For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
THE BATTLE OVER PUBLIC BROADCASTING
House Restores CPB's $100 Million
Harrison Named President/CEO of CPB
LEGISLATION
McCain-Lautenberg Bill Backs City Data Entry
Stevens Wants Telecom Input By July 4
Senate Punts on Broadcast Flag Option
BROADCASTING
Broadcasters Urge FCC Not to Further Regulate VNRs
BBC to Use Time Delay Device to Weed Out Upsetting Images
LIBRARIES
Library Internet Access
Turning books into bits
QUICKLY-- Gannett May Buy Emmis Television Stations; Net To Newspapers:
Drop Dead; TV Meters Give Shows Aimed at Minorities a Lift; Michigan Lift
for BPL; Chinese bloggers; This is your brain on video games
THE BATTLE OVER PUBLIC BROADCASTING
HOUSE RESTORES CPB's $100 MILLION
The House has voted 284 to 140 (including 80-plus Republicans) to restore
$100 million in funds to CPB, though another $100 million, including for
kids shows, remained on the cutting room floor. CPB Chairman Kenneth
Tomlinson was pleased with the move, and said he would work to make sure it
survived: "We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for voting to
restore full funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for Fiscal
Year 2006 in this year's Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
Appropriations bill," he said in a statement. "We will work with our
colleagues in the public broadcasting community to make the case for
protecting this funding as the appropriations measure makes its way through
Congress." Missing from the amendment were another $100 million in cuts,
including funding for the Ready to Learn kids show grant, for the digital
conversion, and interconnection funds for distributing shows to stations.
That troubled an otherwise pleased Pat Mitchell, president of PBS: "Despite
this victory, we remain very concerned that essential funds were
nonetheless eliminated for our Ready To Learn children's programming
initiative, for the interconnection system that links PBS with local
stations and for the transition to digital broadcasting mandated by
Congress," she said. "With these cuts, the financial burden of maintaining
these operations will fall entirely to local public television stations,
decimating their ability to finance local programming, educational outreach
and even to air PBS programming. In terms of the digital transition,
without restoration of funds, many local PBS stations, especially those in
rural areas, will be unable to complete the transition and will go dark
when their analog signal goes off. With the future of the public
broadcasting system still at stake, we will continue to work with APTS and
NPR to ensure that full funding will be restored as the bill moves through
the U.S. Senate and to conference committee."
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA610412?display=Breaking+News&...
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* House Blocks Move To Cut PBS Funds
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111958472977868627,00.html?mod=todays...
* House Vote Spares Public Broadcasting Funds
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR200506...
* House votes to keep most PBS funding intact
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050624/wk_strip24.art.htm
* Cuts to Public Radio and TV Scaled Back
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-et-cpb24jun24,1,436824...
* Congress responds to public outcry, restores partial funding for public
broadcasting (Free Press)
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=78
PATRICIA HARRISON NAMED PRESIDENT/CEO OF THE CORPORATION OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING
Patricia S. Harrison, former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational
and Cultural Affairs (ECA), has been named President and CEO of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Harrison stated, "I am pleased
to join with the Board and all stakeholders in the future success of public
broadcasting." She also vowed to join with public broadcast leaders to
restore congressional cuts of CPB in the President