For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
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Again, sorry we're late this morning. We'll be served with coffee again
tomorrow. KT
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MEDIA & ELECTIONS
Activists Claim Sinclair Victory
Why I Stood Up to Sinclair
Four . . . More . . . Years?
Univision Tries To Boost Share Of Political Ads
Grass-Roots Politics With Click of a Mouse
MEDIA POLICY
Powell, Broadcasters Targeted in New Web Ad
Battle Over Violence
QUICKLY
Approval Expected for Big Cellphone Deal
Would President Kerry Defang the DMCA?
Advertisers Tune In to New Radio Gauge
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
ACTIVISTS CLAIM SINCLAIR VICTORY
Reaction to Sinclair's "A POW Story" came quick Friday evening after the
show was aired: "Tonight we heard a broadcast company do what the American
people expect broadcasters to do," said Gene Kimmelman, senior director for
policy at Consumers Union. "We feel like what was presented tonight was far
different from what was originally intended. In general, it appears that
Sinclair listened to the American people." Even though the program passed
muster with the activists, they predicted momentum would keep building for
a revival of extinct FCC rules that once required broadcasters to make
airtime available to people who have been attacked by stations and to
require broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues. The debate
of the past two weeks "gives us more fuel to reinvigorate and revive the
Fairness Doctrine and personal attack rules," said Gloria Tristani, head of
media policy advocacy for the United Church of Christ. "We wouldn't have
had to monitor this so strongly if those rules had been in place."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA474631.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
WHY I STOOD UP TO SINCLAIR
[Commentary] Lieberman offers his side of the Sinclair/Stolen Honor
controversy. He was last week for talking about company business to the
press. He writes about how the traditional way of fairly and objectively
covering news began to disintegrate at Sinclair starting with the
politically charged commentaries of Mark Hyman, in nearly every newscast.
Then newsroom leaders (at the encouragement of Hyman) started suggesting
pro-administration story ideas. They made sure that every political story
had a comment from the Bush administration, and went out of their way to
get it. But they didn't always balance the stories with the Democratic
response. Lieberman believed airing "Stolen Honor" would have been
acceptable as commentary, but should not be classified as "news" (a
classification that would preclude Sinclair from having to offer the Kerry
campaign equal time to respond). He let his employer know his objections
and refused to work on the project. He ends: "At Sinclair headquarters,
nobody was happy with the project, as far as I could tell. But there was no
room for dissension. Everyone was afraid for their jobs. My former
colleagues are excellent journalists, but need to feed their families, and
can't afford to take the hit of being fired. And at Sinclair, everyone is
expendable. That's why nobody else did what I did and took a stand against
Sinclair's decision."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Jon Lieberman, Sinclair's former
Washington bureau chief]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA474622.html?display=Editorial...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
Links to additional Sinclair stories:
*SINCLAIR ACCOMMODATES COMPLAINING VETS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA474512?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* DINGELL WARNS SINCLAIR
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA474474?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* SINCLAIR IS CRAZY LIKE A FOX
Aaron Barhart writes: "[T]o focus solely on Sinclair's political intentions
is to miss what this media giant has done. Two years ago Sinclair made a
calculated marketing decision to become the local TV news version of Fox
News Channel. It is, in large part, betting the fortunes of its television
chain on it. Regardless of its backtracking on 'Stolen Honor' (and the
'Nightline' fiasco that preceded it earlier this year), its long-term goals
remain the same."
[SOURCE: Kansas City Star, AUTHOR: Aaron Barhart]
http://www.mediafordemocracy.us/ct/TdS3xBY141KL/http://www.kansascity.co...
(from MediaChannel.org)
* SINCLAIR'S SIN
(Commentary) Sinclair Broadcast Group's attempt to force an anti-John Kerry
propaganda film onto prime time was the latest example of a disturbing
trend: ideological programming that blurs the old distinction between news
and opinion.
[SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun, AUTHOR: Christopher Hanson]
http://www.mediafordemocracy.us/ct/R7S3xBY1XpCC/http://www.baltimoresun....
(requires registration) (from MediaChannel.org)
* TV COMPANY TAKES HIT ON STOCK, ETHICS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jerry Knight]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60014-2004Oct24.html
(requires registration)
FOUR . . . MORE . . . YEARS?
What does it mean -- for the media -- if President Bush is reelected? From
the 36-day recount through the Iraq war and beyond, George W. Bush has been
at the center of the political and media universe. He's had a testy
relationship with the establishment press: the fewest news conferences of
any president in more than four decades, an administration that thrives on
secrecy and a vice president who has denounced the New York Times and
barred its reporters from Air Force Two. Not to mention a special
prosecutor who is threatening to put reporters in jail in the Valerie Plame
case. It's no secret that many journalists feel burned by the
administration's WMD claims during the run-up to war and that their
coverage has gotten tougher over the past year. Will attitudes harden on
both sides if they have to coexist for another four years? "I think
journalists will accept the judgment of the public and read the victory as
an acceptance that the rules are now changed," says Washington Monthly
Editor Paul Glastris, a former Clinton administration official. "The way
they've been treated, the way the administration buries information and
misrepresents almost anything they want to would just be an accepted fact
of life. There will be a defining down of the acceptable standards of what
government can do."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59786-2004Oct24.html
(requires registration)
UNIVISION TRIES TO BOOST SHARE OF POLITICAL ADS
Political advertising in U.S. media is expected to hit $1.5 billion this
election and political ads contribute as much as 8% of revenue to the Big
Four television networks in an election year. But most analysts don't
expect Spanish-language media to draw more than $14 million nationally from
the presidential race. For example, Univision programs draw more prime-time
viewers than ABC, CBS and NBC in many cities, but historically tallies less
than 1% of revenue from political ads. Univision is playing educator to
both its audience and candidates in the political arena. Its influential
network news anchorwoman, Maria Elena Salinas, is the face of a campaign by
Univision and NALEO Educational Fund, a nonpartisan Latino outreach group,
to get Hispanics to register and turn out to vote. The number of Hispanics
who are eligible to vote but not registered, 7.1 million, is almost as high
as the number of those who are registered. A successful enrollment drive
could fuel ad revenue in future elections, even if it doesn't this time
around. "If people register to vote because of us, they'll show up on voter
lists and we can attract [more] political advertisers next time," says
Michael Wortsman, who runs the 55 television stations owned by Univision
and its sister network, Telefutura. "We're not PBS." At the same time,
Univision has worked on a parallel track to teach political campaigns about
the emerging Hispanic market it is educating. It conjured up a CD-ROM,
called the "Hispanic Vote Tool Kit," and has shipped out thousands to
national and local politicians since May. "We demystify the Hispanic
electorate and correct misconceptions," says Scott Roskowski, a Univision
vice president of business development.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Jordan miriam.jordan( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109865611726854084,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
GRASS-ROOTS POLITICS WITH CLICK OF MOUSE
As the election season reaches its peak, Silicon Valley is using its
technical know-how and money to try to change politics in the same way it
reinvented commerce -- by harnessing the Internet's ability to take
advantage of and grow social networks from the bottom up. It's about making
politics "cool," encouraging young (potential) voters to get involved. In
many parts of the country, house parties, rock concerts and other social
events sponsored by techie political groups are becoming the place for the
young and hip to mix and mingle and support their political causes.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ariana Eunjung Cha]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59750-2004Oct24.html
(requires registration)
MEDIA POLICY
POWELL, BROADCASTERS TARGETED IN NEW WEB AD
The Center for Digital Democracy has produced a Web ad targeting FCC
Chairman Michael Powell and what it fears will be too lenient rules of the
road for digital broadcasters. The ad includes a picture of Chairman Powell
on a TV screen as a voice warns that the FCC is about to allow broadcasters
to rake in "even greater" profits with the FCC's new digital rules. What
will the FCC give you? Nothing [the screen turns to static], not unless the
FCC tells broadcasters to start serving the public. Giving you less junk
and more local news, information and election coverage." The voice implores
the listener to "call Michael Powell [an 800 number appears on the screen]
or write your congressman and tell them that broadcasters must use your
airwaves to serve you, not just themselves." CDD has been lobbying for a
host of digital public interest obligations, including more and better
children's programming and political speech. It is also pushing for a
reimposition and expansion of the fairness doctrine, which had required
broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues. See the ad at:
http://www.hmprojects.com/thebiggiveaway.html
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA474636.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
BATTLE OVER VIOLENCE
Despite lawmakers' repeated calls to end prime time shootings, beatings and
other make-believe mayhem, an FCC inquiry into the need for restrictions on
TV violence is generating little enthusiasm from everyday citizens. Through
last week, the FCC had received fewer than 170 requests from parents to
restrict TV violence. The agency had asked for public input by Oct. 15 to
help it prepare a report that must be submitted to Congress by Jan. 1, and
had been hoping to get some advice from parents, children's advocates and
media lawyers on how to protect kids from the possibly harmful effects of
onscreen bedlam. Instead, only a few adamant TV critics bothered to file
comments in support of the idea.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA474520.html?display=Washingto...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
QUICKLY
APPROVAL EXPECTED FOR BIG CELLPHONE DEAL
The Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission are
expected to announce today the approval of the $41 billion merger purchase
of AT&T Wireless by Cingular. The approval is expected to come with
conditions including the sale of some of the combined company's spectrum
licenses to ease concerns that the new company would possess too much
market dominance.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/business/25cingular.html
(requires registration)
WOULD PRESIDENT KERRY DEFANG THE DCMA?
Last week, Sen John Kerry said he might support rewriting the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act to let Americans make backup copies of digital
media they've purchased.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Declan McCullagh ]
http://news.com.com/Would+President+Kerry+defang+the+DMCA/2010-1028_3-54...
ADVERTISERS TUNE IN TO NEW RADIO GAUGE
MobilTrak installs devices around metropolitan areas that can track what
radio stations passing cars are tuned to. The company then sells the
results to advertisers eager to better reach audiences. The monitoring aims
to help retailers choose where to advertise by giving them a snapshot of
which stations consumers tune into as they drive by their businesses. The
approach is the most recent example of the powerful ways marketers are
using technology to track customer behavior in natural settings.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Dina ElBoghdady]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60013-2004Oct24.html
(requires registration)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
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