For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
TODAY'S QUESTION: How long did you stay up for a call on the election?
(12:30 central)
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
TV News Plays It Safe, Up to a Point
The Internet Changing Some Political Rules
MEDIA
Activists Push More Community Media
NAB Pans Public-Interest Inquiry
Political Coverage Boosts Cable News Nets
NAB Reiterates Need for EAS Selective Override
Can Radio Kill the Digital Music Star?
TELECOM
Agenda for Open Meeting Nov 9
Verizon Wireless OK with Nextel Swap
MEDIA & ELECTIONS
TV NEWS PLAYS IF SAFE, UP TO A POINT
The networks made it clear they were far more concerned with not fouling
things up last night, as they did in 2000, than with beating their rivals
by minutes with a "scoop" that might backfire. Calling states "red" or
"blue" was slow. But Fox News broke ranks with the other networks at 12:41
this morning, projecting President Bush as the winner in the crucial
battleground of Ohio and putting him just one electoral vote from winning
reelection.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20507-2004Nov3.html
See also:
Red, Blue and Maybe: Timid Television
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20661-2004Nov3.html
(requires registration)
Additional coverage --
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109945558719163370,00.html?mod=todays...
USAToday
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20041103/a_media03.art.htm
LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-tv3nov03,1,25183...
B&C: Net Face 2000 Redux
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA477628?display=Breaking+News&...
THE INTERNET CHANGING SOME POLITICAL RULES
[Commentary] The 2004 election marks the assimilation of the Internet into
our political system. Big media, big money and big institutions continue to
play a powerful, even dominant role and will for some time. But the Net,
the ultimate democratizing technology, has changed at least some of the
rules -- for politicians, media and, most important, for the voters.
Fundraising was the most important development, but the Net was also used
as an organizational tool as a more direct means for candidates to speak
with supporters. Bloggers came to the fore as media watchdogs. Some
political bloggers became media heavyweights in their own right, at least
among political journalists and activists. Josh Marshall's
TalkingPointsMemo.com is a must-read on the left; ditto for Glenn Reynolds'
Instapundit.com on the right. There's no doubt that the explosion of
new-media outlets is doing something profoundly useful for the voters. They
have many, many more ways to learn, and they're taking advantage of the
opportunity.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Dan Gillmor]
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/10086652.htm
MEDIA
ACTIVISTS PUSH MORE COMMUNITY MEDIA
The commercial interests of corporate media conglomerates have "eclipsed"
community needs, a coalition of media activists has told the FCC, and the
Commission should take several steps to boost broadcast localism. Those
steps include: 1) Assigning more broadcast licenses to nonprofit community
media, including youth media and low-power broadcasting. 2) Developing
regulations to ensure that commercial broadcasters provide local groups and
media producers with access to broadcast time and facilities. 3) Developing
new initiatives for expanding ethnic and racial diversity among broadcast
licensees. 4) Establishing mechanisms for supporting nonprofit community
media, including a "localism and diversity" fund supported in part by
licensing fees.
The coalition was led by the Consumer Federation of America and NYU School
of Law's Brennan Center for Justice.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA477559?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
NAB PANS PUBLIC-INTEREST INQUIRY
How much do we love the NAB? Let's count the ways. Way 4,987: In comments
filed at the FCC, the National Association of Broadcasters contend that by
examining the need for specific public interest obligations on
broadcasters, the Commission is walking down a path that is "unlawful,
unnecessary and fraught with peril." The FCC has questioned whether
stations should be required to air specific quantities of news, public
affairs, locally originated and children's programming. Supporters of the
idea say corporate consolidation has led broadcasters to increasingly
neglect their obligation to serve local audiences. The NAB contends that
small and low-rated stations would suffer most, particularly if saddled
with the extra cost of mandated newscasts. "The current economic realities
of the broadcasting business" make it extremely difficult for some stations
to produce local news. The lobbying group maintains that broadcasters can
discern local needs on their own. Those that fail their communities will
have low ratings and will go out of business. Mandates, however, can only
drive up stations' operating costs. However, Capitol Broadcasting, a
Raleigh (NC)-based station group, supports very detailed programming
obligations. For starters, Capitol suggests that stations be required to
ascertain their communities' needs, interests and problems by holding
face-to-face meetings with members of the community or through "town hall"
web casts. Capitol says the obligations would rejuvenate public support for
the industry and help stations differentiate themselves from cable and
satellite TV.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: William S Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA477557.html?display=Breaking+...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
The NAB's comments are available online at:
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/Filings/LocalismComs110104.pdf
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/Filings/LocalismComsExs110104.pdf
POLITICAL COVERAGE BOOSTS CABLE NEWS NETS
CNN, Fox News and MSNBC each gained dramatic year-to-year increases in
viewership as people tuned into for election coverage in October.
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Michele Greppi]
http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=6649
NAB REITERATES NEED FOR EAS SELECTIVE OVERRIDE
The National Association of Broadcasters wants the FCC to craft emergency
alert system (EAS) regulation that require cable operators to better
protect local broadcasters' emergency signals. In comments filed with the
FCC on EAS, NAB proposed a selective override in which the FCC mandates
that cable operators use a filter system enabling a cable operator to
replace certain channels selectively during an EAS interruption.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Tania Panczyk-Collins]
(Not available online)
CAN RADIO KILL THE DIGITAL MUSIC STAR?
Just as the iPod and other portable devices that hold songs copied from CDs
or downloaded from the Web begin to evolve with new functions like photo
storage, along comes a gadget that plays and records material from
satellite radio. The MyFi costs $350 in addition to XM's $9.99 monthly fee
for more than 130 channels of commercial-free programming. It can run for
five hours on a rechargeable battery and uses an antenna in its case to
draw down the satellite signals. The MyFi has a "memory mode" to store and
replay up to five hours of XM content. Users can record programs on the
spot or set up a timed recording of a show in advance. Like the TiVo, iPod
and other players, users can search stored content by artist or song title.
"If it works, the XM Radio portable is a much bigger deal than the latest
iPods," said Jupiter Research analyst David Card. "Think about it, just
about everybody listens to radio, while only about 60 percent of the U.S.
buys any music at all."
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sue Zeidler]
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=2KESSNFQ0Y3JUCRBAELC...
TELECOM
AGENDA FOR OPEN MEETING NOV 9
The FCC released its agenda for next Tuesday's open meeting yesterday.
Items include: 1) an International Bureau report on the recently completed
ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly and the Commission's
participation in the conference, 2) rules changes for the 4.940-4.990 GHz
Band, 3) the Commission's local competition and broadband data gathering
program, and 4) a ruling on Internet telephone service (VoIP). Multichannel
News noted that the Commission will not be voting on a plan to speed the
transition to digital-only television broadcasting. FCC staff indicated
weeks ago that a vote on the digital-TV plan would likely be postponed
until December.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253922A1.doc
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA477515.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
VERIZON WIRELESS OK WITH NEXTEL SWAP
Verizon Wireless on Tuesday withdrew its opposition to a plan that would
give Nextel Communications valuable new wireless airwaves, sending Nextel's
shares up as much as 5%. In return, Nextel said it would forego ownership
rights to the "push to talk" phrase used for its walkie-talkie style
feature, which Verizon Wireless and others have added to their services.
The move by Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and
Britain's Vodafone Group, to drop its objections to the spectrum swap plan
eliminates uncertainty that has plagued Nextel stock, one analyst said. "It
removes the largest hurdle to Nextel completing the spectrum swap," said
Charter Equity analyst Ed Snyder who noted that Verizon was one of the
plan's most vocal opponents. Verizon and Nextel said they had resolved all
legal disputes between the companies but did not disclose other terms of
their settlement in a statement issued Tuesday.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://news.com.com/Verizon+Wireless+OK+with+Nextel+swap/2100-1039_3-543...
Additional coverage:
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18229-2004Nov2.html
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109941002329062243,00.html?mod=todays...
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/business/03phone.html
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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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