November 2012

How The Media Plays A Crucial Role In Figuring Out Who Wins Elections

Most Americans are pretty certain they know who won an election from news media, which play a large role in not only reporting election results but figuring out who won — usually long before the last votes are counted and certified.

It works like this: The United States has a decentralized system for counting votes in national elections. No single government authority oversees the process. Instead, officials in more than 4,000 counties, townships and parishes across the nation tally votes for president, Congress, governor, state legislature and a host of state and local offices. The Associated Press will deploy more than 5,000 workers on Nov. 6 to collect vote results from government agencies and report them to news organizations — and the public — around the world. In all, The AP will report results for nearly 7,000 races. Government officials get the final say on who wins elections — Congress verifies the Electoral College votes for president and vice president, while state and county officials certify election results in their jurisdictions. But the media get the first word on election night, an important role in the democratic process of a nation that demands fast and accurate information.

Both Candidates Received More Negative Than Positive Coverage in Mainstream News

From the conventions to the eve of the final presidential debate, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both received more negative than positive coverage from the news media, though overall Obama has had an edge, according to a new study. That advantage for Obama, however, disappeared after the debates began in early October and news coverage shifted in Romney's direction, mirroring the momentum change reflected in many public opinion polls, the study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found.

Overall from August 27 through October 21, 19% of stories about Obama studied in a cross section of mainstream media were clearly favorable in tone while 30% were unfavorable and 51% mixed. This is a differential of 11 percentage points between unfavorable and favorable stories. For Romney, 15% of the stories studied were favorable, 38% were unfavorable and 47% were mixed-a differential toward negative stories of 23 points. Most of the advantage in coverage for Obama, however, came in September in the form of highly negative coverage for Romney. This was a period when the GOP nominee was losing ground in the polls, he was criticized for his comments about Libya, and a video surfaced in which he effectively dismissed 47% of the American public. All that changed almost overnight after the first debate on October 3. From that day through October 21, the coverage in effect reversed. In all, 20% of stories about Romney were favorable, 30% were unfavorable, and 50% were mixed-a differential of 10 points to the negative. For Obama, 13% of stories were favorable, 36% were unfavorable, and 50% were mixed-a differential of 23 points.

New media can’t overcome old message, GOP’s digital strategists say

It was supposed to be the answer to a party in crisis. After the Republican Party’s shellacking by President Obama’s digital army in 2008, a group of influential young consultants preached a new doctrine of GOP politics aimed at organizing and expanding their numbers through the Internet — a transformation that would help draw a whole new generation into the party fold.

Republicans now have the iPhone apps, rapid-response tweets, Facebook likes and microtargeting that put them on par with Democrats. But the digitally fueled push to capture new voters is also a reminder of how much ground the GOP still needs to make up in attracting younger and more diverse supporters. As social media and digital tools have become increasingly mainstream and no longer the domain of the young and the hip, the early stages of GOP’s digital revolution have tended to do more to revive its traditional base of support among older, white voters than expand and diversify the party on a grass-roots level.

NYT public editor: Silver bet 'bad idea'

The New York Times' public editor Margaret Sullivan says Nate Silver's offer to bet on the winner of the presidential election was a “bad idea” that gives “ammunition to the critics” who want to paint him as a partisan.

Silver, the Times’ political statistician, bet MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough $1,000 — and then $2,000 — that President Barack Obama would win the election. Sullivan blasted the wager in a column headlined "Under Attack, Nate Silver Picks the Wrong Defense." “But whatever the motivation behind it, the wager offer is a bad idea – giving ammunition to the critics who want to paint Mr. Silver as a partisan who is trying to sway the outcome,” Sullivan wrote. “It’s also inappropriate for a Times journalist, which is how Mr. Silver is seen by the public even though he’s not a regular staff member. Silver, who spoke with Sullivan by phone Thursday, said the wager is “half playful and half serious.” “He’s been on a rant, calling me an idiot and a partisan, so I’m asking him to put some integrity behind it,” he told Sullivan. “I don’t stand to gain anything from it; it’s for charity.” That’s not how Sullivan sees it.

Fisher Sees No Interest in Spectrum Auctions

Wall Street analysts appear to have a lot more interest in the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction plans than do publicly traded broadcast companies.

Analyst Barry Lucas of Gabelli & Co., whose funds hold lots of Fisher Communications stock, raised the issue, but found President-CEO Colleen Brown cool to the auction idea. First off, Brown noted the complexity of the auction process, with a reverse auction and then a forward auction. And for Fisher’s markets, mostly in the Northwest, there’s the added issue of spectrum allocation treaties with Canada.

Agencies that use Google services at risk of data-mining, tech group says

The privacy policies of Google and other tech firms could allow them to mine personal data held by government agencies that use cloud-based e-mail, database and document services, an industry group warned.

The group, SafeGov.org, a consortium of industry experts promoting safe government use of cloud services, raised the concern as Google has sought to defuse controversy over changes to its privacy policy that allow for more extensive tracking of consumers. SafeGov.org first highlighted this issue in January after Google announced plans to consolidate its privacy policy across more than 60 services, including Gmail and YouTube, allowing tracking of users as they move among those sites. The group recently renewed its call for greater safeguards after European data-protection commissioners last month identified significant legal shortcomings in the policy and called for changes. Google officials say the changes to its privacy policy do not affect the bundle of productivity software it sells to governments, which are governed by contractual provisions.

The Kremlin’s New Internet Surveillance Plan Goes Live

On the surface, it’s all about protecting Russian kids from internet pedophiles. In reality, the Kremlin’s new “Single Register” of banned websites, which went into effect November 1, will wind up blocking all kinds of online political speech. And, thanks to the spread of new internet-monitoring technologies, the Register could well become a tool for spying on millions of Russians.

Signed into law by Vladimir Putin on July 28, the internet-filtering measure contains a single, innocuous-sounding paragraph that allows those compiling the Register to draw on court decisions relating to the banning of websites. The problem is, the courts have ruled to block more than child pornographers’ sites. The judges have also agreed to online bans on political extremists and opponents of the Putin regime. The principle of internet censorship is not a new one to the Russian authorities. For five years, regional prosecutors have been busy implementing regional court decisions requiring providers to block access to banned sites. To date this has not been done systematically: Sites blocked in one region remained accessible in others. The Register removes this problem.

FCC Statement Regarding Communications Network Improvements And Challenges

Overall, we’re seeing both continued improvement in communications networks and also that much work remains to be done to restore service fully. The supply of fuel to generators is essential to keep communications service up and running, and we’re working with federal, state, and local authorities to speed fuel delivery. This is a priority because our commercial communications networks are essential to emergency response and recovery efforts, as well as to commercial activities and connecting with family.

FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Turetsky said:

Our Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) remains activated and we continue to collect data from communications companies about the impacts of the storm. As of 10 a.m. this morning, our assessment indicates steady improvements in wireline and wireless communications networks throughout the affected area. However, restoration efforts in the hardest hit areas – including New York and New Jersey – continues to be more difficult. Replenishing fuel supplies for generators that are enabling communications networks to continue operating is a particularly critical challenge.

Our latest data indicate that calls throughout the affected area can be received at 9-1-1 call centers, though in limited cases calls are being re-routed to another center or do not contain location information. We have reached out to every affected 911 center and the relevant state authorities, and we are talking to communications providers about what can be done to address this.

Based on data from 10 a.m. this morning, the number of cell site outages overall has declined from approximately 25 percent to 19 percent. This figure includes many cases where cell sites that are otherwise operational are effectively inoperable because of outages in other parts of the communications infrastructure, which is highly interdependent. With regards to cable services, it appears that outages have declined to approximately 12 – 14 percent, from initial outages estimates of 25 percent.

Meanwhile, FCC staff at headquarters and at field offices are working around the clock to support FEMA’s efforts, and respond to requests for support from state and local teams, as well as communications companies. For example, FCC field agents have been working with others on-the-ground in New York City to get fuel to a switching center that serves many communications providers. We also issued another special temporary authorization, which was to assist an energy company with restoration operations in several states. As recovery efforts continue, our highest priority remains to continue working with all stakeholders to help restore America’s communications infrastructure.

Three Media Congloms Make Hefty Sandy Donations

Disney has donated $2 million to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts: $1 million specifically for the Red Cross, and another million earmarked for "organizations working on rebuilding efforts." The company will also match any and all employee donations. Viacom is giving the Red Cross $500,000, with another half-million set aside for rebuilding as well as a $1 million employee donation matching campaign. News Corp is setting aside $500,000 for the Mayor's Fund in New York City and another $500,000 for disaster relief in New Jersey. All three companies are also encouraging donations; Disney is even running PSAs on ESPN, ABC, Radio Disney and other networks.

NYC’s Downtown Theaters Are Still Dark

The fallout from Sandy continued to punch holes in the Off-Broadway theater landscape, even as the lights came on for all Broadway shows by Nov 1.

Heading into the weekend, the popular “Blue Man Group” and “Sleep No More” were halted, the Flea Theater wasn’t sure it could mount the scheduled final performances of the hit plays “Job” and “Heresy,” and previews for the Public Theater’s highly anticipated “Giant” and “Sorry” were delayed. Meanwhile, the Vineyard Theater had yet to schedule a new opening night for “Checkers,” Douglas McGrath’s play about Richard and Pat Nixon. Nearby in Union Square previews for the Classic Stage Company’s production of “Ivanov,” starring Ethan Hawke, were on hold as well. Power outages in lower Manhattan were largely the culprit, though in some cases damage from flooding caused even bigger problems. Coney Island USA, the resident non-profit arts organization on Coney Island, sustained major damage when its entire theater was submerged under five feet of water for hours.

Benton

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