Now Playing at benton.org James Baller goes over his Coalition's efforts to lobby Congress and the Administration of President-elect Barack Obama to develop a National Broadband Strategy. Recently, the group released a "Call to Action" that provides a strategic blueprint. He is joined by Anne Veigel, Communications Daily, Associate Managing Editor.
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2008
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Mr. Obama's Internet Agenda
Time to settle net neutrality debate
Google: Our commitment to Network Neutrality remains as strong as ever
Congress lacks tech savvy
Newspapers can't keep distributing content for free on Web
Google off list of 20 most trusted companies
THE TRANSITION
Reid unveils Senate committee chairmen
FCC Transition May Be a Bloodless One
Blago-gate Dominates the Week's News
Obama camp: No 'inappropriate' talks with Blagojevich
ED TECH
Rethinking Computers in the Classroom
BROADCASTING/CABLE
White males rule Sunday news shows
NTIA, Civil Rights Group Partner on DTV Assistance
Hey, talkers, who's afraid of the big, bad Fairness Doctrine?
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Putin takes charge of local film industry
China says within rights to block some websites
INTERNET/BROADBAND
MR OBAMA'S INTERNET AGENDA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] President-elect Barack Obama recently announced an ambitious plan to build up the nation's Internet infrastructure as part of his proposed economic stimulus package. Upgrading the Internet is a particularly smart kind of stimulus, one that would spread knowledge, promote entrepreneurship and make this country more competitive globally. In a speech this month about his economic stimulus plan, he said that he intends to ensure that every child has a chance to get online and that he would use some of the stimulus money to connect libraries and schools. It is a critical goal. Children trapped on the wrong side of the digital divide are deprived of a fair chance to educate themselves and to compete for high-skill, high-paying jobs. Obama will need to work with Congress — and fight against corporate lobbyists — to accomplish some of his goals. Some he can achieve on his own. With the right appointments to the Federal Communications Commission, he should be able to get good net neutrality regulations. "This is the Eisenhower Interstate highway moment for the Internet," argues Ben Scott, policy director of the media reform group Free Press. Restoring America to its role as the world's Internet leader could be an important part of Mr. Obama's presidential legacy.
http://benton.org/node/19915
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TIME TO SETTLE NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Chris O'Brien]
[Commentary] Job one for the new Federal Communications Commission under President Obama should be to define and make permanent Network Neutrality. The FCC should establish clear guidelines for what constitutes acceptable network management. It's in the best interest of service providers, Internet companies and consumers to get this done. If net neutrality seems like so much Washington policy wonkishness, well, it's not. As Internet traffic explodes, telecommunications companies like Comcast and AT&T have argued that they're spending vast sums of money on new infrastructure that companies like Google are eating up with their search and video traffic. The service providers would like to charge some companies more to carry certain types of content, or to restrict the amount or type of content to end users to help manage that flow of traffic. The problem is that this punishes consumers, who face either lower quality service, or higher costs. Telecom companies could essentially set up a toll service, and those costs will get passed on to consumers either directly, in the form of higher broadband costs, or indirectly by companies that are forced to pay more to have their content carried across the Internet. This is bad for innovation and bad for our wallets.
http://benton.org/node/19914
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GOOGLE: OUR COMMITMENT TO NETWORK NEUTRALITY REMAINS AS STRONG AS EVER
[SOURCE: Google, AUTHOR: Richard Whitt]
[Commentary] One of the first posts I wrote for this blog last summer tried to define what we at Google mean when we talk about the concept of net neutrality. Broadband providers -- the on-ramps to the Internet -- should not be allowed to prioritize traffic based on the source, ownership or destination of the content. As I noted in that post, broadband providers should have the flexibility to employ network upgrades, such as edge caching. However, they shouldn't be able to leverage their unilateral control over consumers' broadband connections to hamper user choice, competition, and innovation. Our commitment to that principle of net neutrality remains as strong as ever. Some critics have questioned whether improving Web performance through edge caching -- temporary storage of frequently accessed data on servers that are located close to end users -- violates the concept of network neutrality. As I said last summer, this myth -- which unfortunately underlies a confused story in Monday's Wall Street Journal -- is based on a misunderstanding of the way in which the open Internet works. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/19898
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CONGRESS LACKS TECH SAVVY
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jordy Yager]
According to the Congressional Management Foundation, Congress is still inhibited by its inability to adapt to modern technological tools. From congressional websites to constituent e-mail, lawmakers and their staffs continue to underperform and overextend themselves. Following a period in September during which congressional e-mail was limited to prevent House websites from crashing due to constituents voicing their concerns over the economic bailout package, the CMF, after hundreds of interviews and surveys, suggested increasing the technological funding and resources available to congressional offices. CMF is planning to work with members of Congress to form a task force in hopes of creating a plan to improve office interoperability and constituent communication.
http://benton.org/node/19892
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NEWSPAPERS CAN'T KEEP DISTRIBUTING CONTENT FOR FREE ON WEB
[SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun, AUTHOR: Brian Till]
[Commentary] What will it take? How will journalism survive? News has simply become too accessible to pay for without a concerted effort. Free quick reads on the train, full pages by front desks at hotels, and, of course, news always available online. Silently skimming off Google's AP content and other major news outlets' Web sites, where advertising tries in vain to offset the cost of reportage, my generation, and many around us, have failed to recognize the part each of us has played in the death of American journalism. The news industry is in collapse; a critical piece of successful democracy is in jeopardy. Unless you trust blogs to accurately and consistently report news, or trust government and business to be completely forthcoming with their misdeeds, you ought to recognize the free ride you've been on and stand to pay your fare.
http://benton.org/node/19890
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GOOGLE OFF LIST OF 20 MOST TRUSTED COMPANIES
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Deborah Gage]
Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Verizon and FedEx for the first time have made an annual ranking of the top 20 most trusted companies in the United States. Google, however, dropped off the list, released by the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe in San Francisco, as did Countrywide Financial, Bank of America (which acquired Countrywide) and Weight Watchers. Concern about privacy is higher than ever, the survey showed. Less than half of consumers - 45 percent - feel they have control over their personal information. That's down from 48 percent last year and 56 percent in 2006.
http://benton.org/node/19911
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THE TRANSITION
REID UNVEILS SENATE COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: J. Taylor Rushing]
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday announced the lineup of Senate committee chairmen for the 111th Congress. The list, which will not be final until it is approved by the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee in January, had few surprises. The lineup of chairmen is unrelated to committee memberships and Democrat-Republican ratios, both of which have not been finalized. Sen Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) is slated to take over the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee. Sen Edward Kennedy (MA) will stay on as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (WV) is taking over the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, while Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA) is taking over the Senate Select Intelligence Committee. Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA) is assuming leadership over the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Sens Barbara Boxer (CA) is remaining in charge of the Environment and Public Works Committee; Jeff Bingaman (NM), the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Kent Conrad (ND), Budget; Tom Harkin (Iowa), Agriculture; Chris Dodd (CT), Banking; Patrick Leahy (VT), Judiciary; and Daniel Akaka (Hawaii), Veterans Affairs. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/19897
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FCC TRANSITION MAY BE BLOODLESS ONE
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Ira Teinowitz]
Despite a scathing assessment of the Federal Communications Commission, it appears it won't result in any quick congressional restructuring of the agency. The result of a Congressional investigation faulted how FCC Chairman Kevin martin runs the agency, but a new chairman will be tapped by incoming-President Barack Obama. It is expected the Obama administration's FCC appointee will be making most of the desired changes at the FCC; and the congressional committees overseeing the FCC may have other priorities. On the House side, Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) will focus on healthcare and energy reform. It is unclear if Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) will keep his post -- a vote will not take place until January. On the Senate side, incoming Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller has announced his agenda.
http://benton.org/node/19896
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BLAGO-GATE DOMINATES THE WEEK'S NEWS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The arrest of Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich (D) was the top story for the week of Dec 8-14. For all of 2008, it was the biggest weekly story not related to the election or economy. And it seemed to siphon media attention away from the week's other big stories. As a topic, coverage of the economy edged out Blagojevich when stories such as the auto industry, financial meltdown and holiday shopping are all combined. But last week's economic coverage dropped noticeably from the week before. And coverage of the new Obama Administration, the next-biggest Dec. 8-14 storyline, plunged to less than half the previous week's total. In a sign of its far-reaching tentacles, the media framed the Blagojevich bust as the Obama team's first test of crisis management.
http://benton.org/node/19912
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OBAMA CAMP: NO 'INAPPROPRIATE' TALKS WITH BLAGOJEVICH
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Sam Youngman]
Barack Obama's transition team said Monday that the president-elect's staff did not have "inappropriate discussions" with Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich (D) about who should replace Obama in the Senate. He added that the U.S. attorney's office requested that the release of the transition review be "deferred until the week of Dec. 22, in order not to impede their investigation of the governor."
http://benton.org/node/19895
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ED TECH
RETHINKING COMPUTERS IN THE CLASSROOM
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Aaron Ricadela]
In many schools, PCs have failed to aid students' learning or improve test scores, or equip them with the analysis and communications skills that today's workplace demands, according to studies. The problems include a reliance on paper lesson plans that don't factor in technology, and inadequate teacher training and technical support. Also at fault, say educators, is American classrooms' occupation with teaching kids strategies for raising standardized test scores to meet provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. That often leaves little room for creative extras. Other times, school boards buy computers to prove their technical savvy to politicians and parents, without thinking through how kids will actually use the machines. "Any school that focuses on putting more computers in the classroom as their core goal will undermine the transformation that technology can provide," says Anthony Salcito, Microsoft's general manager for U.S. education. Now, bolstered by the prospect of new spending on school technology programs, educators are exploring new ways to weave the computer skills seen as essential to this century's workforce into children's daily lessons. "What's exciting about the Obama plan is not just the money," says Elliot Soloway, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan who studies the effect of technology in education. "He's going to help schools rethink what the kids do on a day-in, day-out basis." Giving more kids Internet access could compel teachers to switch from asking students to Google for answers to questions, to assigning more involved research projects, Soloway says.
http://benton.org/node/19913
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BROADCASTING/CABLE
WHITE MALES RULE SUNDAY NEWS SHOWS
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Joe Garofoli]
With David Gregory now hosting NBC's "Meet the Press," Sunday morning talk shows continue to be nearly all white men. Roughly 80 percent of the newsmakers and pundits who have appeared on the shows over the past eight years have been white men, according to an ongoing study by the liberal think tank Media Matters for America. The study found those percentages hardly changed in 2008, even as an African American and a woman battled for the Democratic presidential nomination, a woman was on the Republican ticket, and the political landscape was reshaped by the increased participation of African Americans, Latinos, and online activists and journalists.
http://benton.org/node/19894
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NTIA, CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP PARTNER ON DTV ASSISTANCE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) are teaming up with local partners to open DTV assistance centers in seven "at-risk" cities. The centers will provide information and technical assistance for folks with the most need of help in making the transition to digital TV Feb. 17, 2009, and in some cases before that. Those "at risk" populations have been identified as minorities, non-English speakers, low income, seniors and those with disabilities." The markets getting the centers are Atlanta; Detroit; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Portland, Ore.; San Antonio; San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland; and Seattle-Tacoma. They are identified as those with large numbers of those target populations.
http://benton.org/node/19891
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HEY, TALKERS, WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG, BAD FAIRNESS DOCTRINE?
[SOURCE: Sacramento Bee, AUTHOR: Sue Wilson]
[Commentary] What scares Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and now George Will even more than a Democratic-run government? The prospect of restoring fairness to the public airwaves. They have good reason to be afraid. It's been well documented that 90 percent of radio talkers are conservative, and 22 percent of Americans cite talk radio as their primary source of news. What's less known is that for more than two years, right-wing hosts have been lambasting the Fairness Doctrine on the radio. Only 10 percent of radio talkers are liberal, and most liberal shows can only be found on small stations. But independent research reveals that areas of the country that are exposed to progressive talk radio are now starting to vote blue.
http://benton.org/node/19893
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
PUTIN TAKES CHARGE OF LOCAL FILM INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Nick Holdsworth]
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is taking personal charge of progress in the development of the country's film industry as chairman of the government council on the progress of domestic cinematography. Putin will "personally supervise" government initiatives to support the film industry, according to the Russian federal press service. The new body -- which emerged following a meeting of film industry chiefs chaired by Putin at St. Petersburg's Russian World Studios in early October -- will coordinate the work of government bodies, film industry professionals and companies. The council will not allocate funding but will look at ways to improve efficiency of state support for production, distribution and promotion of Russian films domestically and internationally. Supporting the introduction of "innovative cinema technologies" and measures to maintain a market share for Russian films on domestic release will also be part of the brief, the government press service said.
http://benton.org/node/19889
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CHINA SAYS WITHIN RIGHTS TO BLOCK WEBSITES
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Lucy Hornby]
China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday the country was within its rights to block websites with content illegal under Chinese law, including websites that referred to China and Taiwan as two separate countries. China regularly blocks sites it finds unsavory, particularly those related to Tibet or critical of the Communist Party. Access to the Chinese-language versions of the BBC, Voice of America and Hong Kong media Ming Pao News and Asiaweek has been blocked since early December, according to a report by Asiaweek.
http://benton.org/node/19910
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