http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/ The blog of public television station Thirteen/WNET New York, focusing on contemporary issues in the media and public broadcasting en-us Nucleus CMS v3.23 ? Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.thirteen.org/blogs//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/ http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=441 New York Times.

Rush Limbaugh will receive $400 million through the year 2016 under his new contract with Clear Channel, report the New York Times, Washington Post, Radio and Records, Reuters, and Associated Press.

UNITY: Journalists of Color and CNN will broadcast live in prime time a historic discussion with the presumptive presidential nominees at the UNITY ?08 Convention in Chicago, Illinois on July 24, 8-10 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 24, and is expected to reach more than 2 million viewers around the country and worldwide. The fourth quadrennial convention, which is themed "A New Journalism for a Changing World," is expected to draw thousands of journalists during the five-day event and Career Expo to be held July 23-27 at McCormick Place West in Chicago.The cosponsors of the event are the Native American Journalists Association, National Association Of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Asian American Journalists Association. The two other major minority journalist associations have these plans: The South Asian Journalists Association> is holding its convention July 10 and 11, 2009 in New York City. The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association is holding its convention next month, August 21 through 24, at the Washington, D.C. Hilton.

Worldwide ad spending online still represents a small piece of the pie, but there will be a great deal of growth in the future, says eMarketer.

Radio industry professionals Julie Lane and Nancy Vaeth-DuBroff, who are also members of the Mentoring and Inspiring Women (MIW) in Radio Group, will speak at the Radio Advertising Bureau's (RAB) women's management training program, "Rising Through the Ranks." The program - in September - is to support women in obtaining positions in radio sales management. Radio Online reports.

A new unit is focusing on how to market to women, says the New York Times.

The TV networks are trying new methods of attaining effectiveness for their ads, says the Hollywood Reporter.

Republican FCC chairman Kevin Martin is trying to extend his indecency campaign on broadcasting stations and networks, to cable TV, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The FCC's enforcement of content rules is harmful to consumers, who are blocked from viewing certain programs, and creators, who risk high fines if the agency decides their content is indecent, according to a legal filing by the Center for Creative Voices in Media, joined by the Future of Music Coalition. The groups filed the brief with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to back a challenge by ABC stations to a fine imposed by the FCC over an NYPD Blue episode. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

If it bleeds, it shouldn't lead on the local newscast, says Miller McCune Magazine.

The public knows about but is confused about DTV, the transition to all-digital TV broadcasting and end of analog telecasting coming February 17, says Broadcast Engineering.

The Los Angeles Times newsroom is shrinking by 150 jobs, or 17% of th news staff, say Associated Press, Media Daily News, Editor & Publisher, and the New York Times.

The Weather Channel sale could come in 2 days, says Reuters.

The Republicans are launching their biggest TV ad push of this presidential campaign, in an attempt to create momentum for John McCain, says TV Week.

The Tampa Tribunewill cut one-fifth of its newsroom, says Associated Press.

Dial-up Internet users don't want all that broadband, says Associated Press.

A New Jersey man is accused of stealing $10 million from Cisco, says Associated Press.

Those cellular telephone termination fees seem to be on the way out, says the New York Times.

An AT&T representative answers questions about the iPhone calling plans - and promises no long waits at the AT&T stores. The New York Times reports.

John Harrobin of Verizon Wireless sees music distribution via cellphone becoming more important as artists leave the big record labels, says the New York Times.

The U.S. Justice Department is looking closer at the Google - Yahoo partnership, says the New York Times.

Analysts at Citigroup say they see another potential partner for Yahoo that might be a bit more palatable to Yahoo?s apparently merger-phobic board and still deliver real value: America On Line (AOL), reports the New York Times.

There are now digital pens that write on any paper, and don't need special paper, says the New York Times.

WCRB-FM 99.5 Boston/Lowell will be broadcasting live a synchronized concert with the Boston fireworks, says the Boston Globe.

Segment-driven target marketing is being facilitated by online advertising, says Media Post.com.

Dish satellite TV is offering HDTV in 61 markets, or 68% of the country, says Media Daily News.

A survey shows that TV ties boost online content, according to Adweek.

Episodes of the former NBC children's show Howdy Doody are being made available on DVD, says the Hollywood Reporter.

This is the 50th anniversary of legendary top 40 AM radio station WKBW 1520 Buffalo dropping its NBC affiliation and becoming a top 40 station. It was on the 4th of July in 1958, says Forgotten Buffalo.com. There is an event today from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at 1430 Main Street in Buffalo, the location of WKBW's studios, says Forgotten Buffalo.com. The nighttime signal of the 50,000-watt clear channel station WKBW (now WWKB) was and is strong up and down the East Coast, and for a time was # 1 among teenaged listeners on the Maryland shore at night.

KIAH channel 39 Houston has a new news wheel for its 9 p.m. newscast, says the Houston Chronicle.


]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=441 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 11:31:50 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=440 New York Times.

Barack Obama's decision to support legislation granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the George W. Bush administration?s program of wiretapping without warrants has led to an intense backlash among some of his most ardent supporters. The New York Times reports.

An anti-trust probe has been opened over the proposed Yahoo - Google advertising deal, reports the Washington Post.

The town of Burlington, Connecticut is trying to prevent the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford from using its WJMJ 88.9 9,000-watt FM radio tower on Johnnycake Mountain because of its recent decision to pull ecumenical programming from the airwaves. The town believes the transformation of WJMJ-FM from an ecumenical station to an all-conservative Catholic station violates a 1987 agreement between the town and the archdiocese over the use of the tower, Burlington First Selectwoman Kathleen Zabel says. "It's a black and white matter," Zabel says "[The archdiocese] is in violation of the stipulated agreement." The planning and zoning commission requested that a cease-and-desist order be issued to the archdiocese, reports the Hartford Courant.

The "late period" Rush Limbaugh is profiled by the New York Times Magazine.

Consumer satisfaction with cable and satellite TV is falling, according to a new poll. USA Today reports.

HD radio is offering extra radio channels of music, says the Chicago Tribune. Clear Channel FM stations are among those offering separate formats on HD channels. In Albany, WRVE 99.5 offers smooth jazz. In New York City, WKTU 103.5's HD channel offers country and western music. In Patchogue, Long Island, WALK-FM 97.5's HD channel offers country and western music. In Syracuse and in Connecticut, WYYY 94.5 Syracuse and WKSS 95.7 Hartford are offering a gay channel, Pride Radio.

The U.S. Copyright Office is recommending that local TV stations not be streamed on the Internet. MultiChannel News reports.

Watching television online isn't going to change watching TV in the living room anytime soon, according to a new study. The Hollywood Reporter has the story.

TV ad spending will reach a record level in this presidential campaign, says Reuters.

The news networks are seeing growth in viewership, says Variety.

MSNBC is playing in the big leagues now, says Associated Press.

The Baltimore Sun is eliminating its standalone business section later this month, says the Baltimore Business Journal.

Tribune Co.'s CW affiliate KTLA channel 5 Los Angeles has handed out pink slips to a half dozen news employees, says Variety.

Ten news employees at Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA-TV channel 8 will lose their jobs, says the Saint Petersburg Times.

Cleveland CBS affiliate WOIO channel 19 is making staff cuts, says the Ohio Media Blog.

Julia Child's house in Cambridge, Massachusetts is for sale for $4.35 million, says the Boston Globe.

New York magazine's founding editor Clay Elker has passed away, say the New York Times and Associated Press.

More and more businesses want an online networking site for themselves or their customers. The key to success lies in understanding what's appropriate, says Business Week.

In Boston, the T has disciplined dozens of workers for using cellular telephones while on the job, reports Associated Press.

Going to summer camp doesn't cut the cord with parents as much as it once did. "Children-sick" parents are keeping the pressure on for digital access, says the Boston Globe.

The founder of the job site Monster.com is looking at creating a site for obituaries, says Associated Press.

Adobe is aiding in search. Adobe's new software will make Flash-created content more easily seen by search engines like Google and Yahoo, says Business Week.

Microsoft will sell its Office programs and OneCare for $70 a year, Associated Press.

Microsoft has purchased the linguistic Web search firm Powerset, says Reuters.

Intel is betting on the past, says the New York Times.

You can buy the iPhone 3G without a contract, but it will cost you $600, says the New York Times.

In California, hackers broke into Citibank ATM machines at 7-11 stores, says Associated Press.

Teenaged surfers are still buying online but are spending less. eMarketer reports.

A social networking site, Reunion, which assists in finding people from one's past, has divulged a child's personal data, says the Los Angeles Times.

Traditional sources dominate the video marketplace, but online, mobile is growing fast, says Online Media Daily.

Some 96% of money raised for a Republican political candidate challenging incumbent U.S. congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, went to other Republican and conservative causes, not to the candidate, says the Boston Globe.

The Web has become a major factor in many ways in political campaigns, says Media Post.com.

The Vietnam War continues to be an issue in presidential campaigns, even though it ended 33 years ago, says the Washington Post.

The TV networks are lying low on the actors' contract, says the New York Times.

Some newspeople for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the U.S. controlled radio service, are reporting among gangsters, in some nations, reports the Washington Post.

Egyptian security are restricting journalists covering an African Union summit after a British TV news crew got into a verbal confrontation with Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. The British network ITN asked Mugabe on Monday how he could regard himself as president, with the Zimbabwean leader responding that it was on the same basis as Gordon Brown's being British prime minister. Mugabe said the reporter asked "stupid questions." TV footage showed Mugabe's guards pushing the reporter away, reports Associated Press.

Britain's competition watchdog will investigate whether a proposed video-on-demand joint venture of the British Broadcasting Corp. and two commercial TV stations will unfairly limit competition. The Office of Fair Trading said Monday it has decided to refer the venture, which includes ITV and Channel 4, to the Competition Commission for a full investigation of cost and access issues. The venture is dubbed Kangaroo, says Associated Press.

CBS's purchase of C/NET puts CBS among the top 10 Web properties, says the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Fox network's animated Family Guy is funny but offers an oh-so-wrong view of life, say Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times.

Newspapers are getting animated cartoons for their Web sites, reports Editor & Publisher.

Sharing Miracles - a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients - will feature four-time Olympic Gold Medal-winner Greg Louganis - who has been HIV positive for 20 years - says the Examiner. In New York the telecast will be Sunday morning at 9 on WWOR-TV channel 9.

Bennett Zier has been tapped as the new CEO of the liberal talk radio network Air America. The former CEO of Red Zebra Broadcasting and top local executive with Clear Channel Radio/Washington and Baltimore will be working in New York to head up Air America?s on-air, online and video projects. He?ll continue to live in the Washington area and remain a director with Umansky, Wyatt, Zier, the management and marketing consulting group. Zier said, "Where Air America saw engaged voters, I see engaged audiences. To reach those audiences of listeners, readers and viewers, plans are in place to create more interactive Web content and video that will air on both broadcast television and the Internet." All Access reports. (scroll down) In New York the Air America affiliate is WWRL 1600.

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]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=440 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 14:28:38 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=439 Associated Press.

Last week was a hellish week for employees of the Hartford Courant, the nation's oldest continuously published newspaper. The Tribune Co.'s troubles underlie the Hartford Courant's problems.

Thirteen/WNET's new president and CEO Neal Shapiro explains his vision for the PBS flagship station, in TV Newsday.

Millions of dollars has already been raised by both sides for the media advertising war and effort by the religious right for a November ballot proposition to ban gay marriage in California, says the Los Angeles Times. The issue could backfire against the gays and help the fundamentalist right again, as it did in the 2004 elections, says Politico.

Localism and diversity should be the FCC's priority, says the Seattle Times.

Three U.S. senators are proposing tougher conditions for a merger between Sirius and XM satellite radio, says Media Daily News.

Sirius satellite radio CEO Mel Karmazin says a merger with XM would result in big cost savings, according to the Washington Post.

A lost Beatles tape will air on the BBC, reports Associated Press.

For those waiting to see classic shows from the U.K.'s channel 4, the BBC and ITV online, there will be a delay, reports the Guardian of Manchester.

The National Rifle Association is planning a $40 million ad blitz against Barack Obama, reports the Washington Post.

It was a Boca Raton, Florida man who filed the original complaint with the FCC about a broadcast featuring George Carlin on New York's Pacifica FM station WBAI 99.5. He had heard WBAI while driving with his son from New Haven to New York City. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the time, he belonged to the anti-pornography watchdog organization Morality in Media. When he wasn't complaining about what was on radio, he was active in a campaign to rid Manhattan's Times Square of its pornographic movie houses, says the Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale.

A new bag helps laptop computers pass security at airports, says the New York Times.

The Swedish population is emailing government officials protesting a proposed eavesdropping law, says Associated Press.

The more one pays for a hotel room, the less likely it will include free Internet hookup service, says the San Francisco Chronicle.

Google froze, and then unfroze, a number of anti-Barack Obama bloggers, says the New York Times.

In France, eBay has been ordered to pay $61 million in connection with the sale of counterfeit goods, says the New York Times.

OpenTable.com, which sat 3 million diners in May, is introducing new restaurant rankings and a mobile Web site. The New York Times reports.

Yahoo is once again making the case to shareholders that its existing directors are better equipped to lead the company forward than an alternate slate proposed by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, report Associated Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times.

Gas station TV is favoring shorter spots, says Media Daily News.

One third of on-line adults are sampling Web TV, says Media Daily News.

A new service is bringing clips from TV and movies to email and instant messaging, says the Hollywood Reporter.

Will advertisers adapt to Video On Demand? eMarketer reports.

Barack Obama's campaign ads aimed at the working class are examined by the Washington Post.

Bill O'Reilly reportedly will discontinue his radio show and focus on his Fox News Channel TV show, according to Radio Equalizer.

Venezuelan regulators are forcing a TV station in Venezuela to show public service announcements as punishment for broadcasting "The Simpsons" during a time slot reserved for children's programs, reports Associated Press.

Men with guns killed a Philippine journalist and slightly wounded one of his daughters, whose sister pretended to be dead and escaped unharmed, police say, according to Associated Press.

Fox is running mysterious ads for a new TV show on the network, says Reuters.

Verizon is planning to add the RFD network, which carries video of Don Imus's morning radio show, to its FIOS cable TV systems in 13 states, including New York and New Jersey. MultiChannel News reports.

NPR radio's Car Talk guys are reluctantly tackling TV, with a PBS show debuting next Wednesday evening at 10 on Thirteen/WNET, says Associated Press.

In New York City, cable all-news station NY1's Spanish-language channel is marking five years, says the New York Daily News.

The annual Independence Day Capitol Concert from Washington is being televised Friday evening at 8 on PBS and Thirteen/WNET, says the Washington Post.

The Buffalo News says its recent story about the decline of the local news on WKBW-TV channel 7 had a wide readership, with as many readers outside Buffalo as in it. Here is the original story.

CBS Interactive has absorbed C/NET's content, says Variety.

Longtime Chicago radio personality Richard Steele has been named to host the "Eight Forty-Eight" daily newsmagazine at Chicago Public Radio noncommercial FM station WBEZ 91.5 on Mondays through Thursdays, replacing Steve Edwards, who has moved to the post of acting program director, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

The FCC has fined Frank Rodriguez $10,000 for "providing services and facilities incidental to the operation of an unlicensed radio transmitter" on 90.5 FM at Paterson, New Jersey, says All Access. (scroll down)

A new book looks at the history of Boston's Gay Community News which served the gay community from 1978 to 1992, according to Press Pass Q. (scroll down)




]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=439 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:53:39 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=438 Washington Post reports.

Political freelances are joining in the political fight on the Web, says the New York Times.

Why do journalists mourn Tim Russert of NBC's Meet The Press so much? The Washington Post reports.

Meet The Press with Tom Brokaw has a new look, says the New York Times.

MSNBC's political focus has helped make it competitive, says the Associated Press.

By a margin of 58% to 42%, TV viewers prefer the cable news networks to the broadcast networks for political coverage, says Media Daily News.

Google can play with your living room TV set, says the New York Times.

Could Microsoft's Windows use a rush of fresh air? New York Times.

One employee freed himself from email's grip, says the New York Times.

Yahoo Answers solicits replies - from everyone - to any and all questions. The New York Times reports.

A federal appeals court has upheld the FCC?s authority to set rules meant to make it easier for new cable television competitors to gain local franchises, report TV Week and the Associated Press.

An Appeals Court has upheld the FCC rule on video service. The FCC made it easier for phone firms to compete with cable operators, says the Washington Post.

What would a Barack Obama FCC be like? TV Newsday reports.

How the Web was won. Vanity Fair looks at how the Internet rose to the dominant position it holds today, the history told by those who built it.

The Fox News Channel finds itself being increasingly challenged by its rivals, says the New York Times.

Paul Colichman is building a gay media empire, having launched the cable TV channel Here!, owns Gay Wired.com, and having purchased The Advocate magazine, says the Los Angeles Times.

With a wireless network, New York City agencies have more eyes in more places, says the New York Times.

Google and the Fox network's Family Guy have struck a deal, says the New York Times.

Intel's dominance is being challenged by a low power upstart, Qualcomm, says the New York Times.

With the Olympics coming, China has ordered an Internet and phone moratorium, says Associated Press.

Hands-free cellphone ad campaigns are going out on a limb: rather than showcase their headsets in TV and print ads, many companies have decided instead to go the nontraditional route. The Los Angeles Times reports.

Rhapsody America, the Web's top subscription-based music service, plans to open a digital download store today, becoming the latest company to challenge the dominance of Apple's iTunes. The new store's songs won't have digital copyright protections and customers can listen to an entire tune before buying it. The Los Angeles Times reports.

An online search site, How Stuff Works, is getting a push from the Discovery cable channel, says the New York Times.

Sorting through your cellular telephone choices: the San Jose Mercury News examines them.

Web sites fear ad blockers, says the Washington Post.

The bulletin board may outlast Facebook, says the San Jose Mercury News.

For many people, going hands-free with the cellular telephone in the automobile means getting a headset, says the San Jose Mercury News.

David Caminer, a pioneer in computers, has passed away at age 92, says the New York Times.

Olsson's one of Washington's oldest independent book sellers, is bracing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, says the Washington Post.

The CEO of Clear Channel Communications radio, John Hogan, has been signed to a new 5-year contract, says Reuters.

A Florida group is fighting a proposed ad tax on broadcast and print advertising, says Advertising Age.

Google's new Ad Planner service offers media planners an alternative to Nielsen and comScore. eMarketer reports.

According to an online study from Forbes.com and Gartner, the Internet continues to be the most influential and important source of business information for C-Level executives around the world, at 67%. This number has increased 37% since 2004. Media Post.com reports.

The Federal Communications Commission has begun a formal inquiry into altering its regulations governing product placement. The agency is seeking comment on whether greater disclosure of so-called "embedded advertising" is needed--and if so, how this should be done. One possible outcome is that networks may have to note the placement via lettering that covers 4% of the screen and lasts for four seconds. Media Daily News reports.

The average age of TV viewers has hit 50, says Variety.

Researchers are working on a computerized dictionary of sign language, says Associated Press.

Registrations for Internet addresses ending in China's ".cn" have surpassed those for the global ".net." Associated Press reports.

There could be a digital TV channel moving from Connecticut to New York City, if Arthur Liu's Multicultural Broadcasting gets its way. It's applying to move WSAH-DT Channel 42 from its present site in Seymour, Connecticut to the Empire State Building at 350 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, where WSAH-DT would operate with 990 kW into a directional antenna. WSAH would remain licensed to Bridgeport, where its calculations show it would just barely deliver the required (very) minimal signal levels; to preserve its existing coverage deeper into Connecticut, WSAH has arranged to lease a DTV subchannel from LIN's WTNH-DT in New Haven. This report is from Northeast Radio Watch. The Bridgeport channel, analog channel 43, originally signed on in March 1953 as WICC-TV, an ABC affiliate.

National Association of Broadcasters CEO David Rehr says radio must reconnect with the listeners, reports Media Week.

The Screen Actors Guild is seeking to thwart the AFTRA contract with the studios, says the Los Angeles Times.

The new documentary on the journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is examined by the New York Times. There is a video clip. The Timesprovides links to other stories on Hunter Thompson.






]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=438 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:21:24 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=437 Hartford Courant, reader Peter Krimay of West Hartford says in a letter to the editor that he is turning to public broadcasting for in-depth and unbiased news. "As a longtime subscriber to the Hartford Courant, I was disappointed to read that the parent company, Tribune, plans to cut a quarter of the news staff at the i>Courant. I just finished listening to an in-depth radio program about this very subject on WNPR public radio. More and more, I go to public radio and television to get in-depth and, believe it or not, unbiased news coverage."

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He continues, "As the Courant struggles in the for-profit news business, nonprofit news seems to be making a comeback. My hope is that this nonprofit reporting will continue to thrive. Perhaps one day the Courant will be sold off by Tribune and once again become a news entity that provides good in-depth reporting for the people of Hartford."

The PBS Web site, PBS.org, is outdrawing all of the commercial network Web sites, according to the online traffic monitor Hitwise. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

A First Amendment case has escalated between CBS News and a military court over a 60 Minutes report about an attack at Haditha, Iraq. The network is seeking to prevent the federal government from reviewing the unbroadcast parts of an interview with an officer who is being prosecuted over the incident. The New York Times reports.

Oakland Tribune editor Martin Reynolds is looking for ways to engage readers in the digital age, and discusses this issue on the Maynard Institute Web site.

The content of TV remains pretty much the same, but the ways and places where TV is seen is mushrooming, says eMarketer.

The focus on new media by Associated Press is splitting Associated Press members. The print media, in difficult times, feels it is being neglected, says the Wall Street Journal.

Move over .com and .org. Get ready for a nearly infinite variety of new Web addresses ending in words like .perfume, .sports and .paris. The Internet?s main oversight agency has approved the most sweeping changes to the network?s address system since its creation, says the New York Times. Associated Press,and Bloomberg News also report.

A stealthy form of advertising in which products are featured on television shows as props and even woven into story lines has drawn the FCC's attention. The FCC is considering new rules to make it clear to viewers when brand-name products appear in shows in exchange for money. Spending on so-called "embedded advertising" has grown as advertisers look for new ways to reach viewers who flip channels during commercials or use digital video recorders like TiVo to fast-forward past them. Associated Press, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable and the Washington Post report.

ABC is embedding ads in programs on its on-demand TV programs, says Advertising Age.

George Carlin's 7-words are still to be found somewhere on TV, says Associated Press.

NBC is recruiting citizen journalists, says the Hollywood Reporter.

The Tribune Co. is facing difficult choices after its takeover by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell, says the Washington Post.

Sam Zell says newspapers have been insulated from reality, speaking on the Poynter Institute Forum.

More than 900 newspaper jobs were eliminated just this week, says the Recording Journalist Web site.

The Palm Beach Post is cutting 300 jobs, says the Palm Beach New Times.

Advocacy groups and some legal experts are telling Congress that it is unreasonable for federal officials to search the laptops of United States citizens when they re-enter the country from traveling abroad. Civil rights groups have said certain ethnic groups have been selectively profiled in the searches by Border Patrol agents and customs officials who have the authority to inspect all luggage and cargo brought into the country without obtaining warrants or having probable cause. Companies whose employees travel overseas have also criticized the inspections, saying that the search of electronic devices could hurt their businesses. The federal government says the searches are necessary for national security and for legal action against people who bring illegal material into the country. The New York Times reports.

Forty one state attorneys general are pushing for a federal shield law to allow news reporters to protect their confidential sources, says Broadcasting & Cable.

In metro New York, Spanish language Univision station WXTV channel 41 is # 1 with local news at 6 and network news at 6:30 p.m., reports TV Newsday.

Is there a divide between the black and Hispanic populations? The executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists speaks on the Maynard Institute Web site.

Telemundo is launching a new morning show in August, Lev?ntate will be a 2-hour show produced live from Telemundo's WKAQ-TV channel 2 studios in San Juan, Puerto Rico. According to a Telemundo press release, the producers of the Billboard Latin Music Awards will be in charge of the show, under the direction of Tony Mojena. Highly focused on entertainment, the new morning show will incorporate original stories from Mexico, Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Media Moves and Media Week report.

In the U.K., a group of British lawmakers say that the foodmaker Heinz Company was wrong to withdraw a television advertisement that showed two men kissing. Six legislators from the governing Labour Party filed a British House of Commons motion saying the decision to pull the ad was "ill-considered" and likely to offend gay people. They called on Heinz to reconsider, according to Associated Press.

The 19th annual Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) awards is being telecast tonight at 7 on Bravo, reports the Detroit Free Press.

The Black Press celebrates African-American leaders at its conference, reports the New York Amsterdam News.

Are white prosecutors destroying black life? The New York Amsterdam News editorializes and takes a stand.

The data centers that run the computers in the nation are facing a crisis in the next 4 years as electricity and energy costs are expected to increase 13 times by 2012, says the San Jose Mercury News.

A total of 62% of college students watch video and TV shows online, says Media Post.

There is a war on blinking, flashing, annoying online ads, says Associated Press.

Google is testing data about searches made by users, to tailor ads specifically for them, says the New York Times.

The FCC has turned down a petition challenging the license of a TV station, KTHV channel 11 Little Rock, because of indecency on a show, reports Broadcasting & Cable.

A black and Hispanic church group is opposing the proposed merger between Sirius and XM satellite radio, says the Washington Times.

Hearst-Argyle-owned Lancaster, Pennsylvania NBC affiliate WGAL channel 8 is expanding a polling partnership that it has had with Lancaster's Franklin & Marshall College into a nationwide service. The Franklin & Marshall Polling Center, led by political commentator Dr. G. Terry Madonna, will provide three national political polls for the upcoming presidential election that will be used by WGAL's parent company Hearst-Argyle Television and its more than two dozen television stations. The stations include Plattsburgh, New York NBC affiliate WPTZ channel 5, and Boston's WCVB channel 5 and Manchester, New Hampshire's WMUR channel 9, both ABC. The Franklin & Marshall College Poll has assessed the views of the residents and voters of Pennsylvania since 1992, and past polls and other analysis also can be found at Politics.fandum.edu. TV Newsday reports.

In Miami, WFOR channel 4 - CBS4 - hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross is ending 20 years forecasting hurricanes, says WFOR channel 4 Miami.

Officials are warning of an incendiary array on the Web that attract teenaged surfers - firecrackers. the Boston Globe reports.

When he was fired, Scott Sidell was angry enough. Then he found out that his former employer was reading his personal Yahoo e-mail messages, after he had left the company. Scott Sidell is suing his former employer, Structured Settlement Investments. In a lawsuit that he filed in May against Structured Settlement Investments, the finance company he used to run, Sidell claims that executives at the company went so far as to read e-mail messages that he had sent to his lawyers discussing his strategy for winning an arbitration claim over his lost job. The New York Times reports.

There is another overhaul for Yahoo, as it continues to right itself after rejecting Microsoft's takeover bid, reports the New York Times.

As departures of top officials hit Yahoo, the Internet company is reorganizing its product groups, say the San Jose Mercury News and Bloomberg News.

Sony is setting a new course to bolster its electronics products, says Reuters.

Microsoft is seeking a path beyond the Bill Gates legacy, say the New York Times and Associated Press. Bill Gates is turning his attention to his charitable foundation, says Associated Press. Bill Gates' big picture memos changed Microsoft and the tech world, says the Seattle Times.

A federal judge handed the social networking Web site Facebook a final victory in its lawsuit with ConnectU over who originated the social networking service, ending a turbulent chapter for the company, according to the New York Times. The Boston Globe also reports.

Advocacy groups and some legal experts are telling Congress that it is unreasonable for federal officials to search the laptops of United States citizens when they re-enter the country from traveling abroad. Civil rights groups have said certain ethnic groups have been selectively profiled in the searches by Border Patrol agents and customs officials who have the authority to inspect all luggage and cargo brought into the country without obtaining warrants or having probable cause. Companies whose employees travel overseas have also criticized the inspections, saying that the search of electronic devices could hurt their businesses. The federal government says the searches are necessary for national security and for legal action against people who bring illegal material into the country. The New York Times reports.

It is now possible to hear Montreal's all Jewish AM radio station, CJRS 1650, by going to the station Web site, Radio Shalom.ca. Programming is in English and in French.

MTV has been trying to inform its young viewers about politics, and now it is trying to profit from it, by selling ads to political candidates, says Associated Press.

A computer error resulted in a gasoline station in Cincinnati, Ohio selling gas for $1.40 per gallon, and this resulted in a huge traffic jam, says Associated Press.

On eBay, a bride has found a sponsor for her wedding: Doctor Pepper - Snapple, says the New York Times.

Was there a "flip flop" by Barack Obama on the gun issue when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision yesterday? The Washington Post reports.

The TV stations in Orlando have declared Wednesday night's 1-minute DTV test a success, says Broadcasting & Cable.

This past winter, the studios and offices of CBS affiliate KREX-TV channel 5 Grand Junction, Colorado burned down. The station's archives of news story videos dating back to the 1950s was lost. Now, construction will begin on a new building this fall, and open in 2009.

Will voters in the religious right bloc stay at home on election day? One of the most influential figures among Christian conservatives, James Dobson, told listeners to his popular Focus on the Family radio program this week that Barack Obama's religious views are problematic. Yet Dobson continued to vent about John McCain, who has not been a vocal supporter of Arizona's state ban on gay marriage. "This is a year when we have a lot of frustration with both political parties," Dobson said Tuesday. Associated Press reports. Focus On The Family is heard weekdays at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on New York City AM station WMCA 570 and a national network of more than 500 radio stations.

Time plans to unveil Maghound.com this September. It is a Netflix-like service in which readers can order individual issues of print magazines for a flat monthly fee. Time's Maghound.com allows consumers to choose titles from a variety of publishers via mix-and-match "subscriptions," where they pay one monthly fee and have the ability to switch titles at any time. Members can also cancel whenever they wish. The plan is to have 300 titles participating by the launch, reports Folio magazine.

Ted Koppel is in China in a new documentary on the Discovery Channel, says the Houston Chronicle.

Channel 39 Houston, Texas changes its call letters - again, says the Houston Chronicle.

One of Orlando's best known TV anchors, Marla Weech of WKMG channel 6, Orlando's CBS affiliate, is being laid off, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

Six teenagers are under arrest in a crime spree in the New Hyde Park, Long Island area that was based on the video game Grand Theft Auto, says the New York Daily News.


]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=437 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:48:53 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=436 Los Angeles Times.

Chrysler will offer wireless Internet in its 2009 models, says the Los Angeles Times.

Lara Logan of CBS, who has been critical of the media's coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has been reassigned to Washington overseeing foreign coverage, say the New York Times and New York Daily News.

Jim Lehrer returns to the NewsHour on PBS tonight, at 6 on WLIW21 and at 7 on Thirteen/WNET, reports TV Week.

Could the Internet be a contributor to bullying among very young children? Associated Press reports.

The Tribune Company's Hartford Courant is making deep cuts and is "reinventing" the Courant, the nation's oldest continuously published paper.

Some 100 jobs are being cut at the Tribune Company'sBaltimore Sun, reports the Washington Post.

The Orange County Register, one of California's top newspapers, is outsourcing the editing of news stories, reports CNBC.

The Los Angeles Times headquarters may be sold.

The old media are watching bloggers and how they use old media stories, says Business Week.

The Writers Guild of America West wants the FCC to make rules that mandate disclosure of product integration in TV shows. Variety reports.

MTV will accept political ads, says Advertising Age.

Kermit Love, the creator of the costume for Big Bird on the children's program Sesame Street on PBS, has passed away at age 91, say the New York Times and Associated Press.

The conservative newspaper Human Events says U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi favors the return of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine, which came to an end in 1987, or 21 years ago, required radio and TV stations to broadcast both sides of controversial issues.

Barack Obama does not favor a return of the Fairness Doctrine, says Broadcasting & Cable.

The digital divide is widening in California, as Internet access lags among minorities and poorer residents, say Associated Press and the San Francisco Chronicle.

An Internet oversight agency is considering the first sweeping changes in the network's addressing system since its creation 25 years ago. The New York Times reports.

Millions will be taking part in mobile commerce, says eMarketer.

A spate of ads is giving vent to that Howard Beale feeling. Advertisers are trying to capture the spirit of outrage in campaigns that reflect and capitalize on the angry mood of the American consumer, says the New York Times.

Telecommuting is helping drive down employees' gasoline expenses and the cost of working, says the Miami Herald.

Karl Rove is now serving as a pundit for Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal and the Fox News Channel, says the Washington Post.

The University Of Georgia is purchasing commercial TV station, WNEG-TV channel 32, the CBS affiliate in northeast Georgia, reports TV Newsday. When the university takes over, WNEG will relinquish its CBS affiliation.

The FCC is preparing for viewer complaints, lawsuits and more consolidation, all related to the transition to all-digital TV broadcasting in February, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

The recording industry is decrying AM-FM broadcasting as 'A Form of Piracy' because it does not pay royalties to performers, reports Wired.

There is a scary new Internet scheme in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Someone emails people demanding money, saying that they have been hired to kill the email recipient. The Springfield Republican reports.

The state of Connecticut is warning scam artists about using the Internet, says the New Haven Register.

MySpace's political initiatives did not end with the primaries: the Rupert Murdoch-owned social network has unveiled a contest in conjunction with NBC News and MSNBC.com in anticipation of the major parties' campaign conventions. C/NET reports.

Yahoo is telling its shareholders that Google is better for them than Microsoft, reports the New York Times.

Coming soon to YouTube: my facelift. The NewYork Times reports.

There's a camera that "knows" where it is. A new technology lets your digital camera detect where you are and then transmit a batch of photos wirelessly to your computer, says the New York Times.

You can design your own font, says the New York Times.

Europe is planning a new push to cut mobile charges, says the International Herald Tribune.

Chip giant Intel won?t embrace Microsoft's Windows Vista, says the New York Times.

The profits are expanding for the maker of the Blackberry, reports the New York Times.

Hewlett Packard's new TouchSmart improves on the idea of touch computing, but doesn't deliver on its full promise. The Wall Street Journal has a video report.

The prison sentences for the father and son in the Adelphia cable TV collapse have been shortened, says Associated Press. The New York Times in 2002 provided this information about their ties to Buffalo: the father, John Rigas, now in his 80s, was the son of Greek immigrants from Wellsville, New York, 70 miles south of Buffalo. Rigas built his cable television empire from scratch, starting in 1952 with a small company in western Pennsylvania that eventually expanded to western New York state. It has claimed 5.8 million subscribers in 31 states and Puerto Rico.The Rigas success story captured the fancy of Buffalo, a city of immigrants and blue-collar workers, and in interviews over the years. He purchased the Buffalo Sabres team and the fans took to the tall, white-haired man who mixed with the everyday folks in the seats at the team's arena. Rigas said he always felt a connection to Buffalo, where he attended church in his boyhood. Rigas had first bought a stake in the Sabres in 1994 and got controlling interest in the team in July 2000, a month after he reached a deal with the city and state to build a proposed office tower for a regional headquarters in Buffalo, the company's second corporate home after Coudersport, Pennsylvania.

Carl Eilers, who invented FM and TV stereo, has died at age 83, says the Los Angeles Times.

The leader of a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group has rejected a Vatican offer to rejoin Rome, accusing Pope Benedict of trying to silence dissenting voices. Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Society of Saint Pius X that broke with Rome 20 years ago, said conditions set by the Vatican amounted to muzzling the traditionalists who claim to be the only true Catholics since Church reforms in the 1960s. The statement was heard on the Voice Of Catholic Radio which is heard Sunday mornings 7 to 7:30 a.m. on WALK-AM 1370 Patchogue, Long Island. Reuters reports.

At Canisius High School in Buffalo, there has been a tribute to alumnus Tim Russert, says the Buffalo News.

A tribute by Tim Russert's son Luke highlighted the memorial service for the Meet The Press anchor, says the Buffalo News.

The liberal talk radio network Air America has hired a new programmer, says the New York Daily News.


]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=436 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:40:30 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=435 San Jose Mercury News. says the surveillance law in Congress won't do enough to protect privacy. It says: The George W. "Bush administration's widespread use of eavesdropping without a warrant angered civil libertarians when it was revealed in 2005 and sparked a clash with congressional Democrats, who since have tried to shore up the U.S. right to privacy. Finally, a compromise has been reached - but it does not do nearly enough to protect innocent Americans from fishing expeditions in the name of homeland security. The overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 passed the House last week and could come up for a vote in the Senate today. It's probably a done deal. But it does too little to rein in the bulk collection of phone call and e-mail records, or to discourage telecom companies from breaking the law when U.S. spies come knocking. Senators should make one more stab at restoring a balance."

Was Charlie Black of the John McCain campaign right? Did he simply commit the political "sin" of saying something that is unspeakably true? And how could such an old pro, whose campaign experience dates back to the Reagan era, make such a blunder? Or was it not such a blunder after all? Charlie Black, who is John McCain's top political gunslinger, told Fortune magazine that the Benazir Bhutto assassination helped his man by focusing the debate on foreign policy, and if America should be hit by another terrorist attack, "certainly it would be a big advantage to him." The Washington Post reports.

NBC has settled the $105 million suit involving the production of a To Catch A Predator episode, in which one man died. The Los Angeles Times reports.

Within five years, people will be spending 8 hours a day in front of video screens, according to a new report. eMarketer reports.

The Internet generation is driving the growth in the global entertainment and media industry. Media Post reports.

Viewers value broadcast TV when times get tough, says the Hollywood Reporter.

Heinz has pulled a TV ad for Heinz Deli Mayo in the United Kingdom after complaints from viewers that it depicts two men kissing, reports Associated Press.

Charter is dropping plans to track the Internet usage of its Web customers, says Associated Press.

The FCC has ruled that Verizon cannot court ex-customers, and that they are off-limits, reports the Washington Post.

New York Pacifica FM station WBAI 99.5, the station that defended George Carlin's seven words all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, looks back. The New York Times reports. There are also reports from Associated Press and the San Francisco Chronicle.

HBO is planning encores programs of George Carlin comedy, says Reuters.

Hidden sex scenes in a video game have drawn a ho-hum from lawyers, says the New York Times.

Some angry children are protesting gasoline prices after losing their cable TV, says Associated Press.

In Manhattan, a new exhibit celebrates the creators of some of the top ads over the years, including the ones that had the lines "I can't believe I ate the whole thing," "Where's the beef?" and "Does She Or Doesn't She?" Associated Press reports.

As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest conservative names, James Dobson, accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee yesterday of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution. The criticism, aired on Dobson's radio program, Focus On The Family, which airs weekdays at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on WMCA 570 New York. Associated Press, Reuters, the Boston Globe, and New York Times report.

In his Default-o-Matic, Silicon Valley consultant and blogger Alan Mutter predicts a newspaper company's risk of default using Moody's Investors ratings, "because not all publishers are in equal danger of going down the drain," he says. Looking at 10 of the largest publishers, he finds the shakiest are the Journal Register Company, parent of the Trentonian and other small papers, and Morris Publishing, publisher of the Augusta Chronicle and other publications. MediaNews Group and Tribune Co. tie for third place. Newsosaur.

A survey shows executives prefer receiving business news from the Internet rather than newspapers, reports Editor & Publisher.

The Boston Herald is slashing jobs, and up to 160 may be lost, says the Boston Globe.

The New England Cable News Channel is expanding its morning news, according to the Boston Herald.

The National Association of Broadcasters is seeking to eliminate a portion of a congressional bill that would block the FCC's relaxation of the rules to allow cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market, say TV Week and Broadcasting & Cable.

The Web site Top Tips For Girls brings together advice from women for women, says the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

In central Asia, security forces from Turkmenistan detained and tortured a commentator for a U.S.-backed radio station after he had refused to stop working for the broadcaster, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said. "Today a contributor to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, Radio Azatlyk, was found beaten and tortured for refusing to sign a letter in which he agreed to stop reporting for RFE/RL," the station said in a statement. Reuters reports.

In Maryland, radio enthusiasts are testing their emergency plans on Saturday, says the Baltimore Sun.

Fordham University's 50,000-watt WFUV 90.7 in the Bronx has named Jeff Kuprycz, previously of breakthruradio.com, as technical director for The Alternate Side, the station's HD Radio music channel and web stream. Kuprycz is responsible for operational aspects of the channel, as well as hosting, blogging, and other duties, working with content director Rich McLaughlin. "The Alternate Side" is designed to give New York City's indie music scene a full-time local radio outlet. The new channel will be available at wfuv.org and on HD Radio at 90.7 FM beginning this fall. FMQB reports.

Social networking site Facebook has passed MySpace because of its global popularity, reports the Los Angeles Times

In an editorial, the San Jose Mercury News says all the viewer needs to control loud TV ads is the remote control device.

A broad coalition is backing universal broadband. A new coalition is seeking to spread the message that high-speed service is a necessity of modern life, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Harnessing the power of the Internet - social networking sites and Google and others - have helped find a medical cure for a rare disease, says the San Jose Mercury News.

Bill Gates' first stop in his philanthropic post-Microsoft life is China, says the Seattle Times.


]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=435 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:54:49 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=434 Radio-Info Web site.

What?s is obscene? Google Could Have an Answer. In the trial of a pornographic Web site operator, the defense plans to show that residents of conservative Pensacola, Florida are more likely to use Google to search for terms like "orgy" than for "apple pie" or "watermelon." The publicly accessible data is vague in that it does not specify how many people are searching for the terms, just their relative popularity over time. But the defense lawyer, Lawrence Walters, is arguing that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that interest in the sexual subjects exceeds that of more mainstream topics - and that by extension, the sexual material distributed by his client is not outside the norm. The New York Times reports.

Don Imus says a comment he made yesterday about race was misunderstood. The New York Times, New York Daily News, Newsday, and Associated Press report.

The social networking site Facebook is in a legal fight for its future, says the San Jose Mercury News.

Web TV is a hit. So where's the big money? The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

DVR users are few - 9% - but they are powerful, says Media Week.

The high tech job capital is New York City! The New York Times reports.

Google is experiencing slow growth in its news Web site, says the New York Times.

Technology leaders favor online ID cards over passwords, says the New York Times.

Technology is being used to bring politics out of the darkness, says the New York Times.

The Visa Business Network is boosting Facebook's ad efforts, says the Associated Press.

Google is unveiling a new ad planning tool, says the New York Times.

Security fears are slowing cell phone sales, reports the New York Times.

Nashville country and western music artists say they will be the losers of the merger between Sirius and XM happens. The Nashville Tennessean reports.

Anti-ad brands are a growth business, saysBusiness Week.

What makes Comedy Central paranoid? Forbes reports.

An actors' strike - which would seriously affect TV - is creating a suspense drama, says the Los Angeles Times.

The vote on Verizon issue has dealt a blow to the FCC chief. Kevin Martin is on the losing end of a 4-1 FCC ruling. The lack of support from his GOP colleagues could go beyond the telecom decision, says the Los Angeles Times.

The Philadelphia TV station that fired newscaster Alycia Lane after several embarrassing off-camera incidents has now fired her former co-anchor, nearly a month after his computer was seized in a federal investigation of allegations that someone leaked Lane's e-mail. CBS affiliate KYW-TV channel 3's decision to fire co-anchor Larry Mendte came days after Lane filed a lawsuit claiming, among other things, that keeping Mendte on the payroll amounted to sex discrimination. Associated Press reports. ]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=434 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:53:55 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=433
Media Briefing for Monday, June 23, 2008

Newspapers are facing the worst year ever this year for advertising, says the New York Times.

Ad executives are expressing a growing fear that Web powerhouses like Google and Microsoft want to extend their reach into traditional advertising. The New York Times reports.

Reporters are saying the networks and media have put the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on the back burner, reports the New York Times.

White supremacists are reporting an increase in visits to their Web sites, reports the Washington Post.

Social networking site Facebook has blown past MySpace in visits during May worldwide, says TechCrunch.com.

George Carlin, the performer whose routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" led to a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died. Carlin who had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, was 71. Carlin's jokes constantly breached the accepted boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the "Seven Words" - all of which are taboo on broadcast TV and radio to this day. When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail and exonerated when a Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying it was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance. When the words were later played on New York City Pacifica FM radio station, WBAI 99.5, they resulted in a 1978 U.S.Supreme Court ruling upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language during hours when children might be listening. Associated Press, the New York Daily News, and the Washington Post report.

A pirate FM station in the Boston area, Touch FM 106.1, which provides local community information for the African American community, cannot be condoned for operating without a license, but shows the FCC should ease its interference rules and allow more Low Power FM stations, according to the Boston Globe.

The U.S.-backed satellite TV network in the Middle East, Al Hurra, is faltering, according to the Washington Post.

The Campaign For a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) wants the FCC to take steps to keep TV, including cable and satellite TV, from being a "Trojan horse" for embedded advertising in programming. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

Fox and NBC Universal have filed an intervenor brief with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in ABC's NYPD Blue case against the FCC charging that the Commission does not have the authority to ban indecency on broadcast media. Noting that the FCC issued its fine against ABC without a single actual viewer complaint, FOX and NBCU raise the issue of the V-chip and other more narrowly-tailored alternatives in asserting that "there is no longer any constitutional justification for continuing to ban the broadcast of indecent material." All Access reports. (scroll down)

Why has it taken the FCC at least 17 months to act on the proposed merger between Sirius and XM satellite radio? The Washington Post.

Shares of Sirius and XM fell at the end of last week, says the Washington Post.

In the early 1970s there was a victory for the Boston Globe and for the press. The Boston Globe reports.

A Rutgers University study has found imbalance on three newspapers' op ed pages. Overwhelmingly, opinion writers for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Newark Star-Ledger are men who agree with the newspapers? editorial pages. The New York Times reports.

Once upon a time, you could count on a film festival to take place at, you know, a theater of some kind. People got out of their houses and got together to see interesting works, maybe talk with a filmmaker afterward. Bur there are an increasing number of online-only film festivals, and perhaps what's most surprising is how long some of them have been around. The Boston Globe reports.

Comcast and Time Warner are looking at ways to target heavy users of the Internet, who frequently download films and files that take up large portions of bandwidth. The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The dispute between Associated Press and the blogger the Drudge Retort has been resolved, says Associated Press.

The FCC sides with cable TV in the dispute with Verizon, says Reuters.

Free Internet is part of the FCC's new auction, reports Reuters.

In some ways, the iPhone can be a false bargain, editorializes the Boston Globe.

Who do the TV networks cultivate with green programming? TV aims to help save the Earth. Can shows educate and entertain, or just flatter and sell? The Boston Globe reports.

Rare filmfootage of Marilyn Monroe from when she was making her last movie, The Misfits, has brought $60,000, says Associated Press.

Veteran news anchor Tom Brokaw has agreed to moderate NBC's Meet the Press through the November election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Tim Russert. Brokaw will start next week, the network announced yesterday. Anchor Brian Williams did the show this week and announced the decision at its end. Brokaw first talked to NBC News President Steve Capus about what the network would do when the two men rode a train back to New York from Washington following Russert's funeral and memorial service on Wednesday. Brokaw told him Saturday that he would do it, Capus said. The Washington Post, Associated Press and the New York Times report.

In the era of the Internet, NBC tried to hold back the news of Tim Russert's death until his family - vacationing in Italy - could be notified. The New York Times reports.

Barack Obama is drawing up plans for extensive advertising, says the New York Times.

AT&T is providing an alternative to the traditional cable TV companies such as Cablevision, Charter and Comcast, in some 80 towns in Connecticut, according to the New York Times.

Cable TV ads are targeting Verizon's FiOS, says Associated Press.

Matthew Weiner turned early-'60s advertising culture into the smartest show on television, Mad Men, on the American Movie Classics (AMC) cable TV channel. The New York Times reports. The series is inspiring commercials, says the New York Times.

Vietnam War veterans are rebutting the 'Swift Boat' 2004 TV advertising charges against John Kerry - in answer to the challenge from the Texas billionaire oilman who paid for the ads. For this group of Vietnam veterans at the center of the attacks, it is still a fresh fight, says the New York Times.

Once an Internet giant, Infospace is now dismantling itself, says the New York Times.

New software is promising to correct harmonic mistakes in music as easily as other software now fixes the red eyes in digital photographs, says the New York Times.

Apple's Steve Jobs used his Apple millions to turn Pixar into the most important movie studio of our time, creating animated movies such as Toy Story, says the New York Times.

EBay's users are set to question eBay's CEO, reports the Wall Street Journal.

There is a new fight for financial news, says the New York Times.

Should media employees receive overtime for checking email after work hours? The New York Times reports.

Live music is thriving as CDs fade, says the New York Times.

Milwaukee Wi Fi blanketing the city is a no-go for now, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Another TV season is in jeopardy with the threatened actors' strike, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Life is different for a TV documentary crew in a "reality" world, says Associated Press.

There is a one minute test of DTV at 7:59 Wednesday evening in the Orlando TV market, says the Orlando Sentinel.

Tornadoes have carried Topeka's TV stations into a new age, says TV Newsday.

]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=433 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:05:52 -0400 http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=432
Media Briefing for Friday, June 20, 2008

After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have struck a deal to overhaul the rules on the federal government's wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in George W. Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program after the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. The deal, expanding the government's powers in some key respects, would allow intelligence officials to use broad warrants to eavesdrop on foreign targets and conduct emergency wiretaps without court orders on American targets for a week if it is determined important national security information would be lost otherwise. If approved, as appears likely, it would be the most significant revision of surveillance law in 30 years. The New York Times and Washington Post report. The U.S. House has voted to approve the measure.

In an implosion, total newspaper revenues for the first quarter of 2008 are down 13%, says Media Daily News.

Local broadcast television's revenues were down 1.6% during the 1st quarter of 2008 compared to the same period a year before, a Television Bureau of Advertising analysis of TNS Media Intelligence/CMR's estimates for the top 100 markets shows. TV Newsday reports.

Nielsen is debuting out-of-home TV viewing data, says Media Daily News.

Luke Russert was able to get Barack Obama and John McCain to sit together. In death, Tim Russert did on Wednesday what no living journalist has accomplished this campaign season: he got Barack Obama and John McCain sit together and talk, quietly. Specifically, it was Tim Russert's son, Luke, 22, who got the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees together. He requested that they sit next to each other at his father's funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown. Then, in remarks from the pulpit, he exhorted them and other politicians to "engage in spirited debate but disavow the low tactics that distract Americans from the most important issues facing our country." At the end of the service, the two candidates embraced. The New York Times reports.

Brian Williams is the temporary replacement for Tim Russert on Meet The Press this Sunday, says the Los Angeles Times.

Tom Brokaw and others say goodbye to Tim Russert, says TV Week.

What a difference a new Congress makes. A U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee has not only continued to grant the Corporation for Public Broadcasting advance funding, it has agreed to a $430 million appropriation for FY 2011 that is $10 million more than 2010. In addition, CPB would get $40 million for the digital-TV transition, $27 million for public radio interconnection, both for FY 2009. It also provides $24 million for the Department of Education-backed Ready To Learn programming project. Broadcasting & Cable reports.

Shares of Sirius and XM satellite radio are plunging, says the Washington Post.

Most doctors are not using electronic health records, says the New York Times.

The trickle of senior executives leaving Yahoo has turned into a flood. People close to the company confirmed on Thursday that three more senior executives - Qi Lu, Brad Garlinghouse and Vish Makhijani - are leaving. All were responsible for critical areas of Yahoo's business. Lu is executive vice president of the search and advertising technology group. He oversaw engineering efforts for the company's search engine and search advertising technology. Garlinghouse is senior vice president for communications and communities and is responsible for vital products like Yahoo Mail. Makhijani, senior vice president for Yahoo's search group, is leaving to join Russia's leading search engine, Yandex. The three join a number of other senior managers who have departed since Yahoo announced that talks with Microsoft ended and that it signed a search advertising deal with rival Google a week ago. The New York Times reports.

Has Microsoft sent Yahoo into a death spiral? The New York Times reports.

Now that Microsoft has failed to acquire Yahoo, Microsoft is trying to hire away Yahoo's engineers, says the San Jose Mercury News.

Microsoft has been losing U.S. search users to Google and Yahoo, says Bloomberg News.

Yahoo is addressing email concerns with new domains, says Associated Press.

EBay is strengthening PayPal's anti-fraud provisions, says Associated Press.

Apple says its iTunes has sold more than five billion songs, reports Bloomberg News.

PayPal is marking its first decade, and is a success, says the San Jose Mercury News.

A home improvement Web site, Rate MySpace, has begotten a TV series, says the New York Times.

AT&T wants to cash in on social networking, says the New York Times.

Circuit City revenues dropped in the first quarter of 2008 due to an 11% drop in store sales, and the forecast is weak, says Associated Press.

Hewlett-Packard says it is reorganizing its printing division, the company's crown jewel, to try to accelerate the growth of its corporate and consumer printing services businesses. The New York Times reports.

The Dreamworks - Viacom breakup could get ugly, says the Los Angeles Times.

Matt Cohler, 31, a senior Facebook executive and one of the early employees of the social networking phenomenon, is leaving Facebook to become a general partner with Benchmark Capital. The Los Angeles Times reports.

There is a learning curve associated with digital music these days, frustrating both consumers and artists alike. eMarketer reports.

With no buyers in sight, MetroFi's free wireless projects in Portland, Oregon and in cities in California and Illinois appear to be ending. MetroFi contracted with Portland in 2006 to blanket the city with a network for free, wireless Internet access - the Mountain View, California company's largest project. The effort in Portland was plagued by spotty service and, according to some, a weak business model. MetroFi stopped expanding the Portland network last fall when it was less than 30 percent complete. MetroFi's other projects involve the California cities of Concord, Cupertino, Foster City, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale in the San Francisco Bay Area, Riverside in Southern California and Aurora and Naperville, Illinois. Associated Press reports.

CBS.com tops the charts in share growth of online visits for the 2007-2008 season, reports Media Post.com.

Several newspaper networks surpassed Google News in netting more "unique" traffic in May, according to new data from Nielsen Online. NYTimes.com stood out with 21.3 million unique visitors - more than Google News' 11.3 million monthly visitors, says Editor & Publisher.

Some newspapers are launching mother-oriented Web sites, says Media Daily News.

In a prime example of one type of media reaching out to another, the first-of-its-kind alliance between network-owned television stations and local blogs and social media sites was unveiled in Philadelphia this week. Thirteen CBS-owned television station Web sites across the country are offering embeddable news widgets to a variety of local blogs and sites serving the Philadelphia area. The widgets are supplied with real-time news feeds of local headlines and images. Philadelphia station KYW-TV channel 3 sells the ad space in the widgets and shares the revenues with the sites participating in the CBS 3 Philadelphia Network. CNN reports.

A pirate FM radio station 99.9 has been put out of business. Richmond County, Georgia investigators shut the station down Wednesday afternoon. The radio station was being run out of a home on Macon Street in the Augusta area. When WRDW-TV News 12 first did the story last week a house on Walnut Street in Hyde Park was used to broadcast from. The Federal Communications Commission was brought it to pinpoint where the signal was coming from. After that Richmond County came in to shutdown the station. WRDW=TV channel 12 Augusta, Georgia reports.

The traditional WLS call letters are being returned to the FM dial in Chicago. WZZN becomes WLS-FM on June 26, under the plan. The station is sister to WLS-AM 890 which has a talk format. The Chicago Sun Times reports. WLS-FM at 94.7 will resurrect the heyday of WLS as a rock station, with an oldies format.

Barack Obama has reintroduced himself in his first general election TV ad, reports the Boston Globe.

Barack Obama's decision to reverse his position and not take public financing, was covered in various ways by media. The Washington Post reports.

News anchor Alycia Lane is suing KYW-TV channel 3 Philadelphia, claiming that the station exploited her, tore her down, and defamed her on her way out the door. Seeking unspecified damages, the former anchor alleges in a complaint filed in Common Pleas Court that management "turned a blind eye" toward leaks of personal information after she repeatedly voiced concerns about "security breaches" in her private e-mail. She also alleges that management engaged in "deep-seated gender-discriminatory animus" toward her and other female employees, report the Philadelphia Inquirer and Associated Press.

For broadcast stations, NTR, non-traditional revenue, can spell trouble, says TV Newsday.

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote to prohibit Verizon from marketing to customers to talk them out of a decision to switch their phone service to cable, a source at the FCC agency says. The FCC will vote to side with cable operators who filed a complaint accusing Verizon of misusing customer information in their marketing efforts to dissuade customers from switching, the FCC source says. Reuters reports.

The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to give Sprint Nextel more time to swap some wireless spectrum frequencies with public safety agencies. Sprint had been facing a June 26 deadline to vacate channels that its Nextel wireless network uses in the 800 MHz band. The swap is designed to eliminate radio interference in that portion of the spectrum for the thousands of public safety agencies across the country that regularly use it. Associated Press reports.

Ellen Stout, a 54-year-old host at Milwaukee FM station WLDB 93.3, is retiring from her show because she has been stricken by a health ailment, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.


]]> General http://www.thirteen.org/blogs/index.php?itemid=432 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:14:36 -0400