POLICYMAKERS
Martin Staff Changes Cause Discomfort
MEDIA
So Much Media, so Little Attention Span
PTC Targets MTV Advertisers
Some Pay for a TV Service That They Didn't Choose
Flag Foes Justify Day in Court
TELECOM
Qwest Prepares A Revised Offer To Acquire MCI
Vonage may Route 911 call to Congress, FCC
QUICKLY -- What is a =91journalist'?; MGM-Sony Deal Cleared by Europeans;=20
File-Sharing at Work; VentureCapitalTV.com; Why do we tell stories?
POLICYMAKERS
MARTIN STAFF CHANGES CAUSE DISCOMFORT
Apparently, depending who you talk to, new FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is=20
either Attila the Hun or your average new chairman trying to put his mark=20
on the commission he runs. FCC Wireline Chief Jeffrey Carlisle, Wireless=20
Chief John Muleta, Media Chief Kenneth Ferree, Enforcement Chief David=20
Solomon, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Chief Dane Snowden have all=20
departed the Commission since former Chairman Powell announced his=20
resignation. Some FCC staff and observers say these and other staff changes=
=20
are par for the course; others are miffed because they find the moves too=20
abrupt. Chairman Martin has gotten high marks for =93collegiality=94 since=
=20
taking over because he appears to be forging close relationships with other=
=20
commissioners. He attended a Federal Communications Bar Association lunch=20
Monday to hear Commissioner Copps speak (and tell jokes about the=20
Chairman), a gesture many term unusual -- chairmen and other commissioners=
=20
generally don't attend each others=92 speeches. Commissioner Adelstein also=
=20
attended the lunch. Sources said Chairman Martin=92s staff has been meeting=
=20
with other commissioners=92 staffs to learn what sort of information they=20
would like to have about ongoing proceedings, whether they would like it on=
=20
paper or electronically and if they would like more meetings. The=20
=93outreach=94 effort appears to have been =93handled deftly=94 and was=20
=93well-received,=94 an outside source said.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Edie Herman]
(Not available online)
MEDIA
SO MUCH MEDIA, SO LITTLE ATTENTION
As U.S. children are exposed to 8=BD hours of TV, video games, computers and=
=20
other media a day -- often at once -- are they losing the ability to=20
concentrate? Are their developing brains becoming hard-wired to =93multi-tas=
k=20
lite=94 rather than learn the focused critical thinking needed for a=20
democracy? These troubling questions are raised by a Kaiser Family=20
Foundation media study this month, says educational psychologist David=20
Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a Minneapolis=20
non-profit. Even more troubling is the answer: We don't know, Walsh and=20
other experts in the field say. Bipartisan legislation introduced in the=20
Senate this month would spend $90 million over five years to research how=20
electronic media affect the mental, social, physical and psychological=20
development of children.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Marilyn Elias]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050331/bl_cover31.art.htm
For information about how TV and other media affect children, and how=20
parents can guide kids in their media use:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050331/bl_cover31_box.art.htm
See also:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050331/bl_cover31_numbers.ar...
m
PTC TARGETS MTV ADVERTISERS
From the home office in Los Angeles, here's the Parent's Television=20
Council's "Top Ten Corporate Sponsors of MTV Sleaze." 10) General Electric=
=20
Co. 9) Foot Locker. 8) Cadbury Schweppes. 7) Hershey Foods. 6)=20
Colgate-Palmolive. 5) Viacom. 4) PepsiCo. 3) Time Warner. 2) Sony. and --=20
drum roll, please -- at #1 Procter & Gamble. Their crime? They are the top=
=20
10 MTV advertisers. PTC sent letters to all 10 advertisers during MTV=20
Spring Break programming in 2004, asking them to justify their patronage of=
=20
the network, which has long been on the PTC's hit list for sex, violence=20
and profanity. "These companies must be held accountable for underwriting=20
this material,=94 said PTC President L. Brent Bozell.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA514072?display=3DBreaking+New...
ferral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
See PTC's Press Release at:
http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/release/2005/0330.asp
SOME PAY FOR A TV SERVICE THAT THEY DIDN'T CHOOSE
With approximately 85% of American households already paying for some sort=
=20
of television and the remaining 15 percent unlikely to sign up for any=20
service, cable and satellite providers are increasingly chasing each=20
other's customers. Among the hottest battlegrounds now for customers in the=
=20
pay television market are planned communities sprouting up across the Sun=20
Belt and apartments and other multi-unit housing blocks in big cities -=20
basically any development where a homeowners' association or management=20
company charges residents for property upkeep, security and the like. Cable=
=20
and satellite providers, of course, love striking these bulk subscriber=20
deals because with one contract they can capture hundreds and sometimes=20
thousands of customers who generate a steady stream of fees for years.=20
Developers, condo boards and property associations like the deals, too,=20
because they need to work with only one television provider and because the=
=20
deals can offer homeowners significant discounts for their cable service.=20
But for homeowners who do not want paid television programming or would=20
rather spend the money on programming available from another provider, the=
=20
lock-ins amount to a tax.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/business/media/31cable.html
(requires registration)
FLAG FOES JUSTIFY DAY IN COURT
Public Knowledge, the American Library Association, and other petitioners=20
have made their case for standing in their challenge to the FCC's decision=
=20
approving the broadcast flag, which would imbed a code in digital=20
broadcasts to prevent them being widely copied and distributed. In=20
Tuesday's brief, Public Knowledge et. al. cited the North Carolina State=20
University Library's Internet distribution of video clips for distance=20
learning as threatened by the flag, as well as American University in=20
Washington, UCLA, and Vanderbilt. All were identified as parties whose=20
educational video operations would be harmed either by restrictions or by=20
the expense of upgrading to flag-compliant equipment. Other harmed parties=
=20
cited included a couple of bloggers who said they would no longer be able=20
to use broadcast clips to annotate their blogs, the marketer of an HDTV=20
tuner card, and a user of the pc-based PVR like device, MythTV, which works=
=20
in concert with a tuner card. MPAA and the FCC now have 10 days to file=20
their response to the new brief.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA514070?display=3DBreaking+New...
ferral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
For more on the broadcast flag court challenge, see:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/bfcase
PK court brief:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/pdf/pk-bfcase-supplemental-brief.pdf
TELECOM
QWEST PREPARES A REVISED OFFER TO ACQUIRE MCI
Qwest Communications International is preparing to launch a revised bid for=
=20
MCI, which this week agreed for a second time to be bought by Verizon=20
Communications after Verizon sweetened its offer to roughly $7.5 billion.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jesse Drucker jesse.drucker( at )wsj.com,=
=20
Almar Latour almar.latour( at )wsj.com and David Luhnow david.luhnow( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111221125234193348,00.html?mod=3Dtoda...
s_page_one
(requires subscription)
WP: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14486-2005Mar30.html
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/business/31phone.html
LATimes:=20
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-qwest31mar31,1,721047...
ory?coll=3Dla-headlines-pe-business
VONAGE MAY ROUTE 911 CALL TO CONGRESS, FCC
Internet phone provider Vonage may ask Congress and the Federal=20
Communications Commission to help it solve problems with SBC over=20
subscriber access to the 911 emergency call network. SBC's decision not to=
=20
work more closely with Vonage, made public Wednesday, may delay efforts to=
=20
fix the problem that keeps a majority of U.S. Net phone providers from=20
successfully routing 911 calls to the right emergency calling center. Many=
=20
of those 911 calls are instead sent to non-emergency operators, with no=20
guarantee the calls will reach dispatch centers close enough to provide the=
=20
most effective help.
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Ben Charny]
http://news.com.com/Vonage+may+route+911+call+to+Congress%2C+FCC/2100-73...
-5647706.html?tag=3Dnefd.top
QUICKLY
WHAT IS A JOURNALIST?
[Commentary] Journalism today operates under a kind of feudal system. Just=
=20
as serfs once provided their labor to the lord of the castle in exchange=20
for protection, reporters today rely on the corporations that hire them to=
=20
give them the legal clout to take risks in digging out the truth. Bloggers=
=20
and freelance book authors don't have this protection. As the power to=20
disperse information moves from castle to cottage, bloggers need to band=20
together, find patrons to protect them, or both. Bloggers are often=20
compared with the lonely pamphleteers who flourished in the 15th century=20
when printing with movable type was a new technology. Professional=20
associations and support groups will make them less lonely.
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Philip Meyer, author of The Vanishing Newspaper]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050331/oplede31.art.htm
MGM-SONY DEAL CLEARED BY EUROPEANS
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. said Wednesday that the European Commission had=20
approved the Hollywood studio's nearly $3-billion sale to a consortium led=
=20
by Sony Corp. The deal received U.S. antitrust regulatory approval when the=
=20
required waiting period expired without objections in December. The studio=
=20
said it expected that the deal would close before mid-April, subject to=20
receipt of the necessary financing and other closing conditions. Sony led=20
an investor group that included Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific=20
Group, cable TV operator Comcast Corp. and Credit Suisse Group's DLJ=20
Merchant Banking.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times]
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-mgm31mar31,1,7264434....
y?coll=3Dla-headlines-pe-business
(requires registration)
Also in --
B&C:=20
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA513929?display=3DBreaking+New...
ferral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
FILE-SHARING AN OUT-OF-OFFICE EXPERIENCE
Does file sharing have anything to do with anything but steal-- um --=20
sharing music files? Yes, yes. See the URL below.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Leslie Walker]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14490-2005Mar30.html
(requires registration)
VENTURE CAPITAL PITCHES GOING THE VIDEO ROUT
Note the end of April for the launch of VentureCapitalTV.com, an Internet=20
site with streaming video broadcasts of entrepreneurs giving their=20
quick-hit "elevator" pitches alongside related material.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen McCarthy]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14491-2005Mar30.html
(requires registration)
CRACKING THE STORY CODE
[Commentary] One of the greatest mysteries in our lives lies so close=20
beneath our noses that we don't even recognize it to be a mystery. Why do=20
we tell stories? Why has evolution given us the ability to conjure up these=
=20
sequences of imaginary happenings, on which, through movies, novels, plays,=
=20
TV soaps and comic strips, we spend so much of our lives?
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Christopher Booker, author of The=20
Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-booker31mar31,1,4...
62.story?coll=3Dla-news-comment
(requires registration)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online news summary service=20
provided by the Benton Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday through=20
Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments,=20
policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are=20
factually accurate, their often informal tone does not always represent the=
=20
tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang=20
(headlines( at )benton.org) -- we welcome your comments.
--------------------------------------------------------------