unusual court fight.
http://benton.org/node/24962
See also:
Clear Channel Radio Axes Corporate Marketing
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NAB AUGMENTS RADIO 'TAX' LOBBYING BLITZ
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
The National Association of Broadcasters is ratcheting up its lobbying blitz against legislation currently moving through the House and Senate that the trade group believes would cost jobs and kill off local radio stations' offerings. The bill, which would end AM and FM stations' exemption from paying copyright royalty fees to performers of the songs that grace their airwaves, is being targeted in a series of new advertisements in the Washington Metrorail system.
http://benton.org/node/24933
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PANEL DEBATES FUTURE OF TELEVISION
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Peter Caranicas]
They have looked into the crystal ball of television's future. Their verdict: cloudy. What kind of content will continue to work on TV and what will migrate to the Internet was an underlying theme during a panel at the OnHollywood conference Tuesday. Speaking separately at the same event, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington warned that attempts to protect TV content by controlling access to it simply won't work. "Promiscuity is the new exclusivity," she said. The key to monetizing online content, she told Variety, is to embed sites with links to video content. "These drive traffic to your site, which in turn drives advertising."
http://benton.org/node/24936
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