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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Senate Weighing a Fast-Track Path to Overturn FCC
INTERNET
Press Demands Freedom Online
Spam Fight Unites Liberal, Conservatives
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Which Way Out of Failed Rural Telecom Initiative?
IN MEMORIAM
Goodnight, David: David Brinkley Dies at 82
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
SENATE WEIGHING A FAST-TRACK PATH TO OVERTURN FCC
US Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) says that he is considering employing a
controversial 1996 law to fast-track legislation through Congress to counter
the FCC's recent vote scaling back media ownership rules. The 1996
Congressional Review Act (CRA) has only been used once before in 2001, when
Republicans caught Democrats off-guard and successfully overturned
ergonomics-related workplace safety regulations. "We do not use it often,"
Dorgan said. "That's what it's there for." Even if the Democrats are able
to fast-track the legislation through Congress, Bush could choose to veto it
-- a decision that could backfire politically. "He would have to do it under
the bright glare of public scrutiny," said a Democratic leadership aide,
"and in the face of both houses of Congress saying the rule is a bad one."
Meanwhile, Commerce Committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he is
considering other legislative options proposed by fellow committee members
Ted Stevens (R-AZ) and Fritz Hollings (D-SC). "I have gone from [being] a
deregulator to someone who is very concerned about the level of media
concentration," McCain said.
SOURCE: San Antonio Current; AUTHOR: Geoff Earle
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8287675
INTERNET
PRESS DEMANDS FREEDOM ONLINE
The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum have joined
together in calling for policymakers to safeguard online freedom of the
press. The organizations hope that policymakers, who will be gathering in
Geneva this December for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),
will guarantee that online press freedoms be protected and not allow
repressive governments to water down these freedoms in any decrees released
at the summit. In a joint statement by the boards of both organizations, the
groups said that policymakers must ensure "that freedom of expression and
press freedom on the Internet is protected and not restricted in its
recommendations and to strongly reject attempts by repressive governments to
revive the discredited "new world information order.'" The organizations
also called for the 2005 follow-up to the WSIS meeting -- scheduled for
Tunis, Tunisia -- be relocated due to Tunisia's repression of free speech,
they said.
SOURCE: News24.com
http://www.news24.com/News24/Finance/Companies/0,,2-8-24_1372148,00.html
SPAM FIGHT UNITES LIBERAL, CONSERVATIVES
Federal efforts to combat unsolicited email or "spam" have made unlikely
bedfellows on Capitol Hill. Liberal Democrat Sen. Charles Schumer of New
York will announce today a partnership with the Christian Coalition to push
anti-spam legislation through Congress. "It's very easy to support this
bill," said Coalition president Roberta Combs. "I'm excited about working
with him on this because it's something we need." Schumer says he is
personally drawn to the issue because he knows how much inappropriate mail
his two daughters receive each day. Schumer and the Coalition typically
disagree on most policy issues, but the two did not rule out working
together in the future on other matters.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: The Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-06-11-Spam-unites_x.htm
See also:
Fighting Spam By Any Means Necessary
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48916-2003Jun12.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
WHICH WAY OUT OF FAILED RURAL TELECOM INITIATIVE?
[Commentary] The Nigerian government's rural telephony initiative has been
overshadowed recently by the overwhelming popularity of GSM cellular
technology. However, despite the relative ease of connecting rural
inhabitants via the airwaves versus running landlines, GSM providers have
not begun to build out infrastructure to these areas. The Nigerian
Communications Commission has also erred in its plans to push fixed wireless
telephony to the rural areas, in part by selling frequency allocations to
companies that lack sufficient planning or investment capital to build the
necessary infrastructure. The best solution, the author suggests, is for the
government to build partnerships with the private sector to entice private
actors to deploy products and services to rural customers.
SOURCE: AllAfrica.com; AUTHOR: Reuben Muoka (Vanguard)
http://allafrica.com/stories/200306110192.html
IN MEMORIUM
GOODNIGHT, DAVID
TV news pioneer David Brinkley died last night at his home in Houston,
Texas; he was 82 years old. Brinkley had been at the forefront of TV news
since the age of 23. His body of work includes becoming NBC's first
Washington correspondent, dominating news rating in the late `50s through
early `60s as half of "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" and hosting ABC's Sunday
morning news show "This Week with David Brinkley" for 15 years. Brinkley was
awarded 10 Emmys and earned three Peabody Awards for his work, and also
received the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Obituaries and tributes to David Brinkley:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/ThisWeek/brinkley030612.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/925605.asp?0cv=CB10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48988-2003Jun12.html?nav=...
p_tb
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