July 2012

OWNERSHIP

SUPREME COURT REJECTS MEDIA OWNERSHIP APPEAL
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
The Supreme Court has turned down an appeal by media companies of government restrictions on the ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, leaving the rules in place and sending the contentious issue once again back to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC is in the midst of its periodic review of media ownership rules, which broadcasters and news organizations have argued are outdated in the Internet era. The agency relaxed some of the rules in 2007, after the last review. But an appeals court tossed out the looser regulations, which largely applied to the top 20 U.S. markets, saying the FCC hadn't followed proper procedures in making the changes. The Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear an appeal of that lower court ruling by Media General, the National Association of Broadcasters, Tribune Company (which owns the Los Angeles Times and KTLA-TV Channel 5) and other media companies. Media General, Tribune and the broadcasters said they were disappointed. But both sides in the case had thought it unlikely the high court would accept an appeal that revolved around procedural issues. Since 1975, the FCC has banned so-called cross-ownership of newspapers and TV and radio stations in the same city. But it frequently has granted waivers. Media companies had argued to the Supreme Court that the rules were no longer needed because people have many more ways to access news. But public interest groups said the increased demand for wireless spectrum by telecommunications companies made media ownership rules important to preserving diverse voices on the public airwaves. "The public still gives broadcasters exclusive use of this finite and valuable resource free of charge, as well as other important privileges, in exchange for certain, reasonable commitments," said the Prometheus Radio Project and other groups that had challenged the FCC's 2007 loosening of the rules.
benton.org/node/128010 | Los Angeles Times | AP | Crain’s Chicago Business
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ROCKEFELLER SAYS BIG TECH COMPANIES ACTING LIKE STANDARD OIL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said that technology companies like Apple, Google and Facebook are behaving like his family's old company, Standard Oil, which the federal government broke up in the early 1900s in a landmark antitrust case. Speaking to reporters after a Senate hearing on privacy, Chairman Rockefeller, the great-grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, said President Teddy Roosevelt "did exactly what he should have done" by going after the oil giant. But he said the instinct to build anti-competitive monopolies is "alive and well in the United States … with a lot of these big computer companies." "Some of them are larger than the law — or at least they think they are," Chairman Rockefeller said.
benton.org/node/128012 | Hill, The
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NEWS CORP SPLIT, BUFFETT’S BET TOP YEAR OF BIG MEDIA OWNERSHIP CHANGES
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
In May, 2012 Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Company announced the purchase of 63 newspapers, including 23 dailies, from the debt-ridden Media General Company. The transaction was a course reversal for Buffett, who earlier had said he wouldn't buy newspapers, and created a major new player in the industry. It also left Media General-whose history with newspapers dates back to the mid-1800's-with only one remaining daily, the Tampa Tribune, which many predict it will still try to sell. The purchase, seen as a rare vote of confidence in a struggling industry, also capped a period of intense change in U.S. newspaper ownership. In the last 18 months many better known newspaper companies divested most or all of their holdings while a number of new entities, including hedge funds and private equity firms, jumped in. According to the investment banking firm of Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, which monitors newspaper transactions, a total of 71 daily newspapers were sold as part of 11 different transactions during 2011, the busiest year for sales since 2007. And newspapers were not the only media to undergo major changes. The last 18 months also saw local television sales reach new heights, the merging of Newsweek and the Daily Beast, Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, the Huffington Post's movement into web TV and further reach among U.S. broadcast companies into the Hispanic market. The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism has compiled a new interactive database to help users make sense of the changes at the highest levels.
benton.org/node/127995 | Project for Excellence in Journalism
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NEWS CORP SPLIT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dawn Chmielewski]
News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch outlined plans to split the media conglomerate's publishing and entertainment operations into two publicly traded companies. Under the plan, the media and entertainment company would comprise 20th Century Fox film studio, the Fox broadcast network, and the company's cable TV group, which includes Fox News and FX. The online television service Hulu -- partly owned by News Corp. -- would also be included, as would the company's home satellite operations. The global publishing company would consist of News Corp.'s newspaper holdings, among them the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, the Sun in Britain, as well as its HarperCollins book publishing group. Murdoch would serve as chairman and chief executive of the media and entertainment company, and as chairman of the new publishing entity. News Corp. chief operating officer Chase Carey would continue in that capacity for the entertainment business.
benton.org/node/127671 | Los Angeles Times
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INSIDE MURDOCH’S DECISION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Merissa Marr, Christopher Stewart]
This week, Rupert Murdoch relented, agreeing to pursue a plan to divide up his empire, News Corp, a company he built from a single newspaper he inherited in Australia in the 1950s to a conglomerate with more than $33 billion in revenue and a market capitalization of $53 billion. But he still doesn't care about the so-called "Murdoch discount" that hovers over the company's share price. "I don't give a ---- about that," he said. Instead, what helped change his mind was a perception that the entertainment and publishing businesses had become different enough that they needed separate management teams. While entertainment is surging, the publishing business faces challenges. In particular, with the inclusion of The Wall Street Journal, acquired in 2007 along with other Dow Jones & Co. assets, executives realized the publishing company had a global brand that could allow it to stand alone. Down the road, separating publishing could even allow him to acquire more newspapers, without facing the wrath of shareholders, according to a person familiar with his thinking. The change of heart was a long time coming.
benton.org/node/128006 | Wall Street Journal
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PRESSURE ON NEWS CORP PAPERS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Christine Haughney]
With the announcement that News Corporation will be split in two, employees at the company’s many print papers are facing a new reality: they are now in the newspaper business. For years, the success of News Corporation’s lucrative cable and entertainment assets formed a buffer between its print properties and the downturn in the newspaper industry. Now, many journalists at those newspapers worry about what will happen as they become part of a much smaller company, grouped with HarperCollins and News Corporation’s education assets. Even before the split was announced last week, News Corporation was acting to streamline the newspapers and make them more profitable. Its Australian papers, which according to the company’s latest earnings report have had declining advertising revenue, could cut nearly 10 percent their staffs.
benton.org/node/128042 | New York Times
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MUDOCH’S HEART
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
[Commentary] News Corporation’s board voted to quarantine the newspapers that Rupert Murdoch has so lovingly nurtured, separating them into a new company. Cleaving the giant media conglomerate in two will free the lucrative entertainment division to find a share price more befitting its stellar run. Murdoch had long resisted such a move, so it’s fair to wonder why one of the most stubborn operators on the planet had such a significant change of heart. The specter of Murdoch being steered to a new place by those around him is not something we have seen in his long reign at News Corporation. Murdoch may have taken the leap, but he was pushed by a decline in the fortunes of print that was more rapid than anyone had anticipated. He was worn down by his most senior executives, a board that was suddenly listening to them as well as him, and his own instinct for self-preservation.
benton.org/node/128040 | New York Times
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SONG-EMI APPROVAL
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Trade Commission has closed its nonpublic investigation of Sony/ATV Music Publishing's proposed acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, without taking any action. Accordingly, the deal may now proceed as proposed. The Commission vote to close the investigation was 5-0. The closing letters to the companies can be found on the FTC's website and as a link to this press release. (FTC File No. 1210045)
Universal Music Group's planned $1.9 billion purchase of EMI's music labels is still under review by both the FTC and the European Commission.
benton.org/node/127998 | Federal Trade Commission | The Hill | National Journal
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GOOGLE’S REGULATORY CONCERNS
[SOURCE: Fortune, AUTHOR: Don Reisinger]
Is Google in jeopardy of turning into the next Microsoft? It hardly seemed the case this week, as the California company unveiled a raft of new products, including a tablet computer and even futuristic glasses. But Google is still under serious regulatory scrutiny in several countries around the world, echoing the troubles that plagued Microsoft even as Google was in its very earliest days. When Google emerged, Apple seemed troubled, Yahoo was still an online juggernaut, and Microsoft was facing a level of regulatory and consumer outcry the industry hadn't yet seen. That scrutiny was ultimately damaging to Microsoft. The company and its executives were forced into court to argue against claims that the software giant was a monopoly and should be broken up. Google, meanwhile, was surging. Prior to its 2004 IPO, the company famously explained in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing its view on good and evil. "Don't be evil," Page and Brin wrote in what has since been called the "Don't Be Evil" Manifesto. "We believe strongly that in the long-term, we will be better served -- as shareholders and in all other ways -- by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short-term gains." The comment was a thinly veiled shot over Microsoft's bow. Google and its co-founders made it clear that they were the good guys, and the big corporations with boatloads of cash weren't. But now, the slogan is being thrown back in Google's face. Across Europe, the U.S., and even India, the company is facing intense regulatory pressure over its practices, and charges that it is limiting competition in the marketplace.
benton.org/node/127661 | Fortune
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FTC PROBING MOTOROLA PATENTS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Sara Forden]
The Federal Trade Commission has opened a formal probe into whether Google’s Motorola Mobility unit is honoring pledges it made to license industry-standard technology for mobile and other devices on fair terms, three people familiar with the situation said. The FTC has issued a civil investigative demand, which is similar to a subpoena, to the owner of the Android mobile operating system as it scrutinizes whether Google is improperly blocking rivals’ access to patents for key smartphone technology, one of the people said. The agency is also seeking information from companies including Microsoft and Apple as it investigates whether Google intends to license technology under patents that help operate 3G wireless, Wi-Fi and video streaming on fair and reasonable terms, another one of the people said. Another focus of the FTC probe, the person said, is Google’s decision to continue litigation started by Motorola Mobility over industry-standard patents before Google bought the company.
benton.org/node/128000 | Bloomberg
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SILLY APPLE AND GOOGLE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] There were great expectations when technology giants Apple and Google squared off in court, each accusing the other of violating its patents in competing mobile phones. No one expected this case would end in a whimper, with one of the country's most influential judges dismissing the claims as "silly." In the process, the judge, Richard Posner of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, described a patent law system in "chaos" and needing basic reform. Judge Posner is also a University of Chicago law professor, author of some 40 books, and the most frequently cited living legal scholar, so his criticism carries considerable intellectual weight. At issue was Apple's effort to protect its iPhone against competition from Google's Android phones. Today's smartphones include some 250,000 claimed patents. The low bar for patents makes it impossible for any maker to avoid a claim for breach. Judge Posner, hearing this case as a trial judge, observed: "Patents in the field of information technology often have little if any value except defensively." In bouncing this high-profile case, Judge Posner lays out a road map for Congress, patent regulators and other judges to re-establish the original purpose of intellectual property, which is to encourage both innovation and competition. If he succeeds, technologists at both Apple and Google should be delighted to have lost this case so they can go back to innovating instead of litigating.
benton.org/node/128036 | Wall Street Journal
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PRIVACY

PRIVACY HEARING RECAP
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee]
The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the current state of industry self-regulation in providing consumers with adequate tools to protect their personal information. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said, “I recognize that consumer information is the currency of the web. Thanks to advertising revenue, much of the rich content of the Internet is available to consumers for free. I also understand that advertising is more effective and valuable to companies when it is tailored to match consumers’ individual interests and tastes. But there has to be some balance. Consumers should have some degree of control over their personal, often sensitive, online information.” He added, “I want to hear from our witnesses what consumers should expect when they tell online companies that they do not want their information collected for any purpose other than the functionality of the service. No one wants to ‘break the Internet.’ But what many of us want is an Internet where consumers have some control over their personal information.
Testifying before the Committee, advertisers took aim at Microsoft's decision to make do-not-track a default setting in its new browser. Bob Liodice, president of the Association of National Advertisers, said in a testimony that the "unilateral decision" by one browser company could cause confusion and would "profoundly, adversely impact the broad array of advertising-supported services they currently widely use." Under pressure from the Administration, the Digital Advertising Alliance - - Liodice was speaking for them at the hearing -- adopted a voluntary opt-in, do-not-track mechanism. Berin Szoka, president of TechFreedom and an opponent of default do-not-track, answered that it the Federal Trade Commission and the Administration pressure industry to adopt a default mechanism, it could change the how nature of the Internet "from today's low-friction, flat ecosystem of independent sites and services funded by impersonal data collection to one with fewer players who collect more data." Ohio State Law Professor Peter Swire said that if the U.S. did not protect privacy, it could get locked out of international markets that do have such protections. Alex Fowler of Mozilla said that he was not ready to say the U.S. should adopt a European-style model, but suggested it already had one since U.S. companies had to respect that regime when interacting with European countries. Liodice said that if the U.S. government extends its do-not-track reach to far through legislation, it could hurt cybersecurity or antifraud efforts by limiting information currently available to law enforcement. Rockefeller countered that that was a red herring.
benton.org/node/128013 | US Senate Commerce Committee | Chairman Rockefeller | B&C | National Journal | MediaPost
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YOUR E-BOOK IS READING YOU
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Alexandra Alter]
It takes the average reader just seven hours to read the final book in Suzanne Collins's "Hunger Games" trilogy on the Kobo e-reader—about 57 pages an hour. Nearly 18,000 Kindle readers have highlighted the same line from the second book in the series: "Because sometimes things happen to people and they're not equipped to deal with them." And on Barnes & Noble's Nook, the first thing that most readers do upon finishing the first "Hunger Games" book is to download the next one. In the past, publishers and authors had no way of knowing what happens when a reader sits down with a book. Does the reader quit after three pages, or finish it in a single sitting? Do most readers skip over the introduction, or read it closely, underlining passages and scrawling notes in the margins? Now, e-books are providing a glimpse into the story behind the sales figures, revealing not only how many people buy particular books, but how intensely they read them.
benton.org/node/128007 | Wall Street Journal
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PRIVACY MEETING ACCESS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In a letter to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, a dozen activist groups have called for better remote participation in the July 12 stakeholder meeting on the Administration's privacy Bill of Rights. NTIA, which is hosting the talks, has agreed to have staffer act as proxies for those not able to attend in person to relay questions and comments, and the meeting is being webcast -- but the groups, which include the ACLU, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumers Union, say that is inadequate. "For the multistakeholder process to be credible, civil society must be able to participate in the meetings to the fullest extent possible, and that means two-way, contemporaneous communication," they wrote.
benton.org/node/128043 | Broadcasting&Cable
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SPECTRUM/WIRELESS

THE GREAT SPECTRUM SWAP
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
On June 25, Verizon Wireless announced an agreement with T-Mobile USA to exchange specific spectrum in the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) band. The deal encompasses spectrum in 218 areas, and would improve T-Mobile’s spectrum position in 15 of the top 25 markets in the US, notably Philadelphia, Washington (DC), Detroit, Minneapolis, Seattle, Cleveland, Columbus (OH), Milwaukee, Charlotte (NC), Raleigh (NC), Greensboro (NC), Memphis, and Rochester (NY). Under the agreement, both companies also will receive additional spectrum depth in specific markets to meet Long Term Evolution (LTE or 4G) capacity needs and enable LTE expansion. The agreement includes a number of intra-market spectrum swaps that will result in better use of the AWS band for both companies. The agreement also includes exchanges of spectrum between the companies in numerous markets which result in an overall net transfer of spectrum from Verizon Wireless to T-Mobile and a cash payment from T-Mobile to Verizon Wireless. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Since this agreement includes spectrum that will be purchased by Verizon Wireless in its transactions with SpectrumCo, Cox and Leap, this agreement is contingent on the closing of those transactions.
http://benton.org/node/127627
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POLITICS OF PLENTITUDE
[SOURCE: Detroit News, AUTHOR: Reed Hundt]
[Commentary] As the luckiest chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in history, who came into office in the salad days of the Internet and wireless, I faced policy choices that fell along the line of good, better and best. The goal in every area of information, communications and technology was simple: How to get everything to be faster, better, cheaper. When abundance is the goal, mistakes can be more easily forgiven or at least forgotten (I bungled one auction), and successes can exceed dreams (our sector did more than any other to create the federal budget surplus, increases for every quintile on the income ladder, and added more than 2 million net new jobs). Technology, finance and global networks enable us to re-create the politics of abundance with bigger scale and scope than was possible in the '90s. It is technically and economically feasible, for example, to distribute robust public goods to everyone on the Internet — about 3 billion people and almost everyone in the United States — at a cost that approximates zero. The key now, as it was then, is twofold. First, assure low-cost access to key inputs that enable long-term investments in transformative infrastructure. Second, remove barriers to replacing old methods with the new. If that is done, the low marginal costs will combine with human creativity to produce the kind of abundance that replaces a short, cross country phone call priced at dollars with a video conference uniting persons on five continents, all for free.
benton.org/node/127772 | Detroit News
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

DIGITAL FAIRNESS TAX BILL
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would eliminate multiple and/or discriminatory taxes on digital goods and services. The bill, the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act of 2011, would limit taxes on digital goods -- music, movies and e-books among them -- to either the buyer or seller, and only in the state or jurisdiction of either's tax address.
benton.org/node/127668 | Broadcasting&Cable
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THE FUTURE OF SMART SYSTEMS
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Janna Anderson, Lee Rainie]
By 2020, experts think tech-enhanced homes, appliances, and utilities will spread, but many of the analysts believe we still won’t likely be living in the long-envisioned ‘Homes of the Future.’ Hundreds of tech analysts foresee a future with “smart” devices and environments that make people’s lives more efficient. But they also note that current evidence about the uptake of smart systems is that the costs and necessary infrastructure changes to make it all work are daunting. And they add that people find comfort in the familiar, simple, “dumb” systems to which they are accustomed.
benton.org/node/127992 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
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KANSAS CITY AND GOOGLE FIBER
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Chris O’Brien]
After getting picked for Google Fiber, Kansas City (Kansas and Missouri) is grappling with a far more complex challenge: What to do with it? In the most optimistic scenarios, Google Fiber -- which will be one of the world's fastest broadband networks with speeds of 1 gigabit, more than 100 times as fast as the average broadband connection -- has the potential to make the two Kansas Cities the most entrepreneurial place in the world, the center of a health care revolution, and a leader in education reform. But along with frustration over delays in the launch, the project has also bred anxiety that it will widen the digital divide or overwhelm the cities with a flood of new high-tech immigrants who drive up the cost of living. Perhaps the greatest fear, though, is that Google Fiber will change nothing, that somehow the two cities will squander this moment, when the eyes of the world are watching, to invent the future. Google hopes the project will spur efforts to find ways to bring more people online, as well as to build such networks across the country. Kansas City understands that if that happens, then the window in which the cities have an advantage over the rest of the world could close quickly. "This is the question that keeps me up every night," said Cameron Cushman, manager in the entrepreneurship program at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the cities' largest philanthropic organizations. "Great, we're going to have an advantage on every other city in the world. Now, how do we make Kansas City the most entrepreneurial place in the world?"
benton.org/node/128034 | San Jose Mercury News
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CYBERSECURITY

CYBERSECURITY ON AGENDA
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
Senators are set to tackle legislation to protect the nation’s computer system when the upper chamber returns from its July 4th recess, but the efforts are being hampered by disagreements over the government’s role in overseeing cybersecurity standards. Senate Majority Leader Harry (D-NV) has repeatedly said he believes cybersecurity legislation is critical, and he is expected to push for a vote in July. "There hasn't been a time that I've talked with [Reid] in the last year where he hasn't talked about the need to get cybersecurity to the floor," Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) told reporters after a Senate hearing last week. "No other subject reigns so supreme."
benton.org/node/128004 | Hill, The
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REPORTING CYBERCRIME
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Richard Lardner]
Amid whispers of sensational online break-ins resulting in millions of dollars in losses, it remains remarkably difficult to identify corporate victims of cybercrimes. Companies are afraid that going public will damage their reputations, sink stock prices or spark lawsuits. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is adding a provision to cybersecurity legislation that would strengthen the reporting requirement. The SEC's cybersecurity guidance issued in October is not mandatory. It was intended to update for the digital age a requirement that companies report "material risks" that investors want and have a right to know. Rockefeller's measure would direct the SEC's five commissioners to make clear when companies must disclose cyber breaches and spell out steps that companies are taking to protect their computer networks from electronic intrusions.
benton.org/node/128003 | Associated Press
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BROADCASTING

HIGH COURT REFUSES TO REHEAR CBS-JANET JACKSON CASE
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joe Flint]
The long legal battle between CBS and the Federal Communications Commission over Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show is over. The Supreme Court on June 29 refused to hear the FCC's request to reinstate a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS for the halftime performance featuring Jackson and Justin Timberlake, who at the end of a song tore a piece of Jackson's top, exposing her bare breast to an audience of about 90 million. "It is now clear that the brevity of an indecent broadcast — be it word or image — cannot immunize it from FCC censure," said Chief Justice John Roberts. "Any future 'wardrobe malfunctions' will not be protected on the ground relied on by the court below." In addition, Chief Justice Roberts said that calling it a "wardrobe malfunction" when Justin Timberlake ripped away part of Jackson's bustier "strained the credulity of the public." CBS said it was "gratified to finally put this episode behind us" and noted that "at every major turn of this process, the lower courts have sided with us." The network added that since the Super Bowl, it has added delays to all live programming to prevent similar incidents from happening.
benton.org/node/128008 | Los Angeles Times | AP | Washington Post
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CIVIC PARTICIPATION

NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS
[SOURCE: MacArthur Foundation, AUTHOR: Cathy Cohen, Joseph Kahne, Benjamin Bowyer, Ellen Middaugh, Jon Rogowski]
This research shows that contrary to the traditional notion of a technological digital divide, substantial numbers of young people across racial and ethnic groups are engaging in “participatory politics” — acts such as starting a political group online, circulating a blog about a political issue, or forwarding political videos to friends. Like traditional political acts, these acts address issues of public concern. The difference is that participatory acts are interactive, peer-based, and do not defer to elites or formal institutions. They are also tied to digital or new media platforms that facilitate and amplify young people’s actions.
benton.org/node/127770 | MacArthur Foundation
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DIGITAL DIVIDE

ACCESS TO INFORMATION
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Jesse Hardman]
[Commentary] I’ve been a journalist my entire adult life, but until I went halfway across the world, it didn’t really sink in that information is a basic right—as vital as food, water, and a roof. I’ve explored this concept in war zones, natural disaster areas, and impoverished nations, and what I have found is quite simple: People in hard situations need information to survive. Americans are no different. The US government needs to create a new fund for community media outlets that supports them and trains them to serve as a kind of humanitarian newswire, focusing on getting neighborhoods vital information. The larger media landscape will continue on the business path it has always followed, but communities in need can’t wait for that behemoth to turn its attention their way. We don’t have to go to war-torn countries like Sri Lanka to explore the idea of information as a human right. We can do it right here, in the United States, on Indian reservations, in immigrant communities, in struggling cities. Let’s stop lamenting the fall of big media entities and start supporting the survival of the small but vital community media outlets that are reaching people who need basic, targeted information to get through the day. [Hardman is a reporter, journalism teacher, and international media development specialist.]
benton.org/node/127663 | Columbia Journalism Review
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JOURNALISM

JOURNATIC
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, AUTHOR: Robert Channick]
A national radio report this weekend revealing that hyperlocal content provider Journatic used false bylines in several stories that ran in TribLocal online has prompted an investigation by the Chicago Tribune. Journatic, brought in to run part of the Tribune's community news operation, has acknowledged its mistake and said it would discontinue the practice. "This American Life," which is produced by Chicago public radio station WBEZ-FM, included a 23-minute segment focusing on Journatic's use of low-paid Filipino freelancers to cull and format information for stories, some of which were published under aliases. In interviews this weekend with the Tribune, Journatic co-founder and CEO Brian Timpone said altered bylines were commonly used for its Blockshopper.com real estate stories, a separate enterprise from its newspaper content service. Timpone said some of its newspaper clients, including TribLocal, had asked to republish those stories on their hyperlocal sites, which Journatic allowed. But the company neglected to remove the altered bylines.
benton.org/node/128031 | Chicago Tribune
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MARKETING

UP TO CLAIMS
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Trade Commission released an FTC-commissioned study indicating that when marketers use the phrase "up to" in claims about their products, many consumers are likely to believe that they will achieve the maximum "up to" results. The study describes what a test group of consumers thought about ads for replacement home windows that purportedly would provide "up to 47%" savings in energy costs. The FTC believes the report will help guide advertisers to avoid the use of misleading "up to" claims. It reinforces the FTC's view that advertisers using these claims should be able to substantiate that consumers are likely to achieve the maximum results promised under normal circumstances. The report summarizes the results of a test conducted in conjunction with investigations of five companies that, in February, settled FTC charges that they made unsupported claims about their windows' energy efficiency and how much they would reduce consumers' heating and cooling bills. The cases are part of the agency's efforts to ensure that environmental marketing is truthful and based on scientific evidence.
benton.org/node/127996 | Federal Trade Commission
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CROSS-MARKETING AGREEMENTS
[SOURCE: Fierce, AUTHOR: Harold Furchtgott-Roth]
[Commentary] Various cable companies and Verizon Wireless have begun marketing some of each other's products in certain geographic markets. Antitrust authorities are still reviewing the cross-marketing arrangements, and only time will tell whether the deal passes government muster. Economic muster may be even harder for the cross-marketing arrangement to pass. Consider that few national firms consistently engage in cross-marketing. Toyota does not market Bridgestone tires or vice versa. Safeway does not direct customers to buy just Pepsi products, and Pepsi trucks do not steer people to Safeway stores. Perhaps these and just about every other major company are missing out on an opportunity to make money. Or perhaps these companies are concerned about antitrust review. Or, more likely, these companies have concluded that cross-marketing is difficult to conduct effectively.
benton.org/node/127767 | Fierce
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POLICYMAKERS

FCC’S JULY MEETING
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the following items will be on the tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 19, 2012:
FCC Next-Generation Mapping Presentation: FCC mapping efforts are among the best in government. The Commission will hear a presentation on the latest advancements in mapping at the Commission, including the launch of fcc.gov/maps, and novel use of maps and the latest open source mapping technology to increase transparency across the agency and promote data-driven decision-making to benefit consumers, industry, and developers.
White Spaces for Wireless Broadband Presentation: The Commission will hear a progress report by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Office of Engineering & Technology on the development and use of white space technology to unleash more spectrum for wireless broadband.
Measuring Broadband America Report 2012 Presentation: The Commission will hear a presentation on the Measuring Broadband America July 2012 Report, which extends the study into more regions and publishes more kinds of data. This latest study of broadband performance in the U.S. follows the Commission’s first-of-its-kind report last year to test and report transparent broadband speed and performance data in collaboration with Internet Service Providers.
benton.org/node/127775 | Federal Communications Commission
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FCC BUDGET CUTS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The White House has threatened to veto the House appropriations bill. The legislation covers appropriations for a number of agencies including the IRS and OMB, which actually released the veto advisory (which includes criticism of a 10% cut in OMB's own budget). Under the Federal Communications Commission sections, OMB praises the auction receipts the FCC will have access to, but said added: "However, the bill also reduces regular appropriated funding for FCC to $323 million. Funding for FCC is budget neutral and without the proper amount of resources the agency would find it increasingly difficult to manage its responsibilities, such as supporting the build-out of public safety communications networks, overseeing mergers and spectrum transactions, and reforming the Universal Service Fund." The FCC had asked Congress for a 2% increase from $340 million to $347 million -- essentially flat when adjusted for inflation, despite increasing workloads in many areas. "The Administration strongly opposes the bill," said OMB. "If the president were presented with H.R. 6020, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill," it said.
benton.org/node/128001 | Broadcasting&Cable
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CRITIQUE OF FTC
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Peter Maass]
The Federal Trade Commission is the lead agency in the government’s effort to ensure that companies do not cross the still-hazy border between acceptable and unacceptable data collection. But the agency’s ambitions are clipped by a lack of both funding and legal authority, reflecting a broader uncertainty about the role government should play in what is arguably America’s most promising new industry. Companies like Facebook and Google are global brands for which data mining is at the core of present and future profits. How far should they go? Current laws provide few limits, mainly banning data collection from children under 13 and prohibiting the sale of personal medical data. Beyond that, it’s a digital mosh pit, and it’s likely to remain that way because more regulation tends to be regarded by politicians in both parties as meaning fewer jobs.
benton.org/node/127769 | Wired
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

NZ RULING ON MEGAUPLOAD
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Hayley Tsukayama]
A court in New Zealand has ruled that the search warrants used by New Zealand police when they raided the home of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom were invalid. Reuters reported that a High Court judge said the search warrants were “too vague” and “did not adequately describe the offences to which they related.” The judge also ruled that the FBI acted unlawfully when it took copies of data from Dotcom’s computer offshore. New Zealand police told Reuters that they were considering the judgment and trying to “determine what further action might be required.
benton.org/node/127656 | Washington Post | Reuters
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UK MEDIA REGULATION
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] During his nine-month public inquiry into press standards, Lord Justice Leveson has heard many witnesses air legitimate complaints about the misconduct of the media. Now he must turn his mind to what to do about it. How should Britain’s free press be regulated? The inquiry has set out sensible criteria for future regulation: whatever system is chosen must be effective, cheap, cover all “newspapers”, preserve media freedom and be a free service that protects the vulnerable. But finding a mechanism that delivers all this will not be simple. The primary purpose of regulation must be to protect the public – especially those without recourse to costly lawyers – from unfair treatment at the media’s hands. The existing system, in the form of the Press Complaints Commission, has palpably failed. While the PCC does much good work mediating in disputes between newspapers and the public, it is too close to those that it regulates and too weak to hold them to account. The best solution would be to move to a system of “independent regulation”. This would fall short of formal state regulation or licensing of journalists – both of which could expose the press to political interference. Independent laymen, appointed by a credible mechanism free from state control, would be in a majority on the new regulatory body. This would dispel the impression of a magic circle of editors or newspaper executives sitting in judgment on itself.
benton.org/node/128028 | Financial Times
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APPLE SETTLES SUIT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Paul Mozur, Loretta Chao]
Apple will pay $60 million to settle a trademark dispute with a Chinese company over the iPad name, according to a Chinese court, potentially resolving a case that illustrated new intellectual-property challenges for foreign businesses in China. An attorney for the China-based unit of a Hong Kong computer monitor maker, Proview International Holdings Ltd., said on Monday that the settlement had been reached via mediation. A post on the official microblog account of the Guangdong High People's Court's confirmed that settlement had been reached as well as the settlement amount, and said it took effect on June 25. If the settlement resolves other court fights between Proview and Apple related to the iPad name, it would remove a cloud over Apple in what has become a crucial market. High demand for iPhones and iPads has made China Apple's biggest market outside the U.S., representing 11.5% of Apple's global revenue in 2011, or roughly $12.5 billion. Apple shipped an estimated 4.1 million tablets there last year, according to research firm IDC.
benton.org/node/128026 | Wall Street Journal | Financial Times | Fortune
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ETHIOPIA INTERNET CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
The Committee to Protect Journalists says it appears Ethiopia is extending and refining its censorship of Internet news with a sophistication that could encourage other authoritarian regimes in Africa. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has been blocking major news sites and blog hosts since disputed general election results in 2005 led to violent protests. Voice Over Internet Protocol such as Skype also is blocked, forcing people to use the state telephone system.
benton.org/node/128024 | Associated Press
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July 2012

CBS, NBC and Fox head to court over Dish ad-skipping feature

FCC's Video Description Rules Are Now in Effect

TV's Evolving Taboos

The Declaration of Internet Freedom: how the net’s minutemen plan to protect the future

Judge Finds No Constitutional Violation in Producing Tweets

Dell buys Quest Software for $2.4 billion

July 2, 2012 (Supreme Court rejects appeal of media ownership restrictions)

Groups Ask NTIA for More Privacy Meeting Access

News Corp. Split Adds to Pressure on Papers