September 27, 2012 (How people get local news)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
Broadband, Cable & All That Jazz http://benton.org/calendar/2012-09-27/
LOBBYING
US judge upholds Obama ban on lobbyists serving on boards
Pandora Taking Page From Broadcasters' Playbook [links to web]
JOURNALISM
How people get local news and information in different communities - research
INTERNET/BROADBAND
A Network Neutrality Meme That Will Not Go Away - analysis
Measuring Broadband America Program Gets Its Own Docket at FCC - public notice
Not All Critical Infrastructure is Created equal - op-ed [links to web]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
Questions Aplenty on FCC Incentive Auction Framework [links to web]
FCC Takes Step to Free Up More Wireless Spectrum [links to web]
Report: To App Or Not To App [links to web]
Your Smartphone Is Listening To You Sleep: The Next Terrifying, Awesome Frontier In Voice Tech [links to web]
Dish Network Adds Internet Service, Aimed at Rural Areas [links to web]
MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
Political TV Buying Hits Record High
Obama, Romney Find Political Power In Online Ads
Gillespie: Romney camp has 'no whining rule' about media
Wait for it -- Romney's media rebound - op-ed
Doubt the power of TV at your own risk - op-ed [links to web]
TELEVISION
Orlando PBS Station Sold for $3.3 Million [links to web]
Tipping Point? We’re Watching More Web Video on TVs Than on PCs. [links to web]
TV for Kids Filled With Social Bullying, Study Finds [links to web]
Nielsen Cuts 500,000 U.S. TV Homes on Census, Web Viewing [links to web]
The Business Of Reinventing 'TV Households' - op-ed [links to web]
TV Beats Online, Print In News Consumption [links to web]
TV Shows Signs of Escaping Recession [links to web]
Comcast's Cohen: No Justification for Exclusivity Ban [links to web]
PRIVACY/SECURITY
Rep Barton 'Dumbfounded' by Computer Spying Case [links to web]
Senate Commerce Seeks Internet Firms' Help in Combating Moving Scams [links to web]
Tech companies warn privacy rules will kill innovation [links to web]
Not All Critical Infrastructure is Created equal - op-ed [links to web]
In cyberattacks, hacking humans is highly effective way to access systems [links to web]
Privacy, technology face off again - editorial [links to web]
CONTENT
Barnes & Noble’s two new tablets want to help you find your next book [links to web]
Murdoch’s Times unblocks search engines to seek new subscribers [links to web]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
What 911 Might Look Like in the Mobile Social Era [links to web]
POLICYMAKERS
House scramble with 7 chairmanships open [links to web]
AGENDA
FCC Releases Agenda for October Open meeting - press release
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
At U.N., Egypt and Yemen Urge Curbs on Free Speech
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Insight: Italy's slow Internet set for reboot
Foxconn Workers Labor Under Guard After Riot Shuts Plant
EU regulators set to charge Microsoft over breached deal [links to web]
LOBBYING
JUDGE UPHOLDS LOBBYISTS BAN
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: David Ingram]
A federal judge upheld an attempt by President Barack Obama to cut down the influence of lobbyists, ruling that President Obama was within his authority when he barred them from serving on government boards. The ruling dismisses a lawsuit brought by six lobbyists who argued the ban unfairly penalizes them for exercising their right to petition the government. The lobbyists failed to show that they lost something by not serving on government boards, such as a committee that advises on trade issues, wrote U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Even if they had shown a real benefit, they are not entitled to serve on the boards, the judge added. Although the lobbyists "may aspire to obtain this privileged access in order to advance their clients' interests and their own careers," the government is not required to "underwrite" their activity by giving them an advantage, she wrote.
benton.org/node/135540 | Reuters
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JOURNALISM
HOW PEOPLE GET LOCAL NEWS
[SOURCE: Pew’s Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Carolyn Miller, Lee Rainie, Kristen Purcell, Amy Mitchell, Tom Rosenstiel]
In January, 2011 the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, conducted a nationally representative telephone survey of U.S. adults exploring local news consumption habits. Overall, the survey indicated that most adults follow what is happening in their local communities and that the local news ecosystem is complex. Rather than relying on one or two main sources of local news, most adults use a wide variety of both traditional and online sources depending on which local topic they are seeking information about. This report reexamines those data with an eye toward how local news consumption practices vary by community type. Specifically, it focuses on the ways residents in large cities, suburbs, small towns and rural areas compare in their levels of interest in local news, the topics they are most interested in, and the sources they rely on to learn about those topics. The results indicate that from large urban areas to rural communities, Americans often report similarly high levels of interest in news in general, in local news and information, and in national and international news. Moreover, similar percentages of adults report following the specific local topics asked about, regardless of the type of community in which they live. Still, community differences do emerge in the number and variety of local news sources used, as well as the degree of “local news participation” and mobile news consumption.
benton.org/node/135508 | Pew Internet & American Life Project | Community Profiles
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
NETWORK NEUTRALITY MEME
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Eric Null]
[Commentary] Recently, arguments against network neutrality as a “solution in search of a problem” have resurfaced. People who make this argument essentially claim either 1) discrimination predicted by Public Knowledge (and the Federal Communications Commission) will never actually come to pass, or 2) discrimination can be benign or even beneficial. These arguments are not persuasive, especially in light of recent examples of discrimination by service providers. Companies have already engaged in the exact behavior that created the need for an open Internet rule. Discrimination by Internet Service Providers could be seen in two lights: it could benefit consumers by providing Quality of Service when it is most needed and by more accurately meeting the demands of users; alternatively, it could be used as a way to stifle innovation, shut out competition, and harm users that rely on, or would benefit from, such innovation (the latter could be achieved intentionally or unintentionally and it does not matter—the harm is there regardless). By requiring a neutral Internet, the FCC decided that the benefits provided by enhanced Quality of Service et al. were outweighed by the benefits provided at the edges of the network by a truly open platform.
benton.org/node/135534 | Public Knowledge
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MEASURING BROADBAND AMERICA
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Public Notice]
The Measuring Broadband America Program (Program) developed out of the nation’s first National Broadband Plan. In the two years since the launch of this Program, it has increased in scope and complexity. Thus, the Commission has decided that it is appropriate to make a separate docket for the Program at this time. Previously, Program filings were predominantly submitted to CG Docket No. 09-158, CC Docket No. 98-170, and WC Docket No. 04-36.1 By this Public Notice, the Commission announces that all future filings related to this Program should be directed to GN Docket No. 12-264. Commission filings will no longer be submitted to CG Docket No. 09-158, CC Docket No. 98-170, and WC Docket No. 04-36, and will instead be submitted to the GN Docket No. 12-264.
benton.org/node/135538 | Federal Communications Commission
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MEDIA AND ELECTIONS
POLITICAL AD BUYING RECORD
[SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Tina Daunt]
No matter which presidential candidate prevails Nov. 6, local television already is this election cycle's big winner.
President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney are waging an intense contest to tie up as much advertising time as they can between now and Election Day, with the GOP super PACs giving Romney a big spending edge. The competition is driving up ad rates as available airtime dwindles in swing states. "The campaigns are booking ad time just to make sure it's still around," says Travis Ridout, a Washington State University political science professor who tracks campaigns. "I suspect they'll start to fight over it." According to Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser, by the end of this election cycle, political spending on TV ads will have topped a stunning $2.9 billion. The previous record was $2.2 billion, set in 2010. "There's just a lot of money being spent -- much more than expected," says Wieser. "The super PACs are driving it."
benton.org/node/135531 | Hollywood Reporter, The
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POWER IN ONLINE ADS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Laurie Sullivan]
The U.S presidential candidates put a heavy focus on display, social and search ads during the first half of 2012. President Barack Obama spent $4.6 million on display advertising to get reelected -- taking 87% share of impressions, compared with Mitt Romney at about $300,000, according to comScore's State of the Internet in the U.S. 2012 address. While display advertising sends clear messages on direction, social media gives the candidates a method to connect more closely with voters. Romney's Web traffic leading to his Web site made up about 15% of Obama's 3.4 million, estimates comScore. The candidates' social media strategy as of June finds Obama with 27.9 million Fans on Facebook, compared with Romney's 4.7 million Fans -- but the frequency of ad impressions tells a different tale with 3.6 and 5.6, respectively. Obama has 80.5 million earned media impressions, while Romney has 41.6 million.
benton.org/node/135533 | MediaPost
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NO WHINING RULE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: MacKenzie Weinger]
The Mitt Romney campaign has a "no whining rule" about media coverage, senior adviser Ed Gillespie said. “Ed, do you buy into this theory, and there are some people on the right who say, look, mainstream media is going to talk down Romney's chances of winning. They're going to show Mr. Obama way up in the polls just to tamp down enthusiasm so Republicans go, ‘You know, why even bother voting because it's a foregone conclusion the guy’s going to get four more years?’” said ‘Fox and Friends co-host Steve Doocy. “Well," Gillespie replied, "we have a no whining rule in Boston about coverage in the media. We just deal with the facts.”
benton.org/node/135517 | Politico | Washington Post
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ROMNEY’S INEVITABLE REBOUND
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Neal Gabler]
[Commentary] Regardless of what Romney does — even if he continues to stick both feet in his mouth — he is very likely to see his fortunes rise. That's because it is an iron law of American presidential campaign coverage that what goes up must come down and, conversely, what is down must go up. In short, Romney is going to be the beneficiary of what you might call the "media bounce." The idea of a media bounce has very little to do with either Romney or Obama. In fact, it has very little to do with any candidate. It has to do with certain proclivities within the American media. As political scientist Thomas Patterson described it in his 1994 study of campaign coverage, "Out of Order, " the media really have only four stories to tell: a candidate is winning or losing, gaining ground or losing ground. And he adds, "The press have a distinct narrative for each situation," which is why the coverage of one presidential election pretty much mirrors the coverage of every other election. In the media, every campaign is basically a sequel. [Neal Gabler is at work on a biography of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.]
benton.org/node/135562 | Los Angeles Times
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AGENDA
FCC OPEN MEETING AGENDA
[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 Wednesday, October 17, 2012:
Modernizing International Data Reporting Requirements Second Report and Order: The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order to streamline reporting requirements for international phone traffic, significantly reducing overall filing burdens while ensuring collection of the data need to protect consumers and competition in international markets.
Establishment of the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) Do-Not-Call Registry Report and Order: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that protects Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) from autodialed calls, which can tie up emergency-service telephone lines, by adopting rules that create a do-not-call registry of PSAP telephone numbers, prohibit autodialed non-emergency calls to those numbers, and implement specific monetary penalties for autodialing or disclosing registered PSAP numbers. These rules are mandated by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.
Flexible Service Rules to Enable LTE Mobile Broadband in Wireless Communications Service (WCS) Spectrum and Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) Order: The Commission will consider an Order on reconsideration that will revise the WCS rules to facilitate use of 30 megahertz of spectrum for wireless broadband service while protecting SDARS against harmful interference.
benton.org/node/135548 | Federal Communications Commission
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
EGYPT, YEMEN URGE FREE SPEECH CURBS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Neil MacFarquhar]
The new presidents of Egypt and Yemen — both of whom were swept to power by uprisings demanding democratic rights — issued clear rebuttals to President Barack Obama’s ardent defense of Western values at the United Nations, arguing that cultural limits on rights like freedom of speech had to be respected. President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt condemned the violence stemming from a short online video that insulted the Prophet Muhammad and led to numerous deaths, including that of the American ambassador to Libya and three of his staff members. But he rejected Obama’s broad defense of free speech a day earlier at the United Nations, saying “Egypt respects freedom of expression, freedom of expression that is not used to incite hatred against anyone.” President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen opened his speech by demanding curbs on freedom of speech that insults religion. “These behaviors find people who defend them under the justification of the freedom of expression,” he said. “These people overlook the fact that there should be limits for the freedom of expression, especially if such freedom blasphemes the beliefs of nations and defames their figures.”
benton.org/node/135566 | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
ITALY’S BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Danilo Masoni, Leila Abboud]
IMM Hydraulics, a small exporter of hoses for industries such as agriculture and mining, is the kind of firm that should be at the center of Italy's efforts to rekindle its stagnant economy. Instead, the company, located in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, is wrestling with a basic impediment to profitability: a woefully slow broadband connection. With just 2 megabits (MB) per second, IMM Hydraulics' broadband connection lags behind the 5 MB typical in Italian cities, which in turn is well behind an average of 12 MB in France and 16 MB in Germany. "It takes us days to process an order whereas it could take half an hour," said finance director Marcello Di Campli. “Broadband is one of our biggest problems, probably just after our access to credit.” Italians pay among the highest prices in Europe for broadband speeds on a par with Estonia or Cyprus. As a result, only half the population uses the Internet at least once a week and Italian firms generate 5.4 percent of sales on-line compared to 13.9 percent elsewhere in Europe.
benton.org/node/135528 | Reuters
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FOXCONN WORKERS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: ]
Security teams wearing riot helmets and wielding plastic shields marched around a Foxconn Technology Group factory in northern China in a sign that tensions remain high after a fight between 2,000 workers halted production. Foxconn’s complex, home to 79,000 workers in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, still shows damage caused by a Sept. 23 clash in which a dormitory fight escalated into a riot finally quelled by hundreds of security guards and police. More than 40 people were hospitalized in the melee that left shattered windows and damaged parked cars across the campus. The unrest underscores the social strains of a Chinese export- manufacturing model where thousands of workers, mostly young, work long hours in military-style conditions, sleeping in dormitories and surrounded by security guards. “The guards here use gangster style to manage,” Fang Zhongyang, 23, said outside campus gates. “We are not against following rules but you have to tell us why. They won’t explain things and we feel like we cannot communicate with them.”
benton.org/node/135558 | Bloomberg
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