BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2009
THE ECONOMY
Senate Passes $838 Billion Economic Stimulus Bill
Senate, House Begin Talks on Stimulus
Obama Seeks to Restore Some Stimulus Spending
Confusing Internet Tax Credit Remains In Stimulus Bill
President Obama Again Pushes for Broadband
Obama Can't Sell Stimulus Without TV Ads
Broadband Internet Access and the Digital Divide
Benton: Universal broadband a necessity
Tech for America
Intel to invest $7 billion in U.S. as recession deepens
DIGITAL TELEVISION
Hundreds of TV Stations to Proceed With Digital TV Switch Next Week
NTIA Explains Web Site Confusion Over DTV Hard Date
TELECOM
Utilities Watchdog says Illinois residents overspending on phone
Court Rules Against Verizon On Marketing Practices
Telco Fiber Builds to Stay Strong
Mexico Seeks to Rein In Telmex
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The future of the Internet is... regulation?
Move to end UK broadband access row
Social websites sign EU pact vs. "cyber-bullying"
Cuba looks to expand Internet access
Southwest begins testing Internet access
TELEVISION/RADIO
Sirius XM Prepares for Possible Bankruptcy
DirecTV Hikes Rates
Stupak wants satellite companies to carry local TV
Ombudsman Looks Into Leased-Access Complaints
POLICYMAKERS
DOJ Nominee Grilled On IP, Internet Porn
Dingell Is Longest-Serving House Member
JOURNALISM
Press body urges Obama to back journalists' rights
Specialty media on the rise in Washington, study says
New Media Breaks in, but Tradition Lives On
China TV Network Apologizes for Fire
Journalists at high risk in Mexico, group says
QUICKLY -- Privacy, transparency, participation: pick two; Distributor of Avant-Garde Films Threatened With Eviction
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Deployment of BB in rural areas is one of the most promising ways to support the economy by woodynj
THE ECONOMY
SENATE PASSES $838 BILLION ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: William Branigin, Michael Shear]
On Tuesday, Senators voted 61 to 37 to approve the economic stimulus bill. Only three Republicans voted in favor of it. In the House, an $819 billion version of the package passed Jan. 28 with no Republican support. The package now heads to a House-Senate conference to resolve differences between the two versions. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said after today's vote that House and Senate conferees would start working immediately to resolve differences. "I think the differences really are fairly minor," he said. "I think we can get most of our work done in the next 24 hours." Sen Reid said he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met with Obama early this morning and heard his views on what should be in the final bill. "His differences with the bill we have here are very, very minimal," the Senate Democratic leader said. President Barack Obama, who hopes to sign the resulting bill into law before Presidents' Day on Monday, has publicly encouraged negotiators in recent days to restore some education provisions that were stripped from the Senate version to reduce its overall cost. The Senate version of the bill includes $7 billion to improve deployment of broadband networks in the US; the House bill allocates $6 billion. Both bills include $650 million to unclog the DTV-to-analog converter box program. In a letter sent to House and Senate leadership today, Free Press voiced strong support for broadband stimulus and urged members of the conference committee to ensure that key provisions remain in the final bill. In particular, the letter highlights the importance of funding broadband grant programs over tax credits, targeting support only toward new investments, upholding clear openness conditions, applying forward-looking speed benchmarks, and putting expert agencies in charge of administering the funds.
http://benton.org/node/21909
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SENATE, HOUSE BEGIN TALKS ON STIMULUS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Shailagh Murray]
Senators began talks with the House yesterday to determine which tax breaks and spending provisions will survive as part of a final stimulus package, but despite the optimism leaders in both chambers expressed about quickly resolving their differences, the negotiations are expected to be contentious. Democrats in the House and Senate remain broadly unified around the central provisions of the legislation, which is intended to create or save up to 4 million jobs, but several disputes could extend negotiations beyond their goal of having a finished product by the weekend. The Senate's package is about $19 billion more than the $819 billion House package. It provides less in federal spending and more in tax breaks. On the spending side, likely flashpoints include Medicaid and school construction, both top priorities in the House that the Senate scaled back or dropped. On the tax side, the Senate included several breaks that could fall off the table, including incentives to buy homes and automobiles, along with a temporary fix to the alternative minimum tax. The Obama administration appears to have taken the House's side in the battle over school-construction funding.
http://benton.org/node/21928
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OBAMA SEEKS TO RESTORE SOME STIMULUS SPENDING
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Greg Hitt, Jonathan Weisman]
The White House is seeking to restore funding cut by the Senate for schools, health insurance and computerizing health records as the economic-stimulus plan headed into a final round of negotiations in Congress, with top lawmakers struggling to bring the price of the two-year package down to $800 billion. That would be well below the $838.2 billion plan approved Tuesday by the Senate on a 61-37 vote, but would reflect pressure from influential moderates in the Senate to hold down costs. As lawmakers meet to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the legislation, the White House's effort to reshape it is leading to skirmishes among House and Senate Democrats, as well as with the moderate Republicans and Democrats who pushed to cut the size of the original Senate package. To make room for added spending, the White House, joined by House Democratic leaders, is pressing to scale back certain Senate-passed tax breaks, including measures intended to boost auto and home sales. To ensure passage when the compromise bill comes back to the Senate, Democrats need the votes of all 58 senators from their own party, plus at least two Republicans.
http://benton.org/node/21927
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CONFUSING INTERNET TAX CREDIT REMAINS IN STIMULUS BILL
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Fawn Johnson]
Lawmakers have been unsuccessful at changing confusing language in a sweeping economic stimulus bill that critics and analysts say could benefit Verizon Communications over other Internet service providers. An effort to narrow the bill's tax credit for extending Internet access to rural areas and regions without service has been stymied as the Senate moves toward a final vote on the bill. Now, congressional aides and lobbyists say the only option for changing the provision is influencing the closed-door negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers that will occur after a Senate vote. The House stimulus bill doesn't include any tax incentives for Internet investments. It is possible that the Senate's Internet tax credit proposal simply could get chucked in negotiations with House members. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) had proposed a significant increase in the Senate bill's monetary benefits for carriers adding high-speed Internet service in places where there are few options for wiring up. But Rockefeller's amendment didn't make it in to the Senate's compromise package. Industry insiders say the Internet tax credit's vague language referencing "residential subscribers" of the highest-speed Internet services could be a huge benefit to Verizon because its fiber-based Internet offering for homes comes the closest to meeting the download speeds needed to qualify for the credit.
http://benton.org/node/21908
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PRESIDENT OBAMA AGAIN PUSHES FOR BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: By John Eggerton]
In Fort Myers (FL) campaign for passage of the stimulus bill, President Barack Obama again mentioned the broadband provisions of the plan. In talking about the fact that 90% of the jobs created will be in the private sector, he included, "Jobs constructing broadband Internet lines that reach Florida's rural schools and small businesses, so they can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world."
http://benton.org/node/21907
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OBAMA CAN'T SELL STIMULUS WITHOUT TV ADS
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Evan Tracey]
As President Barack Obama prepares to give his first prime-time news conference tonight to sell his economic stimulus package to the public, he finds himself fighting this political battle without one of his most powerful weapons: TV advertising. During the campaign, Obama's extraordinary fundraising gave him the ability to communicate to the public directly through his TV ads. Since the start of the general election, he spent, on average, $11 million per week communicating with voters through TV. This unfiltered messaging proved to be one of candidate Obama's biggest strengths last fall. Since he took office in January, however, Obama has relied on a series of press conferences and the usual presidential forums to get his message to the American public. This strategy allows members of the opposition, as well as the press, to filter the information. As seen by the PR difficulties faced by the president regarding his stimulus package, it prevents Obama from effectively selling his product on a mass scale like he was able to do as a candidate.
http://benton.org/node/21906
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BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: Congressional research Service, AUTHOR: Lennard Kruger, Angele Gilroy]
It is expected that the Obama Administration will ultimately develop a national broadband policy or strategy that will seek to reduce or eliminate the "digital divide" with respect to broadband. It is likely that elements of a national broadband policy, in tandem with broadband investment measures in the American Recovery and Reinvestment stimulus package will significantly shape and possibly expand federal policies and programs to promote broadband deployment and adoption. A key issue is how to strike a balance between providing federal assistance for unserved and underserved areas where the private sector may not be providing acceptable levels of broadband service, while at the same time minimizing any deleterious effects that government intervention in the marketplace may have on competition and private sector investment.
http://benton.org/node/21905
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BENTON: UNIVERSAL BROADBAND IS A NECESSITY
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Meris Stansbury]
As Congress debates an economic stimulus package that includes funding to boost the number of people in the United States with broadband Internet access, at least one organization says access alone isn't enough--and it's urging the Obama administration to adopt strategies to stimulate broadband demand. The Benton Foundation, a private foundation that works to ensure media and telecommunications serve the public interest and enhance democracy, issued its urgent call to action--titled "Action Plan for America: Using Technology and Innovation to Address Our Nation's Critical Challenges"--before Congress drafted its stimulus legislation. The report has taken on new importance, however, as broadband funding has become mired in a tense political debate on Capitol Hill.
http://benton.org/node/21904
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TECH FOR AMERICA
[SOURCE: The Big Money, AUTHOR: Farhad Manjoo]
Should we spend stimulus money on building a broadband utopia or on transforming health care? Or both? The problem with calling for any government funding of technology is that the future always sounds terrific. Who doesn't want cheap Internet everywhere, an end to medical errors, and an electric system that could change the way we drive? Sketched out like this—a series of plans that promises radical advancements after a relatively small investment of resources—it seems crazy not to sign up for every one of these ideas. After all, the U.S. government has played a huge role in the inception of nearly every modern innovation we enjoy today. Government research grants were present at the creation of microprocessors, databases, the graphical user interface, video games, the Internet, and the World Wide Web, among many other great things. But spending on tech can be very tricky. Advocates for a high-tech stimulus aren't calling for much research money. Instead they're arguing for spending at a more advanced stage of development—they envision the government sponsoring the creation and deployment of ready-to-use technology. And we're all familiar with spectacular government-funded tech failures at that stage—think missile defense, the terminally broken computer systems built for the IRS and the FBI, and the Census Bureau's stalled effort to automate its data collection.
http://benton.org/node/21903
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INTEL TO INVEST $7 BILLION IN US AS RECESSION DEEPENS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Franklin Paul, Janet Kornblum]
Intel plans to invest $7 billion over two years to build next-generation US chip manufacturing plants, unveiling its biggest spending plan for new technology amid a deepening economic recession and huge internal job cuts. Intel wants to make faster, smaller chips that consume less energy. Analysts say the spending plan did not surprise markets, as it came on the heels of Intel's announcement it would begin ramping up its operations to produce chips based on 32-nanometer circuitry by 2009's final quarter, and was in line with the firm's annual capital expenditures.
http://benton.org/node/21926
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DIGITAL TELEVISION
HUNDREDS OF TV STATIONS TO PROCEED WITH DIGITAL TV SWITCH
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Peter Whoriskey, Kim Hart]
With millions of US viewers still apparently unprepared for the nation's switch to digital TV, hundreds of television stations across the nation are preparing to forge ahead with the transition anyway and drop traditional over-the-air broadcasts next week. Stations moving ahead with the digital transition were required to notify the Federal Communications Commission by Monday night. The agency must give its approval for stations to halt analog signals. Subscribers with cable or satellite TV service, who represent about 85 percent of households, or those with digital tuners, are not expected to be significantly impacted. Some station officials explained that they've already scheduled the crews to make the switch; others said their budgets didn't allow for continuing transmission of the analog signal. Some small cities, such as Burlington (VT) will see traditional over-the-air broadcasts halt altogether next week; others will see only one or two stations end analog broadcast signals. Most of the affected stations are in smaller markets, but together cover millions of viewers. The FCC is encouraging stations to continue airing transition information and public safety alerts over analog airwaves for 30 days after they switch to all-digital programming. Showing such messages is intended to inform viewers who do not have the necessary equipment to receive digital broadcasts by the transition deadline.
http://benton.org/node/21910
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NTIA EXPLAINS WEB SITE CONFUSION OVER DTV HARD DATE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A spokesman for the National Telecommunications & Information Administration says that the reason its Web site talks both about the move of the DTV hard date to June 12 and the hard date still being Feb. 17 is that the president has still not signed the bill that moves the date. The Federal Communications Commission is operating as though the date has been moved, requiring TV stations by midnight Monday to tell the FCC whether they were planning to still go Feb. 17, which would now be early.
http://benton.org/node/21897
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TELECOM
UTILITIES WATCHDOG SAYS ILLINOIS RESIDENTS OVERSPENDING ON PHONE
[SOURCE: Crain's Chicago Business, AUTHOR: Meghan Streit]
Illinois residents are over-paying their phone bills by almost $575 a year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Citizens Utility Board. The utility watchdog analyzed more than 32,000 local, long-distance and cell phone bills of Illinois consumers and found that the majority are paying for minutes and services they don't need. The CUB report determined that the average Illinois customer could save $187.15 a year by switching to cheaper local calling plans like "Consumer Choice" and by dropping services like "line-backer," which covers wire repairs that typically are needed only every 20 to 30 years. Long-distance callers could save about $60 annually by changing to lower-cost providers that charge less than 3 cents a minute for long-distance calls, the CUB study determined. AT&T and other national carriers typically charge 5 cents to 10 cents a minute for the same calls, Mr. Kolata said. Cell phone users waste an average of $308.28 a year on unused minutes and unnecessary plan upgrades like roadside assistance, according to the CUB report. Mr. Kolata said typical cell phone users pay for 420 unused peak minutes every year. The collective savings on phone services, he said, could add up to a $1.5-billion boost to the Illinois economy if all residents trimmed their bills based on CUB's recommendations.
http://benton.org/node/21902
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COURT RULES AGAINST VERIZON ON MARKETING PRACTICES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has upheld the Federal Communications Commission's order to Verizon to stop using information gained as a result of the switch of a phone provider to cable to try to retain that customer with added incentives. Cable operators, and phone companies, must notify each other about the migration of a phone customer from one to the other for purposes of "porting" the old number. That notice of the impending loss of a customer could also be a last ditch opportunity to try to keep that customer. Comcast, Time Warner and Brighthouse had complained to the FCC that Verizon's attempts to do just that violated Telecommunications Act restrictions on carrier's use of proprietary information for marketing purposes. The FCC agreed, eventually, and told Verizon to stop doing it.
http://benton.org/node/21901
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TELCO FIBER BUILDS TO STAY STRONG
[SOURCE: xchange, AUTHOR: ]
Despite the worldwide economic downturn, telcos will continue to build out new fiber access networks to compete more effectively for next-gen services business, according to a new report from Pyramid Research. The deployments of FTTx networks in Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe, have now passed the stage of early adopters and are led by both telecom incumbents and competitive broadband network operators, the report says. As many as 98 million homes - 6 percent of all households worldwide - are now passed by FTTB/FTTH networks globally, and another 74 million homes by VDSL2 networks. Of the 98 million homes passed, 70 percent are located in Asia-Pacific, where NTT in Japan was among the first to pioneer large-scale FTTH upgrades in 2000. Europe and North America each account for 15 percent of the homes passed, and both have plenty of catching up to do in the next five years. "We found that telcos' need for fiber to the home remains strong, especially in developed markets, where deployments are driven by the maturity of the broadband markets and a proliferation of IP-based video, TV, and interactive applications," said Özgür Aytar, senior research manager at Pyramid Research and co-author of the report. The report also finds that with mobile operators offering broadband at speeds and prices equivalent to entry-level ADSL subscriptions, telcos have little time to procrastinate.
http://benton.org/node/21925
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MEXICO SEEKS TO REIN IN TELEMEX
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: David Luhnow]
A new front in Mexico's longstanding battle to regulate its corporate titans began Tuesday when the country's telephone regulator issued rules that could force former telephone monopoly Teléfonos de México SAB to face greater competition. Under the rules, Telmex, as the company is called, would have to provide rivals with easier and cheaper access to its network, which covers 90% of Mexicans who own a phone line. That could help lower prices for consumers and businesses and make Mexico's economy more competitive. The company will challenge the regulations in court. Telmex rivals welcomed the new regulations.
http://benton.org/node/21921
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET IS... REGULATION?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
Academics and policymakers gathered in Boulder (CO) to debate the future of Internet regulation. When it comes to Network Neutrality, some want rules now, but Verizon's CTO and others argue that government should focus on "real" problems, not crazy hypotheticals. The issue of regulatory interventions in the Internet was the chief topic of concern at the event, since one of the only things that everyone at the conference could agree on was that, like it or loathe it, the regulators are coming.
http://benton.org/node/21912
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MOVE TO END UK BROADBAND ACCESS ROW
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Parker]
Mobile phone operators have been summoned to a meeting on Thursday with Lord Carter, the communications minister, in an effort to solve a row which is threatening to derail plans for all homes to have broadband Internet access by 2012. Kip Meek, a former senior official at Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, has been chosen by the government to oversee efforts to solve the mobile operators' dispute over radio spectrum. He will have the task of trying to find a compromise between the operators by the end of April.
http://benton.org/node/21917
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SOCIAL WEBSITES SIGN EU PACT VS "CYBER-BULLYING"
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Bate Felix]
Seventeen social networking sites in Europe including Facebook and MySpace signed on Tuesday a pact aimed at curbing "cyber-bullying" and protecting the privacy of underage users, the European Commission said. The Commission, the 27-nation EU's executive arm, said the agreement will cut the risks of children harassing peers online and curb "grooming" -- the practice of adults befriending children online with the intention of committing sexual abuse.
http://benton.org/node/21916
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CUBA LOOKS TO EXPAND INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Esteban Israel]
Cuba wants to expand access to the Internet but has been held back by economic problems and bandwidth limitations, Cuban communications minister Ramiro Valdes said on Tuesday. Valdes, speaking at a computer exposition in Havana, said the situation was expected to improve when socialist ally Venezuela completes a 930-mile-long fiber optics line to the communist-run island next year. Internet use in Cuba is limited mostly to government officials and academics, and comes to the island through a slow, costly satellite connection. According to the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union, only 2.1 percent of the population has access to the Internet.
http://benton.org/node/21915
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SOUTHWEST BEGINS TESTING INTERNET ACCESS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Southwest Airlines Co. has started testing wireless Internet access aboard one of its jets with plans to expand the test by early next month. Southwest said Tuesday that the test will last a few months and eventually include four aircraft. During the test, passengers will be able to log on free using their own laptop or smart phone — cellular technology won't work. Southwest is waiting for approval from the Federal Communications Commission to offer service beyond the trial.
http://benton.org/node/21896
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TELEVISION/RADIO
SIRIUS XM PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE BANKRUPTCY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Zachery Kouwe]
Sirius XM has hired advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing. It is unclear how a bankruptcy would affect customers. Service is unlikely to be interrupted, but the company might have to terminate contracts with high-priced talent. A bankruptcy would make Sirius XM one of the largest casualties of the credit squeeze; the bankruptcy filing would be the second-largest of the year. Sirius XM, which never turned a profit when both companies were independent, is laden with $3.25 billion in debt. Its business model has been dependent, in part, on the ability to roll over its enormous debts — used to finance sending satellites into space and attract talent — at low rates for the foreseeable future until it could turn a profit. The company's success and failure are also tied to the faltering fortunes of the automobile industry, which sells vehicles with its radio technology installed and represented the largest customer base among Sirius XM's 20 million subscribers. Sirius XM owes about $175 million in debt payments at the end of February that it is unlikely to be able to pay. Satellite mogul Charles Ergen has offered to restructure Sirius XM Radio Inc. debt and inject several hundred million dollars of capital into the company in return for control.
http://benton.org/node/21923
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DIRECTV HIKES RATES
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
DirecTV will raise monthly rates on programming packages an average of 4% effective March 4, and while the increases are in line with other video providers one Wall Street analyst said the satellite leader could be more vulnerable to "recession-related downgrades" than cable competitors. DirecTV's Select package, for example, will increase to $48.99 per month, up 6.5% from $45.99 previously. The Plus HD-DVR tier is being hiked to $75.99 per month, up 4.1% from $72.99. The Basic tier will be $12.99 per month, a 30% increase $9.99 previously, while the Family package will remain unchanged at $29.99 per month. According to DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer, the new pricing reflects the increasing cost of programming as well as the "significant investments we've made to enhance our customers' viewing experience." Sanford Bernstein senior analyst Craig Moffett, in a research note Monday, said DirecTV's price hikes come on the heels of similar increases at Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Systems, AT&T and Dish Network.
http://benton.org/node/21900
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US LAWMAKER WANTS SATELLITE COMPANIES TO CARRY LOCAL TV
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Kim Dixon]
Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI) introduced a bill to require satellite television companies to carry local broadcasting in all markets, arguing that the companies ignore less populated regions. He said satellite TV companies target urban and suburban markets, to the detriment of rural areas. Satellite TV companies operate under a "carry one, carry all" requirement that if they carry even one local station in a market, they must carry all local stations in that market. But if they choose not to, the companies can simply not carry local programing. "This has been a long-standing sore point between broadcasters and the satellite TV companies," said Paul Gallant, an analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group.
http://benton.org/node/21914
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OMBUDSMAN LOOKS INTO LEASED-ACCESS COMPLAINTS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The congressionally created Office of the National Ombudsman says the Federal Communications Commission is "working to a get a response" to leased access programmer Charlie Stogner. Stogner for months has been trying to get an answer as to whether cable operators are required to provide him the same access to their head-ends via the Internet that they do non-leased access programmers like, say, HBO. According to an e-mail from a case manager to Stogner, the ombudsman's office has been in contact with the FCC and has been assured that the commission is working on a response.
http://benton.org/node/21898
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POLICYMAKERS
DOJ NOMINEE GRILLED ON IP, INTERNET PORN
[SOURCE: CongressDaily, AUTHOR: Andrew Noyes]
Entertainment industry attorney Tom Perrelli, who is President Barack Obama's pick for associate attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing Tuesday that existing US intellectual property laws "don't seem to be addressing the problem" of global counterfeiting and piracy and said he hopes the department will bring a renewed focus to the issue. Perrelli was most recently managing partner of Jenner & Block and co-chaired the firm's entertainment and new media practice. In that capacity, he represented record labels and movie studios in a variety of copyright court battles.
http://benton.org/node/21899
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DINGELL IS LONGEST-SERVING HOUSE MEMBER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Perry Bacon Jr]
Rep. John D. Dingell (D-MI) today becomes the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives in history, but his honor comes just as his colleagues have effectively declared that his time of grand power has passed. Dingell's 19,420-day career representing the western suburbs of Detroit has been remarkable not just in length but also in accomplishments. The 82-year-old held the gavel in 1965 when the House passed the legislation that created Medicare, he helped write the 1973 Endangered Species Act, and he led dozens of investigations into waste and abuse in federal agencies. But the onetime chairman of the House Committee on Commerce, who is known for pointing to a satellite picture of Earth when asked about his committee's jurisdiction, is no longer the giant on Capitol Hill that he was. After the election last fall, House Democrats dumped Dingell as chairman of Commerce, where he had been the top Democrat for almost three decades. The fear was that Dingell would not act quickly to push through environmental legislation that could hurt the Detroit automakers he has long represented.
http://benton.org/node/21920
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JOURNALISM
PRESS BODY URGES OBAMA TO BACK JOURNALISTS' RIGHTS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
The Committee to Protect Journalists called on President Barack Obama on Tuesday to halt open-ended detentions of journalists by the U.S. military, saying they encouraged similar action by repressive governments. The group also called for fuller investigations of the deaths of journalists killed by U.S. forces. The group's chairman, Paul Steiger, told a news conference that U.S. support for journalists' right to do their work without being shot at or imprisoned had slipped in recent years under the administration of former President George W. Bush.
http://benton.org/node/21913
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SPECIALTY MEDIA ON THE RISE IN WASHINGTON, STUDY SAYS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: James Rainey]
Shifts in the way news is reported in Washington mean that average citizens find information about the government harder to come by, while an "elite" specialty audience has access to more information than ever, a study to be released today has found. The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism plans to report that -- while mainstream media outlets continue to diminish because of declining advertising -- specialty publications serving lobbyists and insiders are growing in size and influence. "In short, those influencing policy have access to more information than ever, while those affected by those policies -- but not organized to shape them -- are likely to be less informed," said the report, the result of a three-month review. The "balance of information" has tilted away from average readers with the decline in general-interest news outlets. In 1985, reporters representing 564 outlets had credentials to cover Congress, while just 160 outlets had credentialed reporters as of 2007. The number has declined since then.
http://benton.org/node/21919
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NEW MEDIA BREAKS IN, BUT TRADITION LIVES ON
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeff Zeleny]
President Obama on Monday evening became the 10th American president to call on Helen Thomas at a White House news conference. And he was the first to call on Sam Stein, a reporter for The Huffington Post. It was not the answer but the very fact that he took a question from Mr. Stein that created a buzz and signaled yet another shift in the ever-evolving news media landscape. The White House decided in advance which reporters would be selected. And on Monday night, correspondents for The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Time and Newsweek were not on the list.
http://benton.org/node/21895
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CHINA TV NETWORK APOLOGIZES FOR FIRE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Andrew Jacobs]
Um, sorry -- our bad. China's national television network on Tuesday blamed an illegal fireworks display by its employees for igniting a blaze that destroyed a futuristic luxury hotel and theater. In a statement posted on its Web site, the network, China Central Television, said the illegal pyrotechnics on Monday, the final night of the Lunar New Year celebrations, were staged too close to the unfinished Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is part of the network's headquarters complex. The network apologized for "the severe damage the fire caused to the country's property." Xinhua, the official news agency, reported Tuesday that one firefighter had died from smoke inhalation and that six firefighters and a construction worker had been injured.
http://benton.org/node/21924
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JOURNALISTS AT HIGH RISK IN MEXICO, GROUP SAYS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR:]
A leading journalists association on Tuesday ranked Mexico among the most dangerous countries in the world for reporters, as news media workers increasingly become targets of organized crime groups. Five Mexican reporters were killed in 2008 and seven have disappeared in the last three years, according to a report released Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based organization.
http://benton.org/node/21918
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QUICKLY
PRIVACY, TRANSPARENCY, PARTICIPATION: PICK TWO
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Julian Sanchez]
The tension between privacy and transparency is nothing new, but perhaps ironically, the same technologies that are making politics more democratic and participatory for millions of citizens are also heightening the tension between those two core political values. If politics is increasingly driven by small donors, spontaneous coalitions of socially networked activists, and citizen journalists, then open access to information about political actors will increasingly mean the exposure not only of corporate titans, media moguls, and elected officials, but of ordinary citizens as well.
http://benton.org/node/21911
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DISTRIBUTOR OF AVANT-GARDE FILMS THREATENED WITH EVICTION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Larry Rohter]
The Film-Makers' Cooperative is in a real estate dispute which imperils the future of the financially troubled organization. Last month the Film-Makers' Cooperative received an eviction notice that would force it out of its office and archive in a building in TriBeCa, space that is controlled by the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, another bulwark of the city's avant-garde artistic establishment. P.S. 1, which is based in Long Island City, Queens, and sponsors exhibitions and provides artists with studio space, intends to give up the 8,200 square feet on the 13th floor at 108 Leonard Street and turn it over to Alanna Heiss, who founded P.S. 1 in 1971 and until her departure at the end of last year was its executive director. Ms. Heiss, in turn, wants to use the location as a base for her latest project, an Internet radio station called Art International Radio.
http://benton.org/node/21922
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