POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Everybody Can Get Into the Act with Issue Ads (WP)
Personal Attack and Political Editorial Rule Proceeding (FCC)
RADIO
Low Power FM Applications in Second Filing Window (FCC)
TELEVISION
Disclosure Requirements and How Broadcasters Serve
the Public Interest (FCC)
Digital TV Broadcasters' Obligations to Serve Children (FCC)
Reports Concerning Children's Educational Programming (FCC)
Town Hall Meeting (PBTV)
Forum Connection (CRF)
PRIVACY
Online Privacy Technologies Workshop (NTIA)
MERGER
European Regulators Recommend Blocking AOL-Time Warner Deal (WSJ)
VIDEO
Blockbuster Branches Out (WP)
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
EVERYBODY CAN GET INTO THE ACT WITH ISSUE ADS
Issue: Political Discourse
An ad running on television stations in Kansas City shows an actress playing
a worried mother discussing her fears about her son's education. She says
her son Ralph was "hanging with the wrong crowd" at his public school. "We
didn't want him in a place where drugs and violence were fashionable." "That
was a bit more diversity than he could handle." On the screen, a white
teenager at a cafeteria table pulls a pistol on a racially mixed group of
students. Then the message flashes: "Vote Republican." The commercial was
produced by the Republican Ideas Political Committee, an independent group
previously unknown to either the Democratic or Republican Party. And, its
only one of many such adds that come from groups with either fuzzy names -
that distort their identity - or groups not forthcoming with their backers
and funders. These ads, combined with expected spending increases of groups
who traditionally run political spots, can sometimes make life more
complicated for the very politicians and parties they are intended to help.
"Parties, groups and even private individuals are advertising," said Brown
University political scientist Darrell West. "There are a lot more rich
people with money to burn." The Annenberg Public Policy Center backs that
up. "We've found the number of issue ads, the number of groups advertising
with issue ads and the spending on issue ads are going to be higher for this
cycle than in any previous cycle," said Lorie Slass, director of Annenberg's
Washington office, which is set to release a study on the subject this week.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A1), AUTHOR: John Mintz]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32380-2000Sep18.html)
PERSONAL ATTACK AND POLITICAL EDITORIAL RULE PROCEEDING
Issue: Political Discourse/FCC
Chairman Bill Kennard's statement about his participation in the personal
attack and political editorial rule proceeding. Because of work Kennard had
done in this area in the early 1980s for the National Association of
Broadcasters, the chairman had decided not to participate in the proceeding.
"However, I believe that the public interest, and the efficient conduct of
FCC business, now outweighs the reasons for my cautionary recusal, and thus,
for the reasons stated below, I have now decided that I should participate
in the proceeding. The record demonstrates there has been continued deadlock
at the Commission on this issue. In addition, the D.C. Circuit on more than
one occasion remanded the matter back to the Commission to provide a
definitive determination on the issues, and has shown apparent frustration
with the Commission's failure to act."
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/2000/stwek075.html)
RADIO
LOW POWER FM APPLICATIONS IN SECOND FILING WINDOW
Issue: Radio
From Press Release: The FCC announced that it had received 473 low power FM
radio applications from non-profit community-based organizations and state
and local governments in the second filing window for applications that was
held August 28 to September 1, 2000. The preliminary count of applications
in the 2nd filing window is as follows: Connecticut (38); Illinois (84);
Kansas (36); Michigan (87); Minnesota (63); Mississippi (22); Nevada (23);
New Hampshire (28); Puerto Rico (20); Virginia (58); Wyoming (14). The first
filing window, from May 30 through June 8, resulted in over 700 applications
from Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana,
Maine, Mariana Islands, Maryland, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Utah.
A Public Notice for the third filing window is scheduled to be announced at
the end of October 2000, with a five-day filing window scheduled to begin at
the end of November 2000 for eligible organizations from American Samoa,
Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina,
South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The fourth filing window is scheduled to be
held at the end of February 2001, and the fifth and final filing window is
scheduled to be held at the end of May 2001.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0039.html)
TELEVISION
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS AND HOW BROADCASTERS SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST
Issue: Television
From Press Release: the FCC proposed to standardize and enhance public
interest disclosure requirements for television broadcasters. In a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) approved today, the FCC tentatively concluded
that television broadcasters should provide information on how they serve
the public interest in a standardized format on a quarterly basis. The
disclosure form would be maintained in the station's public inspection file
in place of the currently required issues/programs lists. The Commission
noted that given the benefits to be derived from enhanced public disclosure,
it should not wait until after the digital transition to implement this
proposal. The FCC also proposed to enhance the public's ability to access
this public interest information by requiring licensees to make the contents
of their public inspection files, including the standardized disclosure
form, available on the station's or a state broadcasters association's
Internet website.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0038.html)
DIGITAL TV BROADCASTERS' OBLIGATIONS TO SERVE CHILDREN
Issue: Television
The FCC asked for comments on the obligation of DTV broadcasters to provide
educational and informational programming for children and the requirement
that DTV broadcasters limit the amount of advertising in children's
programs. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted today, the Commission
asked for comment largely on challenges unique to the digital age but also
explored several issues that children's advocates have raised about
children's educational and informational programming in general.
Specifically, the Commission asked for comment on: 1) How the children's
core educational programming processing guideline should be applied to DTV
broadcasters; 2) Whether the guideline should apply only to free broadcast
services or also to pay services, and on commenters' views that a three-hour
guideline may not be sufficient in light of the additional program capacity
made available by digital technology; 3) Whether the Commission's policies
regarding preemption of core programs should be revised in view of the
greater programming flexibility available to DTV broadcasters; 3) Whether
the rules and policies on children's programming advertising limits and
policies
should apply to both free and pay program streams; 5) How these rules and
policies should be interpreted in light of the interactive capabilities made
possible by digital technology; 6) Whether the Commission should revise its
definition of "commercial matter" to include types of program interruptions
that do not currently contribute toward the commercial limits, such as
certain program promotions; 7) How to address the issue of the airing in
programs viewed by children of promotions for age-inappropriate broadcast,
cable or theater movie film content, or other age-inappropriate product
promotions that may be unsuitable for children to watch.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0037.html)
REPORTS CONCERNING CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING
Issue: Television
From Press Release: The FCC amended its rules to continue the requirement
that commercial television broadcasters file with the FCC their quarterly
Children's Television Programming Reports describing their children's
educational and informational programming. Among other things, these reports
identify the educational and informational programs aired by the station
over the previous quarter and the days and times these programs were
regularly scheduled, the age of the target audience for each program, and
the average number of hours per week of core children's programming
broadcast over the past quarter and the children's programming plans for the
next quarter. Under the Commission's 1996 Order implementing the Children's
Television Act, commercial TV stations were required to prepare and place in
their public inspection file quarterly reports on their children's
educational programming. The Order also required that the reports be filed
with the Commission on an annual basis (four quarterly reports filed jointly
once a year) for an experimental period of three years.
[SOURCE: FCC]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Releases/2000/nrmm0036.html)
TOWN HALL MEETING
Issue: Television
Come and meet with community organizations, members of congress, and
concerned citizens to discuss local broadcasters obligation to the public
and the digital television space that belongs to all of us!
Thursday September 21, 2000 6:00pm-9:00pm University of Southern California
Davidson Conference Center 3415 South Figueroa Avenue
Please contact Ofelia Cuevas at (213) 489-5682 or ocuevas1( at )aol.com for more
details.
[SOURCE: People for Better Television]
(http://www.bettertv.org/20000921la.htm)
FORUM CONNECTION
Issue: Telecommunications
The September Forum Connection is available including these articles:
Cold Feet on DTV; Progress on Telephone Service?; looks at party platforms;
and an interview with everyone's favorite public interest lawyer, Andrew Jay
Schwartzman.
[SOURCE: Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy]
(http://www.civilrightsforum.org/connectionsept2000.html)
PRIVACY
ONLINE PRIVACY TECHNOLOGIES WORKSHOP
Issue: Privacy
From Media Advisory: Commerce Secretary Norman Y. Mineta will deliver the
keynote speech at a workshop hosted by the Commerce Department's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Sept. 19, 2000
to examine technological tools and developments that can enhance consumer
privacy online.
The workshop will begin at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, 14th and Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. NTIA and the
Internet Education Foundation will simultaneously co-host a Technology Fair
to demonstrate the use and capabilities of a broad array of online privacy
technologies. The Fair will allow the public to examine and try out these
technologies. About 20 companies are expected to demonstrate their products.
The public workshop and the Fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The
Technology Fair will be held in the Department's Main Lobby (14th Street
Entrance). Both the workshop and the Fair are open to the public, free of
charge. No advance registration is required. See agenda at URL below.
[SOURCE: NTIA]
(http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2000/mapriv91400.htm)
MERGER
EUROPEAN REGULATORS RECOMMEND BLOCKING AOL-TIME WARNER DEAL
Issue: Mergers
The European Commission has drafted preliminary recommendations to block the
merger of America Online and Time Warner. At the center of the EC's
objections to the merger are concerns over Time Warner's own plans for a
music joint venture with Britain's EMI Group. The deal would create a $20
billion music powerhouse that would be the world's biggest music publisher
and one of the two biggest recorded-music companies. The companies have
until Sunday to gain clearance for the deal by offering new antitrust
concessions to Brussels regulators or by expanding those they already have
submitted. AOL and Time Warner have submitted a list of four antitrust
remedies to the commission, aimed mostly at cutting its horizontal ties with
Bertelsmann AG and promising nondiscriminatory access to AOL and Time
Warner's competitors. In a statement, AOL said: "We are confident that the
talks will conclude successfully."
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (A3), AUTHOR: Philip Shishkin and John Wilke]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB969289612515681845.htm)
(requires subscription)
See Also:
EU CALLS WARNER, AOL DEALS TROUBLING
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: William Drozdiak]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31426-2000Sep18.html)
VIDEO
BLOCKBUSTER BRANCHES OUT
Issue: Video
Blockbuster is in the process of reinventing itself for a future in which
video rentals may be on the wane. Blockbuster's $10 billion-a-year
video-rental industry, comprising 32 percent of the market, is facing
challenges from satellites, cable, broadband and other avenues that promise
to bring video home. To face the challenge Blockbuster is putting together a
number of deals. Chairman John F. Antioco has called his plan "the ultimate
bricks, clicks and flicks" strategy. It's an ambitious makeover, moving
Blockbuster into virtually every medium through which home entertainment can
be delivered. 1) Blockbuster is teaming with DirecTV Inc. Besides being able
to purchase a DirecTV system at Blockbuster, the company expects to offer
Blockbuster movies next year on a pay-per-view basis. 2) Blockbuster will
soon be on broadband with Enron, offering video on demand. 3) Expanding on
its existing AOL and Web presences, Blockbuster has formed an Internet
alliance with Food.com Inc. that, starting next year, will allow consumers
to order cinema and supper and have it all delivered by Takeout Taxi.
Blockbuster is a publicly traded subsidiary of Viacom.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E1), AUTHOR: Martha McNeil Hamilton]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31570-2000Sep18.html)
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