MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Congress Appears Set to Reverse FCC
Commentary: Making a Mockery of Media Concentration Rules
National Conference on Media Reform Recordings Available
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Governments 'Play Key Role' in Bridging the Digital Divide
Chandigarh Journal: Sleepy City has High Hopes, Dreaming of High
Tech
Multi-Year Deal Kicks Off Global Campaign to Bridge the Digital
Divide
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
CONGRESS APPEARS SET TO REVERSE FCC
On Wednesday, House and Senate negotiators agreed to block the FCC's
decision to increase the media ownership cap from 35 percent to 45 percent.
The rebuff to the commission was added to a $285 billion omnibus spending
bill intended to keep large portions of the federal government operating
through next year. The White House has re-iterated threats to veto any bill
that turns back the commission's plan to ease media ownership limits. But
some supporters of the limits do not take the veto threat seriously, as
President Bush has yet to veto a single piece of legislation and is
considered unlikely to block a broad spending bill that keeps the government
operating. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, said he anticipated a potential reproof from the White House but
not a veto. "Obviously, the administration completely misjudged the reaction
of the American people to this move," added Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND).
The conference agreement does not affect the FCC's new rules to relax limits
on how many stations a broadcaster could own in a single market and to allow
a broadcaster to own a dominant daily newspaper in the same local market.
SOURCE: New York Times; AUTHOR: David Firestone
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/21/business/media/21media.html
MAKING A MOCKERY OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION RULES
[Commentary] It appears that the decision on new media ownership rules will
make little difference to markets such as Wichita Falls, Texas, where media
companies have already found ways to bypass ownership limits, writes Floyd
Norris. Wichita Falls is classified as a small market, where dual ownership
is barred and would remain prohibited. But in reality, the same company runs
three of its five television stations. Mission Broadcasting owns a low-power
station (which the FCC does not count), as well as the local Fox station.
The NBC affiliate is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting, which also runs both
Mission stations. The FCC treats Mission and Nexstar as separate companies,
though operate as one. The FCC rules, some of them set by case law, seem to
have created a maze that media lawyers know how to navigate. Give a company
nominal control over programming --even if it does not exercise it -- and
two TV stations can become "independent," even though they are operated
jointly. This strategy allows Nexstar to run two stations in 11 different
markets, and three stations in two. It seems the FCC may not be doing a very
good job of enforcing even the porous rules it has, Norris concludes.
SOURCE: New York Times; AUTHOR: Floyd Norris
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/21/business/21norris.html
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEDIA REFORM RECORDINGS AVAILABLE
Audio and video recordings of the National Conference on Media Reform are
now available online. The conference, held November 7-9 at the University of
Wisconsin, brought together nearly 2,000 activists, lobbyists, journalists
and educators from across the country. Video offerings include Al Franken's
Saturday night address and a speech by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
There are audio recordings of speeches by Bill Moyers, Ralph Nader, several
members of Congress, as well as many panel sessions on topics such as
alternative media, children and media, media reform, and
organizing/activism.
SOURCE: Media Reform Network
http://www.mediareform.net/conf/recordings.php
DIGITAL DIVIDE
GOVERNMENTS 'PLAY KEY ROLE' IN REDUCING DIGITAL DIVIDE
A study released on Wednesday by the United Nations' International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals that Nordic countries rank top on the
Internet access list, the result of progressive shifts in public policy
there. The survey of 178 economies found that highly developed economies
like those of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are leading the world in terms of
Internet access, while agrarian-based economies like those in most African
countries are trailing behind, dominating the bottom 30 ranks of the list.
The announcement of the results of the Digital Access Index (DAI) motivated
the ITU to praise government-sponsored initiatives to bridge the digital
divide. Economies in the upper tier of the index have benefited from
"government policies (that) helped them reach an impressive level of
(information and communication technology) access", the ITU report said.
"This includes major ICT projects such as the Dubai Internet City in the
United Arab Emirates, the highest ranked Arab nation in the DAI; the
Multimedia Super Corridor in Malaysia, the highest ranked developing Asian
nation; and the Cyber City in Mauritius along with Seychelles, the highest
ranked African nation."
SOURCE: ZDNet UK; AUTHOR: Paul Festa, CNET News.com
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39118043,00.htm
CHANDIGARH JOURNAL: SLEEPY CITY HAS HIGH HOPES, DREAMING OF HIGH TECH
A cadre of ambitious government officials, pricey consultants and local high
technology entrepreneurs are trying to transform Chandigarh, a relatively
sleepy Indian state capital, into the technology hub of northern India. This
city is one of many in India competing to house American and Indian company
call centers and software parks. But small cities like Chandigarh offer even
lower labor cost than some of India's "first tier" technology hubs. Cities
like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Bombay are running short of available skilled
labor, says Manisha Grover, a Bangalore-based consultant hired by Chandigarh
to aid its marketing efforts. Investing in cities like Chandigarh almost cut
costs by 50 percent, local businessmen say. Whether Chandigarh can persuade
companies to open call centers may depend on whether the readily available
50,000 local college students can be employed as skilled labor. "We expect
5,000 new jobs in the next six months to one year," says Vivek Atray,
36-year-old electrical engineer who is the city's new director of
information technology. "We are not known as a hub yet, but with the
knowledge revolution picking up, our capacity to evolve looks optimistic."
SOURCE: New York Times; AUTHOR: DAVID ROHDE
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/international/asia/20INDI.html
MULTI-YEAR DEAL KICKS OFF GLOBAL CAMPAIGN TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Sun Microsystems, Inc. and the China Standard Software Company, Ltd. (CSSC)
have partnered to develop and deploy the Java desktop system as a nationwide
standard to help bridge the digital divide among the nation's 1.3 billion
citizens. This collaboration is Sun's first step in its "global campaign to
partner with every nation and to help bring an open, affordable and secure
desktop to users worldwide." Open source software, especially Linux,
unleashes new opportunities not only to China, but also in other countries
around the globe, says Li Wuqiang of China's Ministry of Science and
Technology. "A desktop solution based on open standards means more choice,
an affordable price and a higher level of information security. China warmly
welcomes international cooperation in this area, such as this agreement
between CSSC and Sun." Sun Microsystems says open source is their foundation
because it enables connectivity, communication and community. This
partnership "creates a vast opportunity to use the Linux and Java Desktop
System standards to bring information technology to hundreds of millions of
citizens across China," says Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice-president of
software, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
SOURCE: IT Web: The Technology News Site
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/software/2003/0311210748.asp
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