June 2011

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JUNE 01, 2011

Busy agenda today http://benton.org/calendar/2011-06-01/

AT&T/T-MOBILE
   FCC hears from AT&T supporters, opponents
   MMTC Endorses AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
   FCC Has No Choice but to Reject AT&T Takeover of T-Mobile - press release
   MAP Challenges AT&T/T-Mobile Transaction - press release
   Public Knowledge and Future of Music Coalition Tell FCC To Reject AT&T Takeover of T-Mobile - press release
   Sprint Files Opposition to AT&T/T-Mobile at FCC
   FCC Asks AT&T for Pricing, Spectrum Data [links to web]
   The jobs impact of a telecommunications investment
   AT&T Gets Chance To Fire Back At Critics In FCC Filings
   AT&T ramps up lobby for proposed T-Mobile merger
   AT&T enriches lawmakers' pet charities

MORE ON SPECTRUM/WIRELESS
   House GOP sees jobs in wireless broadband
   Qualcomm Calls Incentive Auctions Win-Win-Win-Win
   NAB: Reducing Spectrum Holdings Will Diminish Service
   Android Smartphones Consume More Data. Here’s Why. - analysis [links to web]
   LightSquared Considering Deal With AT&T for Capacity [links to web]
   Federal government loosens its grip on the BlackBerry [links to web]
   Cellphones 'Possibly Carcinogenic,' WHO Panel Says [links to web]
   Samsung demands to see Apple's next-gen iPhone, iPad [links to web]
   Five ways readers are using iPads in the classroom [links to web]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Comcast's "Internet Essentials" offers Low-Cost High-Speed Broadband, Subsidized Computers
   White House defends cybersecurity plan
   Why Internet Policy Matters [links to video]
   Why Chattanooga Represents Broadband’s Future - op-ed [links to web]
   Can Twitter Survive the British Privacy Onslaught? [links to web]
   10 Signs Web-Based Sharing Is Reaching a Tipping Point - analysis [links to web]

PRIVACY
   EPIC gets part of Google settlement
   HHS announces proposed changes to HIPAA Privacy Rule [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Chairmen Upton, Walden Urge FCC to Finally Remove “Fairness Doctrine” from Rulebooks
   CEA: Consumer Tuning Out Over-the-Air TV
   ACA Asks FCC to End Retransmission 'Price Fixing' [links to web]
   FTC Targets Cash Flow Infomercial [links to web]
   Former senator Gordon Smith changes channel on TV’s woes [links to web]

POLICYMAKERS
   President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate John Bryson as Department of Commerce Secretary
   Why Obama Nominated NRDC Cofounder John Bryson As Commerce Secretary - analysis [links to web]
   Professor Jonathan Zittrain will be FCC Distinguished Scholar - press release [links to web]
   White House adviser on technology and innovation Phil Weiser named CU law dean - press release [links to web]
   Former senator Gordon Smith changes channel on TV’s woes [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   US Presses to Rein In Web Gadgets in New Cars [links to web]
   Lagardère seen as digital doorway for Hearst [links to web]
   Twitter jitters sweep Capitol Hill [links to web]
   California Assembly OKs bill to tax online retailers [links to web]
   Deadly Storms Top the News - research [links to web]
   The NewMe Accelerator: Helping Minority Startups Get the Right Start [links to web]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Toward a New World Media Order - op-ed
   Egypt’s Military Censors Critics as It Faces More Scrutiny

back to top

AT&T/T-MOBILE

AT&T/T-MOBILE FILINGS AT FCC
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
AT&T's proposed acquisition gave rise to a stark set of arguments filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on May 31 in the first official deadline of a review process that could extend well over a year. If not an occasion for novel insights about the deal, which has already faced the gamut of arguments during public debate, the deadline still marks an important opportunity for opponents and supporters to officially log their opinions with federal regulators after sounding off in the press and on Capitol Hill for several weeks. That means an array of groups lining up on each side, ranging from blatant front groups funded by the dominant players to significant voices whose opinions could be persuasive in the review process. Anyone who files a petition to deny the deal becomes a part of the proceeding and may have access to confidential information that is filed under a protective order. Microsoft, for instance, decided to file in favor of the merger in what could be an important counter argument to concerns that the merger could harm the tech industry. Meanwhile, the leading opponents included public interest groups, third-largest wireless carrier Sprint and regional carriers. The groups say the deal could raise prices by eliminating a low-cost competitor.
benton.org/node/72706 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MMTC ENDORSES AT&T/T-MOBILE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) has endorsed the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, the first time in its quarter-century history it has endorsed any merger, saying it does so through the "prism" of securing equal opportunities for minorities in the media. MMTC says it has done its due diligence on the deal, will monitor evidence and reserves the right to "modify" its position if it is wrong, but that given the public interest benefits it has identified, the merger is needed to ease capacity constraints that could drive up prices and hurt adoption, particularly for minority consumers. It also pointed out that the NAACP also supports the deal. MMTC says the deal would be a short-term solution that "would buy the nation the time it needs to implement a long-term cure for the spectrum crunch through such mechanisms as spectrum incentive auctions and repurposing of some government spectrum." MMTC also argues that the deal will extend AT&T's diversity hiring practices and "neutrality toward unionization." AT&T has made the point to legislators that it is the only unionized work force among the major carriers. In a conference call with reporters, MMTC President David Honig said that while AT&T supported MMTC's latest conference with a $100,000 sponsorship, the company did not provide any funds in connection with its support of the deal and added that MMTC would have rejected such funds if it had.
benton.org/node/72668 | Broadcasting&Cable | MMTC
Recommend this Headline
back to top

FREE PRESS COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Press release]
Free Press filed with the Federal Communications Commission a petition to deny AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile. Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:
“Make no mistake: AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile will cost jobs, stifle innovation and kill competition in the wireless market, sticking consumers with the bill. The FCC’s mandate is to ensure this merger is in the public interest, and thus it has no choice but to block the deal. This new mobile behemoth would have unprecedented control over the market reminiscent of the old Ma Bell monopoly – except this new company will be even more enormous. A combined AT&T, along with Verizon, would control nearly 80 percent of the wireless market, with free reign to squash competitors and limit consumer choice. It would be like if ExxonMobile merged with BP, Shell, Chevron-Texaco and Citgo, and then forced you to sign a contract to buy only Exxon’s gas for the next two years. AT&T and T-Mobile vastly overstate the purported benefits of this transaction. Eliminating a significant competitor from the wireless market obviously harms competition, and to argue otherwise is pure nonsense. Moreover, the two companies do not need to merge to achieve the capacity or build-out gains they claim this merger would set in motion. Worse still, the deal would eliminate American jobs in the midst of one of the worst recessions our country has ever experienced. This outcome may be a good deal in the short-term for the executives and shareholders of these two companies, but it’s a raw deal for the American public. The FCC must reject this merger.”
benton.org/node/72705 | Free Press | read the Free Press filing
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MAP COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Media Access Project, AUTHOR: Press release]
AT&T seeks approval of a transaction which would effectively create a duopoly in the mobile wireless market. Removing T-Mobile, the most aggressive and feisty of the four nationwide carriers, as a competitor, would enable AT&T to stifle innovation, increase prices, and decrease choices for wireless customers – especially wireless broadband users. These negative impacts of the proposed acquisition would harm all consumers and harm the public interest in general.
Moreover, the merger likely would cause the most harm to traditionally unserved and underserved populations, including members of communities of color and rural residents, who rely to an even greater degree on affordable and innovative wireless broadband service offerings to access the Internet and partake in its benefits. It would also interfere with the development of new avenues for creative expression. This would be especially harmful to independent creators and others who use the Internet, and increasingly, use mobile wireless broadband access thereto, to create and distribute all manner of video programming and other types of artistic works and political expression.
T-Mobile is a classic example of a “maverick firm.” Its ads directly and forcefully challenge AT&T by name. It has been a technological innovator, introducing breakthrough products like the Sidekick. It was the first adopter of the Android operating system. It is, by far, the pricing leader among the four national wireless companies. Antitrust law recognizes that such “maverick firms” are disproportionately important in highly concentrated markets because they have strong incentives not to model their business practices on those of the dominant companies. Thus, eliminating T-Mobile would be particularly valuable to AT&T and Verizon.
benton.org/node/72703 | Media Access Project
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Press release]
AT&T and T-Mobile failed to prove why they should be allowed to merge, even failing to meet their own public-interest standards, according to Public Knowledge and the Future of Music Coalition.
In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the groups said that a merged company would be “contrary to the express policies of Congress and the Commission to rely on competition rather than regulation to protect consumers and spur deployment of new services.” The merged entity would be able to assert control over handsets, applications, equipment and protocol development, telco and tower equipment, conditions on retailers and mobile commerce while at the same time having dominant control over ancillary areas such as special access, video program distribution, enterprise data and intercarrier compensation.
Noting the struggles that Apple had in getting AT&T to accept the iPhone, PK and FOMC said, “Device manufacturers with less clout than Apple have even dimmer prospects for innovation in an even more concentrated market.”
benton.org/node/72702 | Public Knowledge
Recommend this Headline
back to top

SPRINT COMMENTS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Eliza Krigman]
Federal regulators face a stark choice on AT&T’s $39 billion bid to acquire T-Mobile: Say no and preserve today’s competitive market structure or approve it and put the nation on the path toward a duopoly. That’s the principle message from Sprint’s petition to deny AT&T’s proposed marriage to T-Mobile. Parties interested in formally opposing the deal must file such petitions at the FCC by the end of May 31. In a 377-page filing, Sprint, the leading foe of the wireless mega-deal, paints a grim scenario for the future of the wireless market if the deal gets approved. If AT&T succeeds, “the Twin Bells’ market dominance would dwarf Sprint, the sole remaining national carrier, and the rest of the wireless industry, thereby creating an entrenched, anti-competitive duopoly,” Sprint wrote. While many of Sprint’s arguments against the deal have been trumpeted already, its petition includes new analyses and challenges to claims that AT&T has made with respect to the deal. The public interest benefits of the transaction that AT&T has claimed, such as relieving network congestion, are illusory, Sprint argues. “If AT&T has capacity constraints, they are the result of its failure to upgrade and invest in its network,” Sprint wrote. Further, Sprint claims that AT&T could deliver broadband to 97 percent of the country — the most widely touted benefit of the deal — by spending a fraction of the $39 billion AT&T plans to pay for T-Mobile. “In the absence of the proposed transaction, competition likely will drive AT&T to reach” the 97 percent target anyway, Sprint posits.
benton.org/node/72700 | Politico | Sprint | Reuters | Bloomberg | ars technica | GigaOm | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: Economic Policy Institute, AUTHOR: Ethan Pollack]
AT&T and T-Mobile claim that AT&T's purchase will result in an $8 billion net increase in AT&T’s investment in its domestic wireless infrastructure over seven years. Given Economic Policy Institute's job impact analysis, a plausible range of impact would be between 55,000 and 96,000 job-years. To reiterate, the jobs estimate includes both direct jobs within the primary industries that meet the additional demand for goods and services and supplier jobs in the secondary industries that supply those primary industries with intermediate goods and services. The estimate also includes “induced jobs” created as incomes earned by newly hired workers are spent back into the economy. The figures are again listed as job-years, which refer to a job held for a single year.
benton.org/node/72666 | Economic Policy Institute
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T GETS TO FIRE BACK
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Josh Smith]
Critics of AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile have flooded inboxes at the Federal Communications Commission, but AT&T now gets a turn to officially fire back. AT&T and its supporters have until June 10th to respond to petitions to deny the transaction and convince federal regulators that the deal should go forward. "Today, we'll begin to see evidence of the strong public support our merger has generated - and it is perhaps the broadest, deepest range of public interest support ever filed at the FCC in support of any transaction," wrote AT&T vice president Jim Cicconi in a blog post. He said support for the merger has only been growing.
benton.org/node/72731 | National Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T RAMPS UP LOBBYING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Deep-pocketed AT&T is just starting its campaign to win approval of its purchase of T-Mobile. AT&T argues that the merger would allow U.S. homes to get access to wireless high-speed Internet service sooner than without the deal. “Strong support for the AT&T-T-Mobile merger has been voiced by dozens of community, civic and minority organizations, 14 governors, multiple labor unions and elected officials,” AT&T spokesman Michael Balmoris said.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T spent $6.8 million in the first three months of 2011 to hire lobbying shops and lawyers, who in large part are making the case to federal officials to approve the deal. AT&T’s lobbying expenditures are the third-largest among companies and trade groups so far this year, the center’s figures showed. The company is on track to spend more than the $15 million it paid lobbyists in 2010 to argue against policies such as Internet access rules and cellphone billing regulation.
Aside from money spent directly on lobbying government officials, industry observers say, AT&T is receiving support from several political leaders, trade groups and organizations such as the NAACP and at least one affiliate of the National Urban League. All have direct financial ties to the telecom giant. Among the 14 governors listed by AT&T as supporters of the proposed merger is Bobby Jindal (R) of Louisiana. AT&T is a key sponsor of the Supriya Jindal Foundation, a charity of the governor’s wife.
The FCC has received about 300 letters of support for AT&T. Several stand out:
AT&T-sponsored Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce urged the FCC to quickly approve the deal, saying that as a group “striving to create bridges between cultures, we look forward to the foundation that this merger will create and the opportunities that it will give the public.”
The Urban League of Portland sent a similar letter to the FCC, saying the merger could help minorities gain faster access to broadband through a more robust, combined company. AT&T donated $125,000 to $249,999 last year to the National Urban League’s annual convention, the group said on its Web site.
“When you are as big as AT&T, you try to make as many friends as you can get,” said Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign, a lobbying and political finance reform group. “Its strength is its size, and this is the approach by other big companies, not just in telecom.”
benton.org/node/72734 | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

AT&T ENRICHES LAWMAKERS' PET CHARITIES
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: John Bresnahan]
AT&T has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years to charities affiliated with top lawmakers — several of whom oversee telecom policy — as part of a broader effort by the company to win favor on Capitol Hill. These relationships, which cross party lines in both chambers, could prove valuable for the Dallas-based telecom giant as it seeks federal approval of its $39 billion merger with T-Mobile. The resulting company would be by far the largest wireless provider in the United States. AT&T’s money has flowed to charities connected to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV); Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MI), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 House Democrat. Mignon Clyburn, his daughter, is a member of the Federal Communications Commission. Rep Clyburn said he “does not discuss the business of the FCC with my daughter Mignon.” While the charitable donations are legal and must be publicly disclosed, watchdog groups have criticized such gifts as a loophole that allows big companies to influence lawmakers by pumping money into their personal charities.
benton.org/node/72732 | Politico
Recommend this Headline
back to top

MORE ON SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

GOP SPECTRUM MEMO
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sara Jerome]
The House Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing on spectrum policy June 1. A Republican staff memo in advance of the hearing strongly backs the notion that freeing up airwaves will create jobs. "Additional spectrum for wireless broadband will produce needed jobs in America. The buildout of wireless networks requires workers from a wide range o education and skill levels. Construction and maintenance of wireless networks is a capital-intensive venture," the memo said. The memo cites the large sums wireless companies have invested in infrastructure, placing the figure at $310 billion over the last 25 years. "From the high-tech design and production of the network, to the building of towers, and installation of equipment, American workers at all levels of the economy are beneficiaries of increased investment in wireless networks," it said. "There is also, of course, the less tangible but no less real economic benefits from increased productivity, as well as the creation of entirely new and innovative businesses," the memo said.
benton.org/node/72699 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

QUALCOMM TESTIMONY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Wireless technology company Qualcomm tells Congress that voluntary incentive auctions will be a win-win-win-win proposition. According to written testimony for a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on incentive auctions, the winners will be broadcasters and other sellers, wireless companies who buy the spectrum and would not be able to get enough spectrum by negotiating with each broadcaster individually, the Federal Treasury which will get "significant revenues," and the American public, which wants mobile devices that work whenever and wherever they want them to. Qualcomm VP, government affairs, Dean Brenner, who is scheduled to deliver that testimony at the hearing, says that the private sector can help and is helping by deploying new technologies and address the spectrum crunch -- the FCC predicts 2014 mobile data traffic could be 35 times 2009 levels -- and that the government is working to free up under-utilized government spectrum. But he says there still need to be voluntary incentive auctions to get access to more licensed spectrum currently in broadcaster hands.
benton.org/node/72724 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

NAB TESTIMONY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The National Association of Broadcasters has lined up a broadcast witness with a multiplatform resume to pitch the continued importance of broadcasting in that mix, including making the point that if there is a spectrum auction, they need to be able to set a reserve price, to collect their money, and to be confident that those who remain will not face future Federal Communications Commission efforts to move them off. Broadcasters also want Congress to know that there will be an inevitable diminution of service from reducing their spectrum holdings, no matter what broadcaster protections are placed on the move. According to the written testimony of Todd Schurz, president of Schurz Communications, for a June 1 House Communications Subcommittee hearing on spectrum and incentive auctions, his company owns TV stations, cable systems, newspapers and is invested in 4G wireless. He is even a founding member of the Mobile 500 Alliance promoting mobile DTV, yet another potential platform for news and info. Through that prism of experience, Schurz still sees a rainbow of opportunity for broadcasters if the FCC does not put a damper on that vision. He also sees his company continuing to use its spectrum to serve the public "long after any auctions take place," if Congress authorizes them.
benton.org/node/72723 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

INTERNET/BROADBAND

COMCAST'S INTERNET ESSENTIALS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Comcast's David Cohen and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel visited a city library as part of the ceremonial kick-off of the Internet Essentials program, part of Comcast's pledge to the Federal Communications Commission in order to secure its joint venture with NBCU. The nation's largest cable operators promised to provide low-cost Internet access and subsidized computer equipment to homes with children who qualified for the National School Lunch Program. Eligible households can start signing up this summer for the program, which launches with the 2011-2012 school year at the end of August or beginning of September, depending on the school district. The program provides XFINITY economy service for $9.95 per month with no activation or rental charges, a computer for $149.99 plus taxes if applicable, and digital literacy training.
benton.org/node/72687 | Broadcasting&Cable
Recommend this Headline
back to top

DEFENDING CYBERSECURITY PLAN
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Gautham Nagesh]
The White House is pushing back against reported criticism of its cybersecurity plan by US Chamber of Commerce. "Our proposal strikes a critical balance between strengthening security, preserving privacy and civil liberties protections, and fostering continued economic growth," said White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro. "The Chamber's draft document certainly misinterprets some of the administration's thinking and we are confident that those misinterpretations will be fixed as we continue ongoing conversations with the Chamber on this important issue," Shapiro said.
benton.org/node/72697 | Hill, The
Recommend this Headline
back to top

PRIVACY

EPIC GETS GOOGLE SETTLEMENT
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Dan Levine]
US District Judge James Ware approved a class action settlement over Google's Buzz social network, and awarded $500,000 to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) which filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission last year, saying Buzz threatened the privacy of Gmail users. Although EPIC had previously been left out of the proposed deal, Judge Ware wrote that there was no good cause to exclude EPIC from the settlement. "EPIC has demonstrated that it is a well-established and respected organization within the field of Internet privacy," Judge Ware wrote. EPIC had originally requested $1.75 million. The settlement also includes money for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the YMCA of Greater Long Beach, among other groups.
benton.org/node/72695 | Reuters
Recommend this Headline
back to top

TELEVISION

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE LETTER
[SOURCE: House of Representatives Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep Greg Walden (R-OR)]
House Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) sent a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission to remove the Fairness Doctrine rules from the Code of Federal Regulations. The Fairness Doctrine has been deemed unconstitutional by the FCC itself, and has long been viewed as a threat to free speech.
“Despite the FCC’s determination not to enforce the Fairness Doctrine, Commissioner McDowell recently discovered that it still remains in the Code of Federal Regulations,” wrote Upton and Walden. “Further research has revealed that the political-editorial and personal-attack rules also remain intact despite the FCC’s decision to repeal them. The media marketplace is more diverse and competitive today than it was ten years ago when the D.C. Circuit struck down the Commission’s political-editorial and personal-attack rules. The difference is even more stark when compared to the market twenty years ago when the Commission concluded that the Fairness Doctrine was unconstitutional.”
Earlier this year, President Obama called on federal agencies to review existing regulations, paying particular attention to outdated regulations that remain on the books. Although independent agencies like the FCC are not technically required to comply with the administration's Executive Order on regulatory relief, FCC Chairman Genachowski has indicated that he intends to abide by the spirit of the administration's policy. Upton and Walden concluded their letter by calling on Chairman Genachowski to remove the Fairness Doctrine and related political-editorial and personal-attack rules from the Code of Federal Regulations.
The committee leaders requested a written confirmation by June 3 that the FCC will finally wipe these outdated rules from the books as soon as possible.
benton.org/node/72689 | House of Representatives Commerce Committee | The Hill | B&C
Recommend this Headline
back to top

CONSUMERS TUNING OUT OVER-THE-AIR
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: ]
New research from the Consumer Electronics Association finds consumers are relying less and less on over-the-air TV signals and few U.S. households have interest in canceling their pay-TV service. In a phone survey of 1,256 adults conducted in December 2010, CEA found the number of homes that rely on over-the-air signals for TV programming plummeted last year to 8% of all U.S. households with TVs. Over-the-air TV viewing has been steadily declining since 2005, according to CEA’s research. “Over-the-air TV was once the defining distribution platform,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA president-CEO. “But using huge swaths of wireless spectrum to deliver TV to homes no longer makes economic sense. Congress should pass legislation to allow for incentive auctions so free market dynamics can find the best purposes for underused broadcast spectrum, such as wireless broadband.” The study also found that pay-TV providers face little threat of their customers canceling their service in favor of over-the-air broadcast TV and Internet video. Seventy-six percent of respondents said they were unlikely or very unlikely to cancel pay-TV service. By contrast, just 10% of households said they were likely or very likely to cancel pay-TV service.
benton.org/node/72726 | TVNewsCheck | CEA
Recommend this Headline
back to top

POLICYMAKERS

BRYSON TAPPED FOR COMMERCE
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: Press release]
President Obama will nominate John Bryson as the Secretary of Department of Commerce. Bryson will play a key role as a member of the President’s economic team, bringing decades of knowledge and experience in the public and private sectors, and will provide valuable ideas and initiatives to strengthen America’s competiveness around the world. John Bryson was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison and Edison Mission Group, from 1990 to 2008.
He is a director of The Boeing Company, The Walt Disney Company and Coda Automotive, Inc., and is a senior advisor to KKR. He is chairman of the board of BrightSource Energy, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) Board of Overseers. He also serves as co-chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy (PCIP).
Bryson is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology and a director of The California Endowment and the W. M. Keck Foundation. He serves on the Advisory Board of Deutsche Bank Americas. He also previously served on a number of educational and environmental boards, including as chairman of the California Business Roundtable, co-chairman of the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), trustee of Stanford University, and as a member of the U.N. Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC).
Bryson also served as president of the California Public Utilities Commission, chairman of the California State Water Resources Control Board, and on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. At the start of his career, he was a co-founder and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national and international environmental group. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.
benton.org/node/72669 | White House, The | Associated Press | Washington Post
Recommend this Headline
back to top

STORIES FROM ABROAD

NEW WORLD MEDIA ORDER
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Li Congjun]
[Commentary] The rules governing the international media order lag behind the times, especially compared to changes in politics and economics. The gap is seen, first and foremost, in the extremely uneven pattern of international communication. The flow of information is basically one-way: from West to East, North to South, and from developed to developing countries. In 1980, the 21st General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) addressed the imbalance and inequality in international news reporting and called for a new order in international mass communication. Over the years, a growing number of insightful people, including many from the West, have proposed changes with the conviction that the existing order is far from just, rational and balanced.
Four principles should guide changes in the value system:
Fairness: This requires that media organizations from all countries should have the right to participate in international communication on equal terms. Those media organizations in turn should provide comprehensive, objective, fair, balanced and accurate coverage to minimize discrimination and prejudice.
All-win: It is advisable to create conditions allowing media organizations from different countries to share the fruits of development in information and communication industries, to play an active role in international mass communication, and to reverse the unbalanced situation where the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker.
Inclusion: To maintain the world's diversity, media must respect the unique cultures, customs, beliefs and values of different nations; strive to dispel suspicions and remove barriers between different cultures and civilizations; enhance dialogue and communication; and seek common ground while putting aside differences.
Responsibility: Media organizations should not only ensure openness and transparency to promote the building of an open society, but also keep to rational and constructive rules so as to turn mass communication into an active force for promoting social progress.
[Li is president of China's Xinhua News Agency.]
benton.org/node/72714 | Wall Street Journal
Recommend this Headline
back to top

EGYPT, THE MILITARY AND THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Kirkpatrick]
The Egyptian military — facing public criticism for torturing demonstrators and admitting that it forced some female detainees to undergo “virginity tests” — is pressing the Egyptian news media to censor harsh criticism of it and protect its image. The military’s intervention concerns some human rights advocates who say they are worried that such efforts could make it harder for politicians to scrutinize the military and could possibly undermine attempts to bring it under civilian control or investigate charges of corruption. In recent weeks military authorities have sent letters warning news organizations to review any discussion of the military before publication or broadcast. A military court has also sentenced a blogger to three years in prison for what it called persistent attacks, and it has charged an outspoken liberal presidential candidate with libeling a general and insulting the military. Military authorities have summoned many journalists and bloggers to headquarters for questioning about their reports and sources.
benton.org/node/72713 | New York Times
Recommend this Headline
back to top