For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION -- AND RECOVERY (1)
Companies Tell of Cooperation Among Competitors in Midst of Katrina
Martin Pushes Public Safety/Homeland Security Bureau at FCC
New Lines of Communication
Spectrum Issue Gets Prime Position
BellSouth Looks to Make A Quick Recovery From Katrina
CPB Emergency Grant Assistance Expanded
LEGISLATION
Barton Bill Would Establish Federal Franchising for Video
Watchdogs Pitch DTV Obligations
Key Congressional Aides
TELEVISION
Lost in Translation
Seinfeld Who? NBC Pursuing the Heartland
QUICKLY -- E-Rate Exemption Moves Forward; Roberts Defends Opposing FCC EEO=
=20
Rules; UN control of Internet?
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION -- AND RECOVERY (1)
COMPANIES TELL OF COOPERATION AMONG COMPETITORS IN MIDST OF KATRINA
On Thursday, the FCC held an open meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, hearing from=
=20
telecom industries affected by Hurricane Katrina. Devastation of the Gulf=
=20
Coast spurred unusual collaboration among competing communications firms,=
=20
and sometimes put the FCC in odd roles, such as helping to guard a=20
broadcast station=92s fuel deliveries. The most emotional testimony came fr=
om=20
Gulf Coast area broadcasters, who told of workers wading into=20
alligator-laden swamps to fix generators and of Clear Channel helping to=20
keep Entercom=92s all news WWL(AM) on the air. Diane Newman, operations dir=
.=20
of Entercom=92s WWL(AM) in New Orleans, said her station=92s joint operatio=
n=20
with Clear Channel to broadcast from Baton Rouge was an =93unprecedented=20
cooperation between broadcasters.=94 Speakers touched on familiar issues.=
=20
Hearst-Argyle TV News Vp Fred Young said the Gulf Coast situation made him=
=20
wonder how there could be push for early return of analog spectrum. During=
=20
a crisis like this, it=92s important that all viewers get information, he=
=20
said. Willis Carter, first vp of the Association of Public-Safety=20
Communications Officials, said more action is needed by government agencies=
=20
and Congress to protect public safety. Carter told of harrowing experiences=
=20
as he visited dispatch centers in affected areas. Employees often were=20
living in the centers, working with damaged towers, low fuel and an=20
inability to communicate. He said he saw =93devastation and despair=94 in a=
ll=20
of them. Speakers praised the FCC=92s speedy approval of waivers that=20
legitimized some cooperative efforts, also describing how FCC personnel=20
filled unusual roles, such as finding government security forces to protect=
=20
employees working in communications facilities. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin=
=20
used the forum of the meeting to reveal plans to help communications firms=
=20
and customers and better prepare for the future: 1) Creation of an FCC=20
Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau; 2) Directing $211 million in=20
relief to affected areas through universal service support, working through=
=20
existing programs such as the high-cost program and E-Rate; and 3) Creation=
=20
of a panel of public safety and communications industry experts to study=20
Katrina=92s impact on the communications infrastructure and suggest ways fo=
r=20
the FCC to improve disaster preparedness, network reliability and first=20
responders communications.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Edie Herman]
(Not available online)
See also:
* Bigger Was Better in Katrina, Suggest Media Execs
It was Big Media companies' interconnectedness, vast resources and creative=
=20
partnerships (the latter may have been called collusion in other=20
circumstances) that helped provide vital local information during Hurricane=
=20
Katrina's strike and aftermath, several broadcasters told the FCC Thursday.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257351?display=3DBreaking+Ne...
referral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
MARTIN PUSHES PUBLIC SAFETY/HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU AT FCC
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will propose a new Public Safety/Homeland=20
Security Bureau to =93coordinate public safety, national security and=20
disaster management activities within the FCC," he said at the FCC meeting=
=20
in Atlanta. =93The Bureau will develop policies and rules to promote=20
effective and reliable communications for public safety, national security=
=20
and disaster management,=94 he said. The new Bureau will have responsibilit=
y=20
for: (1) Public safety communications, including 911 centers and first=20
responders. (2) Priority emergency communications. (3) Alerts to U.S.=20
citizens. (4) Continuity of government operations. (5) Infrastructure=20
reporting and analysis during emergencies. (6) Disaster outreach. (7)=20
Communications infrastructure protection. (8) Network interoperability and=
=20
reliability. (9) Network security. The FCC also will provide $211 million=
=20
in universal service funding to the disaster area, Martin said. =93We will=
=20
work through 4 existing programs to provide this support,=94 Martin said: (=
1)=20
The Low Income Program will help those who have been cut of to reestablish=
=20
their communications lines. (2) Using FEMA disaster assistance, the FCC=20
will provide support for wireless handsets and packages of 300 free minutes=
=20
for hurricane survivors. Those eligible for FEMA disaster assistance also=
=20
will be eligible for FCC assistance to pay for reconnecting to networks as=
=20
the affected area is rebuilt. (3) Through the Rural Health Care program,=20
the FCC will support the region=92s emergency health care services, doublin=
g=20
discounts on telecom service from 25% to 50%. (4) Via the E-Rate program,=
=20
the FCC will help reconnect Gulf Coast region schools and libraries. =93We=
=20
will treat schools and libraries struck by the hurricane at the highest=20
level of priority (90%) for Funding Year 2005 and 2006,=94 Martin said: =93=
The=20
Commission can authorize $96 million in E-rate funds for the approximately=
=20
600 schools and libraries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama hit by the=
=20
hurricane.=94
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Susan Polyakova]
(Not available online)
See FCC release:=20
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-261096A1.doc
* Martin Proposes New Public Safety Bureau
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257329?display=3DBreaking+Ne...
referral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* FCC Eyes USF To Aid In Katrina Relief
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-TUCL1126826735143.html
* FCC Hopes to Learn From Effort to Rebuild
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Arshad Mohammed]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR200509...
2337.html
(requires registration)
* FCC Seeks Crisis-Response Changes
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz Amy.Schatz( at )wsj.com and=20
Christopher Rhoads christopher.rhoads( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112682715676642336,00.html?mod=3Dtoda...
us_page_one
(requires subscription)
* F.C.C. Chief Offers Plan to Get Phones to Hurricane Victims
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/business/16phone.html
(requires registration)
* FCC plans $211M to rebuild communications
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050916/katrinafcc16.art.htm
NEW LINES OF COMMUNICATION
As crews rush to restore basic telephone and Internet services to areas=20
ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, some executives, academics and analysts are=
=20
urging a more ambitious approach: Make New Orleans and the surrounding=20
areas super-connected communities, with advanced services that surpass what=
=20
is available anywhere in the country, if not the world. With many poles and=
=20
wires reduced to sticks and spaghetti, cell towers down, miles of streets=
=20
still flooded, and parts of the region uninhabitable for the near future,=
=20
these experts see the perfect opportunity to deploy new systems that=20
otherwise might be too expensive or disruptive to build. The result, they=
=20
say, could be a bonanza of higher technology at lower prices for businesses=
=20
and consumers, more robust emergency-responder systems and an ability to=20
provide high-speed Internet access to poorer segments of the population=20
often left off of the information highway. "The area ought to be a beacon=
=20
for 21st-century communications in the United States," said Rey Ramsey,=20
chief executive of One Economy Corp., a nonprofit organization that helps=
=20
bring high-speed Internet service to inner-city communities. "We ought to=
=20
go state of the art, and state of the art with a purpose."
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jonathan Krim]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR200509...
2342.html
(requires registration)
SPECTRUM ISSUE GETS PRIME POSITION
On an ABC special following President Bush's speech from New Orleans, Ted=
=20
Koppel interviewed two former members of the 9/11 Commission, led by Tom=20
Kean, about emergency preparedness. Kean took the opportunity to push=20
Congress to pass Senator John McCain's SAVE LIVES bill, which calls for the=
=20
return of broadcasters' analog spectrum by 2009, or 2007 if McCain has his=
=20
way, in part to turn over to first responders, Kean did not name the bill,=
=20
but said the lack of spectrum for emergency workers was one of the problems=
=20
identified by the commission after 9/11 that had not yet been rectified and=
=20
Congress had yet to act on a bill. Kean and nine other former commissioners=
=20
held a press conference earlier in the week pushing for return of analog=20
spectrum, and Kean told Koppel Thursday night he thought lives had been=20
lost because of the inability of emergency workers to talk to each other.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton ]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257542?display=3DBreaking+Ne...
referral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
BELLSOUTH LOOKS TO MAKE A QUICK RECOVERY FROM KATRINA
The long-term impact of Hurricane Katrina on most telecom companies is=20
expected to be minimal. Moreover, some companies are expected to benefit=20
from the storm. Equipment vendor Alcatel, for instance, saw its shares rise=
=20
more than $1 to the $12.75 range in the days following the disaster, partly=
=20
on investor sentiment that the company would be providing gear to the=20
affected phone companies. And even BellSouth may see some benefit down the=
=20
road from sales to the army of relief workers setting up camp in the Gulf=
=20
Coast region and from the high marks the company has received for the fast=
=20
pace of its recovery.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Peter Grant peter.grant( at )wsj.com and=
=20
Almar Latour almar.latour( at )wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112683086896242457,00.html?mod=3Dtoda...
us_money_and_investing
(requires subscription)
CPB EMERGENCY GRANT ASSISTANCE EXPANDED
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced that it will=20
provide an additional $500,000 in immediate assistance to public television=
=20
and radio stations in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. The=20
additional funds bring the total of CPB's emergency assistance to stations=
=20
in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to more than $1,000,000. CPB has=20
already made 23 grants totaling $582,000 to public radio and television=20
stations throughout the area. This immediate infusion of money has helped=
=20
cover payroll at the New Orleans television and radio stations (which are=
=20
still off the air); funded distribution of DVDs and books to children in=20
shelters in Mississippi; and helped with the costs of emergency power=20
generation. Grants have also been used for expanded local news coverage of=
=20
the storm and to repair or replace damaged broadcast equipment, among other=
=20
things. The second series of grants will help stations continue to provide=
=20
services during what is likely to be an extended recovery period. Public=20
broadcasting stations around the country continue to pitch in to help their=
=20
colleagues with equipment, professional assistance, and fundraising=20
support. Stations are also providing information to evacuees and working=20
with relief agencies to inform the public about where to donate and how to=
=20
help. Additionally, CPB is seeking emergency supplemental funding from the=
=20
U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Congress to help stations meet=20
extraordinary needs with what are likely to be sharply reduced revenues.
[SOURCE: Corporation for Public Broadcasting press release]
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=3D484
LEGISLATION
BARTON BILL WOULD ESTABLISH FEDERAL FRANCHISING FOR VIDEO
The House now has a telecommunications reform bill to kick around. House=20
Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), ranking member John Dingell (D-MI),=
=20
Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton, ranking Subcommittee member Ed=20
Markey (D-Mass) and Rep. Pickering (R-Miss.) agreed on a "discussion draft"=
=20
of a bill Wednesday and began distributing copies to members of the House=
=20
Thursday. The bill would give federal regulators authority over video=20
franchises for phone companies, require franchise fees of 5% of local=20
revenue, discourage redlining services, and require E-911 for Internet=20
telephony providers. The bill also creates the among =93broadband Internet=
=20
transmission services=94 (BITS) classification, which includes DSL, cable=
=20
modem and other broadband services. BITS would be considered interstate=20
services regulated by the federal government. But the bill preserves state=
=20
and local authority to manage local rights-of-way in a nondiscriminatory=20
way. The FCC would retain authority
over spectrum licensing. BITS providers would be required to connect and=20
exchange traffic with other telco carriers. A company that=92s a telecom=20
carrier and a BITS provider would keep rights to access unbundled network=
=20
elements and collocation under the Communications Act. Leaders vowed to=20
move the bill to a vote on the floor of the House this year.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Anne Veigle]
(Not available online)
See House Commerce Committee release:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/09152005_1642.htm
See text of bill at: http://www.baller.com/pdfs/Draft_Barton-Dingell.pdf
* Draft Bill Would Ease Franchising
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6257455.html?display=3DBreaking+News
(require subscription)
* Telecom Bill Would Streamline Franchises
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257447?display=3DBreaking+Ne...
referral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
* House Telecom Bill Features New Approach To Video Services
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-MKKR1126823799471.html
* Draft Legislation Aims To Aid Competition In Broadband Services
The House Energy and Commerce Committee draft is a victory for advocates of=
=20
"net neutrality" -- the idea that Internet providers have to stand aside=20
and allow customers to access any Web pages as long as the content is=20
legal. The principle is considered crucial to preserving the open nature of=
=20
the Internet and preventing big broadband providers from squeezing out=20
smaller competitors that offer voice, video or other services.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Arshad Mohammed]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR200509...
2257.html
(requires registration)
WATCHDOGS PITCH DTV OBLIGATIONS
In a letter to House and Senate Commerce Committee leaders Thursday, Common=
=20
Cause, Media Access Project, the Campaign Legal Center, among others,=20
pushed the legislators to require "meaningful public interest obligations"=
=20
if they grant broadcasters multicasting must-carry. The groups recommend=20
three hours per week--mirroring stations' educational kids TV=20
requirements--of civic or electoral programing on "[their] most-watched=20
channel. It also says that six weeks before any election, some minimum=20
number of hours such programming airing "when most adult viewers were=20
watching," which would translate to prime time. As the FCC has with=20
educational/informational programming, the groups also want it to come up=
=20
with a definition of what would qualify as civic and electoral programming.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton ]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257534?display=3DBreaking+Ne...
referral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
KEY CONGRESSIONAL AIDES
Momentum behind a rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act has been=20
building for several years. And while it is unclear whether a rewrite of=20
the Telecom Act will pass the 109th Congress, interested companies have=20
already spent millions of dollars on advocacy and lobbying in their drive=
=20
to change the law to benefit their industries -- while House and Senate=20
committees have put telecom reform on their agendas for this Congress. The=
=20
House Energy and Commerce Committee is moving the quickest. Committee=20
staffers say they have been working overtime on setting or revising rules=
=20
for how telephone calls, video, and data services are delivered, whether=20
over the Internet, through cable, or over phone lines. Predictably, the=20
Senate Commerce Committee is moving at a more deliberate pace, staffers=20
have been meeting with key industry officials to determine a policy=20
approach, with a hearing likely sometime this summer. At the URL below are=
=20
profiles of a half-dozen key aides on these two panels who will play=20
instrumental roles in the forthcoming debate.
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Bara Vaida]
http://njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-HVMC1114113613716.htmlhttp=
://njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-HVMC1114113613716.html
TELEVISION
LOST IN TRANSLATION
[Commentary] This Fall ABC will become the first English-language broadcast=
=20
network to make all its prime-time programming available in the language of=
=20
Cervantes. While the Spanish subtitles (or dubs) may mark a pop-culture=20
milestone, it's unclear they make for wise corporate strategy. Like other=
=20
large producers of popular culture, ABC is constantly adjusting its plans=
=20
in response to the nation's changing demographic profile. But ABC=20
executives shouldn't fool themselves into thinking they have cracked the=20
coveted "Hispanic market." Too many media professionals have fallen for the=
=20
simplistic but false notion that "Hispanic" is synonymous with "Spanish."=
=20
The truth is that Latino linguistic assimilation is not that different from=
=20
that of European newcomers a century ago: The first generation often speaks=
=20
only enough English to get by, the second is bilingual, and the third is=20
largely English-only. Spanish will continue to be important. But the=20
youngest viewers of "Lost," regardless of ethnicity, are increasingly=20
likely to watch it in English.
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-spanish16sep16,1,...
4899.story?coll=3Dla-news-comment
(requires registration)
SEINFELD WHO? NBC PURSUING THE HEARTLAND
What's with NBC? For a network that dominated the prime-time ratings for a=
=20
decade with sophisticated urban comedies like "Cheers," "Seinfeld,"=20
"Frasier" and "Friends," only to tumble to fourth place last season without=
=20
them, this year's programming is a radical departure. "Three Wishes" is=20
aimed, in no small part, at a churchgoing rural and suburban audience. And=
=20
its marketing plan, evocative of a red-state presidential campaign, bears=
=20
scant resemblance to any NBC has crafted before. In advance of the new=20
prime-time television season, NBC sent more than 7,000 DVD's of the show's=
=20
first episode to ministers and other clergy members, along with a recorded=
=20
message to their congregants from Ms. Grant. ("At its core, 'Three Wishes'=
=20
is faith in action," she tells them.) The network has also booked Amy Grant=
=20
-- a pop singer who vaulted to fame singing Christian songs, crossed over=
=20
to mainstream radio and recently released an album of hymns titled "Rock of=
=20
Ages" -- for interviews on Christian radio and taken out advertising in=20
small-town newspapers. And, perhaps most seductively, NBC has been stuffing=
=20
cash registers at stores here like Goody's and others in or around=20
Nashville, Salt Lake City, Des Moines and Milwaukee with tens of thousands=
=20
of $1 bills used for groceries and other basics. The dollars are affixed=20
with yellow stickers (removable, consistent with Treasury Department=20
guidelines) that ask, "What's your wish?," and implore people to watch the=
=20
show. All told, the network expects to give away 150,000 of those dollar=20
bills in 15 cities and towns. Though NBC hopes the show will have broad=20
appeal - it also took its dollar bill campaign to New York and Los Angeles=
=20
-- Barbara Blangiardi, the network's vice president of marketing and=20
special projects, said that "absolutely the Christian community was a=20
target audience."
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jacques Steinberg]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/business/media/16nbc.html?hp&ex=3D1126...
600&en=3D027f446a88d472c8&ei=3D5094&partner=3Dhomepage
(requires registration)
QUICKLY
ERATE EXEMPTION EXTENSION MOVES FORWARD
The Senate unanimously adopted an amendment to the Commerce-State-Justice=
=20
appropriations bill that would exempt the Universal Service Fund E-Rate=20
program from Anti-Deficiency Act rules until Dec. 31, 2006.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily]
(Not available online)
ROBERTS DEFENDS OPPOSING FCC EEO RULES
I was only doing my job, Judge John Roberts said when asked about opposing=
=20
the FCC's affirmative action regime in 1990 when he was deputy solicitor=20
general. The specific FCC minority preference policies challenged in that=
=20
case were upheld in a close 5-4 decision in that case, but in a later case,=
=20
the conservative D.C. Circuit, on which Roberts would later serve, held=20
other aspects of its EEO program unconstitutional.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6257231?display=3DBreaking+Ne...
referral=3DSUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
UN CONTROL OF INTERNET? TRY AGAIN.
[Commentary] As revolutionary as the Internet has been, its largest effects=
=20
may be yet to come: as an inexhaustible library; as a superefficient=20
vehicle of commerce; as a way for machines and electronic devices anywhere=
=20
to talk with each other or people. A UN advisory group has produced a=20
report advocating some international control of the Internet. The document,=
=20
produced by the UN's Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) this=20
summer, calls for shared roles by government, commercial interests, and=20
private citizens but doesn't spell out exactly how these roles would be=20
played. It also calls for "effective and meaningful participation of all=20
stakeholders, especially from developing countries" and more resources -=20
human, financial, and technical - for poorer countries. Yet it's far from=
=20
clear a body established by the UN is ready to become an able administrator=
=20
for the Internet. The free flow of ideas and commerce, so key to the=20
Internet's exponential growth, would not be well served if hobbled by=20
bureaucracy or chilled by governments interested in suppressing dissident=
=20
voices. If international demands for less US control boil over, other=20
countries could employ a "nuclear option" - setting up a rival to ICANN and=
=20
potentially creating chaos on the Internet with two divergent standards.=20
That need not happen. International governance of the Internet does have an=
=20
inescapable logic. Better that the US engage vigorously now in shaping that=
=20
institution, even as it realizes that handing off control to it is nowhere=
=20
in the immediate future.
[SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0916/p08s02-comv.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
1) re=B7cov=B7er=B7y: * The act, process, duration, or an instance of recov=
ering.
* A return to a normal condition.
* Something gained or restored in recovering.
* The act of obtaining usable substances from unusable=20
sources.
--------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------