For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
[Commentary] More than 2,200 hundred people have gathered in Saint Louis.
They are from 50 states and 8 countries. They are part of the movement that
flooded the Federal Communications Commission with millions of
comments about media ownership -- comments that helped lead to a
Philadelphia court staying those rules before overturning them.
Two FCC Commissioners -- and at least two former Commissioners --
are here to speak with participants. As are a number of Members of
Congress. So where are you? Where are you Broadcasting&Cable,
Multichannel News, Communications Daily, TVWeek, Radio Ink,
Telecommunications Reports? We're talking about policies that
could forever alter the industries you cover. Where are you?
You're just not missing the boat, you're missing the opportunity
to warn your readers of a coming wave.
http://www.freepress.net/conference/
MEDIA
Tragicomedy of Life in Baghdad Is Brought Home in a TV Series
Sensenbrenner: End DTV-Tuner Mandate
VoiceofSanDiego.org
Delhi Set to Open up Media Ownership
EDUCATION
College Libraries Set Aside Books in a Digital Age
TELECOM
In Cities Facing Budget Deficits, Cellphone Becomes a Taxpayer
MEDIA
TRAGICOMEDY OF LIFE IN BAGHDAD IS BROUGHT HOME IN A TV SERIES
"Love and War" is a black comedy that could only have been made
in Iraq. It mixes slapstick and even a few Bollywood-style musical
numbers with a brutally frank portrayal of the violence in the
country. Several of its main characters die in bombings, others are
kidnapped and tanks and helicopters are a constant backdrop.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Robert Worth]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/international/middleeast/14show.html
(requires registration)
SENSENBRENNER: END DTV-TUNER MANDATE
House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
has reintroduced a bill, co-sponsored by Rep Barney Frank (D-MA),
that would prohibit the FCC from requiring digital-television tuners.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: ]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA601531?display=Breaking+News &referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
VOICEOFSANDIEGO.ORG
Two veteran reporters launched VoiceofSanDiego.org, a nonprofit site
whose mission is in part, to "encourage civic participation through
an interactive forum that offers diverse perspective," and to "provide
courageous reporting on a region not fully understood or reported by
existing media." The nonprofit news model seems to appeal to other
parts of the nation as well. Though grants, the Maryland Philip
Merrill College of Journalism established J-Lab, an institution
which "helps news organizations and citizens use new information
ideas and innovative computer technologies to develop new ways for
people to engage in critical public policy issues." It recently
awarded 10 "New Voices" grants as part of a pioneering program to
seed innovative news ventures. Voice of San Diego did not qualify
because they had already launched, but Executive Director Jan Schafer
said J-Lab received 243 applicants, who had to qualify as either
nonprofit or educational/institutional during the 10-week window
that submissions were accepted.
[SOURCE: Online Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Sarah Colombo]
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050512colombo/
DELHI SET TO OPEN UP FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP
India has given its clearest signal yet that it
is to liberalize its print media industry by
allowing foreign newspapers to publish in India
and permitting foreign institutional investors
to buy stakes in local media. Under a 50-year-old
cabinet rule, India forbids foreign newspapers to
publish local editions. But yesterday a high-level
group of ministers reviewing the rule recommended
it be set aside.
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Ray Marcelo]
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e32d572c-c34a-11d9-abf1-00000e2511c8.html
EDUCATION
COLLEGE LIBRARIES SET ASIDE BOOKS IN A DIGITAL AGE
The University of Texas is dispensing the undergraduate library's
90,000 volumes to other university collections to clear space for
a 24-hour electronic information commons, a fast-spreading phenomenon
that is transforming research and study on campuses around the country.
Their new version is to include "software suites" - modules with computers
where students can work collaboratively at all hours - an expanded center
for writing instruction, and a center for computer training, technical
assistance and repair. Such digital learning laboratories, staffed with
Internet-expert librarians, teachers and technicians, have been advancing
on traditional college libraries since appearing at the University of
Southern California in 1994. As more texts become accessible online,
libraries have been moving lesser-used materials to storage. But experts
said it was symbolic for a top educational institution like Texas to empty
a library of books. The trend is being driven, academicians and librarians
say, by the dwindling need for undergraduate libraries, many of which were
built when leading research libraries were reserved for graduate students
and faculty. But those distinctions have largely crumbled, with research
libraries throwing open their stacks, leaving undergraduate libraries as
increasingly puny adjuncts with duplicate collections and shelves of
light reading.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ralph Blumenthal]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/education/14library.html
(requires registration)
TELECOM
IN CITIES FACING BUDGET DEFICITS, CELLPHONE BECOMES A TAXPAYER
Cities and states around the country are taxing cell phones to
raise revenues. Officials are particularly eager to tax cellphones
because the amounts individuals pay each month are small enough to
go virtually unnoticed, but in aggregate can be substantial.
Cellphone subscribers nationwide paid an estimated $17.8 billion
in federal, state and local taxes last year. But mounting taxes
have led wireless companies like Verizon Wireless and Sprint to
form unlikely alliances with consumer advocates and tax reformers
to fight new city fees. They argue that consumers are taxed twice
in states and cities that also impose sales taxes, and that the
extra burden is particularly hard on retirees and low-income
subscribers and also reduces overall demand for mobile service.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/technology/14cell.html
(requires registration)
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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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