For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
FUNDING
How Will Republicans Handle PBS?
Orlando Bagwell: Ready for His Close-Up
BBC to Limit Ties to Junk Food
TELECOM
Stealth DSL Price Increases Loom
QUICK HITS
Legislation Update
Fact-checker: Ads' Facts Checkered
Whose "Information Society"?
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. Headlines are compiled by
Kevin Taglang (ktaglang( at )etpost.net) -- we welcome your comments.
FUNDING
HOW WILL REPUBLICANS HANDLE PBS?
In the mid-1990s, Republican Members of Congress tried to dismantle the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. An intense public outcry saved
pubcasting. The new strategy of Republicans seems to be to make public
broadcasting work for the new conservative agenda: controlling content for
conservative benefit and shifting funding from national to local (and
usually less political) programming. A recent appointee to the CPB board
testified to Congress that she supports penalties for pubcasters the board
deems unbalanced. The poster boy for unbalanced coverage is Bill Moyers.
Some public broadcasting supporters believe the upcoming reauthorization of
CPB could get ugly. But the board is already making controversial moves
like helping to introduce the Tucker Carlson show and cutting the CPB
Future Fund.
[SOURCE: The Independent, AUTHOR: Matt Dunne]
([SOURCE: The Independent, AUTHOR: ]
(http://www.aivf.org/independent/index.html)
For more on reauthorization of CPB and funding public broadcasting, see
Common Cause
http://www.commoncause.org/action/action.cfm?topicid=7
ORLANDO BAGWELL: READY FOR HIS CLOSE-UP
A profile of Orlando Bagwell, the new program officer of Media, Arts and
Culture at the Ford Foundation. Mr. Bagwell's filmography includes Matters
of Race, Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery, and Roots
of Resistance: A Story of the Underground Railroad, in addition to profiles
of such seminal figures as Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, Alvin Ailey, and
Martin Luther King, Jr. A recurring theme throughout Mr. Bagwell's career
has been the value of media as a place where unseen worlds and lives can be
represented. Why is his stepping away from production now? "I've been so
involved in production day in and day out, one production after another, at
times I thought the industry was moving faster than I was," he says. "I had
been wanting to take some time to step back and take stock of it all, to
look not only at where things have changed, but think about where they
might go." Part of what he wants to think about are the opportunities
broadband provides in the creation and distribution of documentaries. What
kinds of proposals will catch his attention? Broadly, says Bagwell, "well
thought out projects with the potential to be completed and a vision for
how the work might somehow energize ourselves as citizens of this nation,
and of the world. If media can do that, then it's media you have to pay
attention to."
[SOURCE: The Independent, AUTHOR: Erin Torneo]
http://www.aivf.org/independent/archives/0404/0404_Torneo.html
For more information on Ford's work in this area see
http://www.fordfound.org/program/media.cfm
BBC TO LIMIT TIES TO JUNK FOOD
One broadcaster is taking seriously the link between television and
childhood obesity. The BBC will limit sugar, salt and fat content of
products that bear the names and images of the network's children's
television characters. The BBC's policy is initially aimed at about 100
products covered by 45 different licensees in Britain, but the broadcaster
said it would be extended in the future to other food licenses around the
globe. The Food Commission, a London-based lobbying group for healthier
foods, said it was pleased that the new policy would apply globally, "to
help protect children in developing countries from the effects of poor
diet." The move to make its licensed food products more politically correct
could give the BBC some ammunition for the proceedings to renew its
charter, which expires in 2006.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Charles Goldsmith
charles.goldsmith( at )wsj.com ]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108120110924674662,00.html?mod=todays...
(requires subscription)
TELECOM
STEALTH DSL PRICE INCREASES LOOM
SBC and BellSouth are about to start charging digital subscriber line (DSL)
customers "regulatory recovery fees," increasing rates for the high-speed
Internet services. Although both BellSouth and SBC explain that the fee is
used to offset regulatory costs, both also acknowledge that the fee is not
a tax or government-required charge. Starting the fee on April 15 is a
total coincidence. Mike Paxton, an analyst at In-Stat/MDR, said the new
fees are price hikes in regulatory clothing. "In this case, it sounds like
they're trying to blame the (price) increase on taxes and regulatory fees
they were already paying," Paxton said. "The bottom line: No new
regulations were put in place; they were paying (USF) and taxes before;
they are still paying for it now, but the consumer is paying an extra
several dollars per month."
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Jim Hu]
http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5185215.html?tag=nefd.lede
QUICK HITS
* Legislation Update: A vote on the Senate's version of the broadcast
decency bill could come as early as tomorrow. The Senate is not likely to
vote on S-150, sponsored by Sen. Allen (R-VA), before next week's recess.
The bill would make permanent the ban on discriminatory Internet taxes and
access taxes that expired in November. [SOURCE: Communications Daily]
FACT-CHECKER: ADS' FACTS CHECKERED
With political advertising such an issue in this year's race for President,
readers might like to check out www.factcheck.org, a site run by Annenberg
Political Fact Check, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of
the University of Pennsylvania. The group researches the truthfulness of
campaigns ads. "This job is kind of like that carnival game Whack-a-Mole,"
says Brooks Jackson, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, the
Associated Press and CNN. "And there's more whacking to do than ever."
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR:Mark Memmott]
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040406/6084006s.htm
WHOSE "INFORMATION SOCIETY"?
Was WSIS worth it? The general verdict on the recent United Nations World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in December 2003 was a
thumbs-down. The Summit outcomes were limited after an arduous and
expensive process. However, argues Association for Progressive
Communications Executive Director Anriette Esterhuysen, from the
perspective of many civil society organizations that participated actively,
the WSIS has created a new opportunity for solidarity across ideological,
sectoral and geographical divides. She concludes, "The slogan 'Another
world is possible,' adopted by the global justice and solidarity movement,
applies to the ICT world as well. It is up to us to make it concrete by
thinking creatively and acting to appropriate technology. It is up to
donors to continue to invest in networking and learning."
[SOURCE: Association for Progressive Communications, AUTHOR: Anriette
Esterhuysen anriette( at )apc.org]
http://www.apc.org/english/about/history/english.shtml?cmd[384]=i-575-17983
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