For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org
DIVERSITY
Black Radio and the 'Jena 6'
Black newspapers offer a needed voice
Diversity in Communications in the Digital Age
BROADCASTING/CABLE
Lawsuit Seeks a la carte Channel Choices
Nielsen: Broadcast Plugs Up; Cable Down
CPB Awards Grants to 89 Public Radio Stations for Digital Transition
MEDIA & ELECTIONS/POLITICS
Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad
Oprah's Obama Endorsement a Wash, Say Voters
JOURNALISM
Rather's unraveling anchor cult
TELECOM
Hearing loss group complains to FCC about iPhone
QUICKLY -- Ball State Study: Primetime Expands to=20
Fill Wealth of Screens;Thailand seeks to block YouTube videos again
DIVERSITY
DRIVE TIME FOR THE 'JENA 6'
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Eugene Robinson eugenerobinson( at )washpost.c=
om]
[Commentary] How did thousands of African=20
Americans come to descend on the town of Jena=20
(LA) yesterday for a march and rally that brought=20
to mind the heady days of the civil rights=20
movement? The answer says as much about what has=20
changed over the past half-century as it says=20
about what hasn't. We still might not know about=20
what was happening in Jena if the case hadn't=20
been noticed by bloggers, who sounded the alarm.=20
And I'm quite sure there would have been no=20
busloads of protesters descending on Jena if the=20
cause hadn't been taken up by a radio personality=20
best known for R-rated banter about sex and=20
relationships. Michael Baisden, whose afternoon=20
drive-time show "Love, Lust and Lies" is heard in=20
urban markets across the country, launched a=20
crusade on behalf of the "Jena 6." The hours that=20
Baisden normally would have spent in risque=20
repartee with "grown and sexy" callers about=20
romance or infidelity were devoted instead to the=20
Jena case. The cause was then taken up by other=20
black radio hosts -- Tom Joyner, whose morning=20
drive-time show has enormous reach; Steve Harvey,=20
the comedian whose morning show usually covers=20
the same "Does he really love me?" territory as=20
does Baisden's; the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose show,=20
as you might expect, was already heavy on=20
politics and activism. Yesterday morning, as the=20
throng descended on Jena, both the Joyner and=20
Harvey shows featured live updates from the=20
scene. Baisden and Sharpton were in Jena, helping=20
lead the demonstrations. It's fair to say that=20
without black radio, the case of the Jena 6=20
probably never would have become a significant=20
national story -- and certainly never would have=20
sparked one of the biggest civil rights protests=20
in decades. Black radio is one of the places=20
where all the varied segments of black America=20
still come together. It's a true community=20
medium, even if what we still call "the black=20
community" is, for most purposes, best thought of as plural.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/20/AR200709...
1956.html
(requires registration)
BLACK NEWSPAPERS OFFER A NEEDED VOICE
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Yolanda Young]
[Commentary] The assassination this summer of=20
Chauncey Bailey, editor of the black-owned=20
Oakland Post, was shocking. But his death and his=20
fearless pursuits have shined some light on a=20
little-recognized niche industry that is critical=20
to the black community: the black newspaper.=20
Publications such as the Post still report on=20
this community =97 the good and the bad =97 with an=20
intensity not matched by mainstream newspapers.=20
When Bailey was killed, he was beating the=20
pavement and working the phones investigating the=20
dubious activities of a black Muslim bakery. But=20
the years have not been kind to black newspapers:=20
Dwindling audiences and revenue have steadily=20
strangled the voices of many publications. Gone=20
are the days chronicled by Charles A. Simmons'=20
book The African American Press. Simmons=20
estimated that there have been about 4,000 black=20
newspapers. Today, the National Newspaper=20
Publishing Association, a black trade=20
organization, has only 200 member papers. Like=20
other businesses, many black newspapers have been=20
responsible for their own demise by covering too=20
many cotillions, celebrity junkets and civil=20
rights dinosaurs. Like the mainstream press,=20
which is now being challenged by the Internet,=20
black newspapers, too, must reinvent themselves=20
and regain relevance in their community.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070921/opcom21.art.htm
DIVERSITY IN COMMUNICATIONS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
The Advisory Committee on Diversity for=20
Communications in the Digital Age is scheduled to=20
meet on Thursday, September 27, 2007. The=20
meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Federal=20
Communications Commission, in the Commission=20
Meeting Room at 445 12th Street, S.W.,=20
Washington, D.C. The meeting's agenda will=20
include interim reports from the Diversity=20
Committee's three subcommittees regarding=20
progress towards the final report to the=20
Commission: Access to Capital, New=20
Technologies, and Outreach. The reports will be=20
followed by group discussion. Members of the=20
general public may attend the meeting.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-3971A1.doc
BROADCASTING/CABLE
LAWSUIT SEEKS A LA CARTE CHANNEL CHOICES
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Alex Veiga]
The U.S. pay TV industry amounts to a cartel=20
because it maintains profits by offering channels=20
in prepackaged tiers rather than ''a la carte,''=20
according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los=20
Angeles. The federal lawsuit names every major=20
cable and satellite television system operator as=20
well as every major cable and broadcast=20
television network. ''The antitrust laws protect=20
the right of choice,'' antitrust lawyer Maxwell=20
M. Blecher said. ''Here the customer is denied=20
that choice.'' The complex web of contractual=20
arrangements among service providers and networks=20
amounts to a monopoly or cartel that has=20
''deprived consumers of choice, caused them to=20
pay inflated prices for cable television and=20
forced them to pay for cable channels they do not=20
want and do not watch,'' Blecher wrote in the=20
complaint filed on behalf of cable subscribers in=20
several states. The complaint, which alleges a=20
conspiracy to monopolize as well as violations of=20
federal antitrust laws, names nine plaintiffs,=20
but Blecher wants the U.S. District Court to certify it as a class action.
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/09/21/daily.2/
* Cable Sued Over Program Bundling
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6480423.html?rssid=3D193
NIELSEN: BROADCAST PLUGS UP; CABLE DOWN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Product placement was up big-time on broadcast TV=20
but down slightly on cable networks in the first=20
half of 2007, according to a new Nielsen ad=20
survey. Product placements on the broadcast=20
networks climbed to 17,371 plugs on the top 10=20
programs, compared with 14,643 for the first half=20
of 2006. American Idol topped the list again at=20
4,349, or a hair (make that a brand-name=20
hair-care product) over one-fourth of the total.=20
Coke, which has plastered itself all over Idol,=20
was the top-plugged brand at 3,231 plugs. On the=20
cable side, plugs decreased slightly but the=20
total still dwarfed that of broadcasting.=20
According to Nielsen, the top 10 programs=20
featured a whopping 92,925 plugs, down from=20
107,792 for the same period in 2006.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6480210.html?rssid=3D193
CPB AWARDS GRANTS TO 89 PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS FOR DIGITAL TRANSITION
[SOURCE: Corporation for Public Broadcasting press release]
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting today=20
announced $6.7 million in grants to 89 public=20
radio stations to assist in the conversion from=20
analog to digital broadcasting. This digital=20
technology will allow these stations to=20
significantly enhance the quality and scope of=20
services to their communities, as well as providing outstanding sound.
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=3D617
MEDIA & ELECTIONS/POLITICS
SENATE APPROVES RESOLUTION DENOUNCING MOVEON.ORG AD
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Herszenhorn]
The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday=20
denouncing MoveOn.org over an advertisement that=20
questioned the credibility of Gen. David H.=20
Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq. The ad=20
has come under sharp attack from Congressional=20
Republicans and others as unpatriotic and=20
impugning the integrity of General Petraeus.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/us/politics/21moveon.html?ref=3Dtodays...
er
(requires registration)
* MoveOn Unmoved By Furor Over Ad Targeting Petraeus
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/20/AR200709...
1005.html
* Senate squares off with MoveOn
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-moveon21sep21,1,...
5899.story?coll=3Dla-news-a_section
OPRAH'S OBAMA ENDORSEMENT A WASH, SAY VOTERS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The endorsement of stars like Oprah Winfrey, Jon=20
Stewart or even Tiger Woods would not translate=20
to any more votes and -- somewhat curiously in=20
the case of Stewart, Woods and several others --=20
could actually hurt their chances. That's=20
according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Pre=
ss.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6480357.html?rssid=3D193
JOURNALISM
RATHER'S UNRAVELING ANCHOR CULT
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] Whatever its legal merits, Dan=20
Rather's lawsuit against CBS -- in which he says=20
he wasn't clued-in on the details of a 2004=20
report he narrated about George W. Bush's Texas=20
Air National Guard record -- dispels the myth of=20
the omniscient news anchor. Who knew, when Rather=20
was giving "60 Minutes II" viewers the straight=20
scoop on questions about Bush's service, that he=20
was relying on the assurances of his production=20
team as to the authenticity of damaging=20
documents? Actually, anyone familiar with the=20
inner workings of TV news might have guessed that=20
Rather's report, which the network eventually=20
disavowed, wasn't a one-man show any more than=20
his "CBS Evening News" broadcasts were. But for=20
many viewers, Rather and his avuncular=20
antecedent, Walter Cronkite, were more than mere=20
"news readers" (the term used in Britain). They=20
were also, even in advanced middle age, reporters=20
and editors. Never mind that much of the=20
reporting was done by invisible producers and=20
researchers. The cult of the news anchor --=20
reconsecrated every time an anchor leaves the=20
desk for Iraq or New Orleans -- has survived=20
because star-struck viewers heed the injunction=20
of the Great Oz: "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-rather21sep21,1,...
0793.story?coll=3Dla-news-a_section
(requires registration)
TELECOM
HEARING LOSS GROUP COMPLAINS TO FCC ABOUT IPHONE
[SOURCE: Computerworld, AUTHOR: Gregg Keizer]
A group representing people with a hearing loss=20
filed complaints with the US Federal=20
Communications Commission (FCC) last month,=20
accusing Apple of not making its iPhone=20
compatible with hearing aids. The Hearing Loss=20
Association of America (HLAA) filed formal=20
complaints with the FCC in August, Brenda Battat,=20
the HLAA's associate executive director, said in=20
emailed comments about Apple's iPhone. "The phone=20
is not usable with a hearing aid, either on the=20
microphone or telecoil setting," said Battat.=20
"Clearly it was not designed to be hearing aid=20
compatible. It should have been." Under its=20
Section 255 regulations, the FCC requires phone=20
manufacturers, including those selling mobile=20
handsets, to make their products accessible to=20
people with disabilities, if such access is=20
"readily achievable." That standard is defined by=20
the agency as "easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense."
http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=3D19166
QUICKLY
BALL STATE STUDY: PRIMETIME EXPANDS TO FILL WEALTH OF SCREENS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Attention NBC and ABC and everyone else=20
increasingly streaming their TV shows on the Web:=20
Primetime for the valuable teen-age audience=20
isn't 8 p.m.-11 p.m.; it's from the minute they=20
get home from school to when they hit the sack.=20
That's according to a new study from Ball State=20
University, "High School Media Too: A School Day=20
in the Lives of Fifteen Teenagers."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6480211.html?rssid=3D193
THAILAND SEEKS TO BLOCK YOUTUBE VIDEOS AGAIN
[SOURCE: Reuters]
Thailand is seeking to block clips on=20
video-sharing Web site YouTube that accuse the=20
chief royal adviser of masterminding last year's=20
bloodless coup, a top Justice Ministry official said on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSBKK24089220070921
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online=20
news summary service provided by the Benton=20
Foundation (www.benton.org). Posted Monday=20
through Friday, this service provides updates on=20
important industry developments, policy issues,=20
and other related news events. While the=20
summaries are factually accurate, their often=20
informal tone does not always represent the tone=20
of the original articles. Headlines are compiled=20
by Kevin Taglang headlines( at )benton.org -- we welcome your comments.
--------------------------------------------------------------