A service of the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
More Than 25 Groups at Forum Criticize Media Deregulation
Civil Rights Leader Slams FCC Proposal on Media Ownership
DIGITAL TV
Consumer Group Says FCC Has Bungled Transition to Digital TV
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Inmarsat Calls for Orgs to Deal with Info Poverty in the Middle East
Churches' Adoption of Info Tech May Spark Social Change
ICT Drive: Hype or Reality
JOURNALISM
Rick Bragg Quits at New York Times
MEDIA OWNERSHIP
MORE THAN 25 GROUPS AT FORUM CRITICIZE FCC'S MEDIA DEREGULATION
Seeking to take advantage of the strange bedfellows created by the media
ownership debate, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein met
with representatives from 25 interest groups Tuesday to hear their thoughts
on the topic. Set before a backdrop of mail bins containing thousands of
postcards from National Rifle Associations members opposing deregulation,
Chairman Copps opened by noting the concern shared by those involved that
"what happened to radio" would affect other forms of media. Copps also
referred to Chairman Michael Powell's boasts that the public record on media
ownership is tremendous - Copps agreed, noting that they "are running 99.9%
against deregulation." Other panelists' comments ranged from the role of
Latinos in reporting to the dearth of women and minorities among the
ownership ranks to discrimination against religious programming. An aide for
Chairman Powell sat in for part of the forum, noting that the attendance of
a third Commissioner would require prior public notice.
[SOURCE: CommDaily]
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER SLAMS FCC PROPOSAL ON MEDIA OWNERSHIP
At Tuesday's forum on media consolidation, civil rights leader Wade
Henderson criticized the FCC for its proposal to deregulate US media
ownership rules. "We believe the Chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell, has
focused the current debate over media policy on market efficiencies and
technological development to the exclusion of promoting competition, a
diversity of voices, and community engagement," said Henderson, executive
director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "American democracy
requires a competitive media environment," Henderson continued. "A media
market with diverse voices is critical to a civil rights agenda that ensures
equity and democratic participation in areas vital to the health of our
nation and our communities -- education, economic opportunity, the
environment, health care and political participation." The event featured
leaders from a variety of civil rights, religious, consumer, industry,
conservative and creative arts organizations.
SOURCE: CivilRights.org
http://www.civilrights.org/issues/communication/details.cfm?id=13092
DIGITAL TV
CONSUMER GROUP SAYS FCC HAS BUNGLED TRANSITION TO DIGITAL TV
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) believes that the slow pace of
transition to digital TV by the broadcast industry should not be blamed on
broadcasters, manufacturers or cable operators. Instead, they claim in
comments filed with the FCC, the Commission's lack of leadership has
resulted in behind-schedule adoption of digital formats by broadcasters and
the virtually non-existent adoption of digital TV sets by the American
public. "[The industry's] job is to promote their own ... private interests.
The only entity charged with promoting and protecting the public interest is
the FCC, and they have fallen down on the job," said CFA's Mark Cooper. CFA
points to several factors: digital content is limited, digital signals are
unavailable, equipment has been tied up by proposed restrictions such as the
"digital flag," and therefore consumers are left with no reason to replace
old sets.
SOURCE: Consumer Federation of America; AUTHOR: Mark Cooper
DIGITAL DIVIDE
INMARSAT CALLS FOR ORGS TO DEAL WITH INFO POVERTY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The Mideast regional director for mobile satellite communications company
Inmarsat called on public and private organizations to do more to curtail
"information poverty" in rural Middle Eastern communities. "Much has been
done to bridge the digital divide between the developed and developing
world," said Samer Halawi at the Arab Telecommunications and Information
Forum in Lebanon yesterday. "Unfortunately, and with the limited resources
available, most of those resources have made their way to the urban areas,
leaving our rural communities in dire need for advanced telecommunication
services." Halawi warned that students in rural Arab communities were at a
disadvantage compared to their urban peers, who are increasingly exposed to
Internet access. An IDC study released at the forum suggests that more than
45 percent of Middle Eastern and North African communities suffer from
"information poverty" -- a lack of information and knowledge due to limited
access to telecommunications infrastructure.
SOURCE: AMEInfo.com; AUTHOR: Anne-Birte Stensgaard
http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/24466.html
CHURCHES' ADOPTION OF INFO TECH MAY SPARK SOCIAL CHANGE
According to a Penn State study, the slow adoption of information technology
by African American churches has hampered their ability to provide social
services through federally funded programs. Penn State doctoral student
Roderick Lee says that African American churches need to "catch up to the
information society" to expand their role as leading agents of social change
within their communities. "Faith-based organizations can provide the
digital literacy that is needed by many residents of urban areas to
participate in the information society," Lee explains. Surveying African
American churches in Harrisburg, Pennsyvania, Lee found that almost half
didn't have fax machines, 65 percent lacked email and only a few had voice
mail. "Churches need to utilize the Internet to augment or supplement the
self-help and social service programs they already provide," he adds.
"Without greater adoption of IT, these organizations with be further
marginalized, and the digital divide will become wider."
SOURCE: Penn State University
http://www.psu.edu/ur/2003/blackchurchsit.html
ICT DRIVE: HYPE OR REALITY
[Commentary] Drawing a comparison between information and communications
technologies (ICT) and cocoa beans, a long-time export good for Ghana, A.S.
Harruna Attah suggests that Ghana's investment in ICT must lead it down a
road where it is more than simply a consumer of tech products. Rather than
"showcasing finished products from elsewhere," Ghana must focus on
developing its own ICT industry, while its "core professionals" - engineers,
physicists, computer programmers and mathematicians - should drive the
revolution. Attah notes that indigenous companies such as SOFT have
developed and exported their own software, and questions whether or not
Ghanaian companies look to them for applications or simply import them.
Unless Ghana can make a switch from the consumption-driven ICT economy to
one of knowledge and development, the country may foster a "digital chasm"
rather than narrow its digital divide.
SOURCE: AllAfrica.com; AUTHOR: A.S. Harruna Attah, Accra Mail
http://allafrica.com/stories/200305280550.html
JOURNALISM
RICK BRAGG QUITS AT NEW YORK TIMES
Embattled Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg quit his position at
the New York Times yesterday, the same day the Washington Post carried
comments by Bragg aggressively defending his active use of stringers and
interns to help him write articles. While the use of such assistants is
common in journalism, Bragg acknowledged that he would send them to a
particular location for a story to collect relevant news, then publish his
name and dateline on the story as if he had been the one who traveled there
and covered it in person. "The issue, put starkly, is whether readers are
being misled about how and where a story was reported," writes the Post's
Howard Kurtz. With the New York Times already reeling from revelations that
reporter Jayson Blair plagiarized or fabricated dozens of stories, the Bragg
case is an example of how American journalism as a whole is taking stock of
its professional practices. "Everybody in the newspaper business has been
touched by this in some way," says Margaret Sullivan, editor of the Buffalo
News. "It's amazing to me how much regular, ordinary folks seem to know
about this. We're all thinking about wow, could this happen here?"
SOURCE: Washington Post; AUTHOR: Howard Kurtz
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51506-2003May28.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------