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Benton media news digest – September to October 2009

FINDING A NEW MODEL FOR NEWS REPORTING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Leonard Downie Jr, Michael Schudson]
[Commentary] News reporting that holds accountable those with power and influence has been a vital part of American democratic life, especially in places with daily newspapers profitable enough, and with owners public-spirited enough, to maintain substantial reporting staffs. That journalism is now at risk, along with the advertising-supported economic foundations of newspapers. American society must now take some collective responsibility for supporting news reporting -- as society has, at much greater expense, for public education, health care, scientific advancement and cultural preservation, through varying combinations of philanthropy, subsidy and government policy. It may not be essential to save or promote any particular news medium, including print newspapers. What is paramount is preserving independent, original, credible reporting, whether or not it is profitable, and regardless of the medium in which it appears.
http://benton.org/node/28900

A NEWSROOM SUBSIDIZED?
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
[Commentary] We're facing a paperless recovery wherein old-line content companies need to continue to slash in order to stay ahead of what looks to be a broad secular decline. Former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr and Michael Schudson, a professor at the Columbia University Journalism School, were commissioned by Nicholas B. Lemann, the dean of the journalism school, to write a report on the future of news and the newsroom. It was Mr. Downie who came up with the insight a few years back that the most important fight is not for newspapers, but for the newsrooms they support. The report's title, "The Reconstruction of American Journalism," telegraphs its sober intent, a realpolitik way of thinking that is reflected in the opening words of the report: "Fewer journalists are reporting less news in fewer pages, and the hegemony that near-monopoly metropolitan newspapers enjoyed during the last third of the 20th century, even as their primary audience eroded, is ending." In other words, the current advertising model won't continue to support so-called accountability journalism.
http://benton.org/node/28899

NIELSEN TO ADD INTERNET METERS TO ENTIRE TV RATINGS SAMPLE
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Joe Mandese]
Nielsen Co. has decided on a plan to install Internet meters alongside TV meters in its entire TV measurement panel over the next year, with the possibility of providing a so-called "single source" measurement of television programming viewed across the two media as soon as 2011. The timing of the plan, and a final decision to integrate the measurement of the two media, ultimately will be decided by Nielsen's clients, but the decision to begin a system-wide deployment of Internet meters in its entire TV meter sample was effectively decided Friday, following a "special" meeting with its most influential clients to brief them on the concept, and to gauge their interests and concerns.
http://benton.org/node/28894

10 NET NEUTRALITY QUESTIONS
[SOURCE: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, AUTHOR: Robert Atkinson]
Ten key questions policymakers should have a better handle on before deciding on Network Neutrality:  1) Does any favoring of some packets over others by ISPs without individual consumer choice represent a per se violation, or is there some discrimination (blocking, degrading, charging for usage and network management) that is pro-competitive and pro-consumer. 2) What is the record of ISPs with regard to engaging in anti-consumer and/or anti-competitive discrimination in the past?  3) What is the likelihood that ISPs will engage in anti-consumer and/or anti-competitive discrimination in the future?  4) What is the risk to innovation and consumer welfare if ISPs engage in anti-consumer and/or anti-competitive discrimination in the future? 5) How easy is it to accurately detect potential anti-consumer or anti-competitive actions by ISPs in a timely manner? 6) How easy it is it to distinguish between pro-consumer and/or pro-competitive discrimination and anti-consumer and/or anti-competitive discrimination? 7) Is differential pricing by ISPs of different users and/or different content and applications inherently bad, or can differential pricing be pro-consumer and pro-competition, and if so, what are the situations in which it is and is not? 8) Does quick discovery of potential ISP transgressions lead to correction in the marketplace due to public outcry and loss of customers or are ISP's likely be able to "get away with" transgressions absent direct government action? 9) Does the FCC have the legal authority it needs to effectively and expeditiously stop potential anti-competitive and/or anti-consumer ISP practices? 10) Does the FCC have the skill and inclination to effectively and expeditiously stop potential anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices by ISPs, and if they don't can Congressional oversight substitute for this?
http://benton.org/node/28932

INTERNET LEADERS SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amy Schatz]
Twenty-four CEOs and Internet company founders wrote in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski saying, "We believe a process that results in common sense baseline [Network Neutrality] rules is critical to ensuring that the Internet remains a key engine of economic growth, innovation and global competitiveness." The letter is signed by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Evan Williams, Digg founder Kevin Rose and a few CEOs who are veterans of the Net-Neutrality Wars: Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, Google's Eric Schmidt and Genachowski's former boss, Barry Diller of IAC/InteractiveCorp. Notably, a few non-Internet companies also signed the letter, including Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics, and Charlie Ergen of satellite-TV provider EchoStar. "An open Internet fuels a competitive and efficient marketplace, where consumers make the ultimate choices about which products succeed and which fail. This allows businesses of all sizes, from the smallest start-up to larger corporations, to compete, yielding maximum economic growth and opportunity," they wrote.
http://benton.org/node/28931

MOBILE MARVELS
[SOURCE: The Economist, AUTHOR: Tom Standage]
The reason why mobile phones are so valuable to people in the poor world is that they are providing access to telecommunications for the very first time, rather than just being portable adjuncts to existing fixed-line phones, as in the rich world. "For you it was incremental—here it's revolutionary," says Isaac Nsereko of MTN, Africa's biggest operator. According to a recent study, adding an extra ten mobile phones per 100 people in a typical developing country boosts growth in GDP per person by 0.8 percentage points. In places with bad roads, unreliable postal services, few trains and parlous landlines, mobile phones can substitute for travel, allow quicker and easier access to information on prices, enable traders to reach wider markets, boost entrepreneurship and generally make it easier to do business. A study by the World Resources Institute found that as developing-world incomes rise, household spending on mobile phones grows faster than spending on energy, water or indeed anything else. All this is transforming the telecoms industry. Within just a few years its center of gravity has shifted from the developed to the developing countries. The biggest changes are taking place in the poorest parts of the world, such as rural Uganda
http://benton.org/node/28922

A FIVE-STEP PROGRAM TO SAVE THE BBC
[SOURCE:  Financial Times, AUTHOR: Philip Stephens]
[Commentary] Here is a five-point plan that might persuade the politicians that Britain still needs a vibrant, albeit rather slimmer, BBC. First off, the corporation should show some humility. To secure its future, the BBC needs to stop behaving as if it is trying to crush its competitors. Second, the BBC should reduce the pay and benefits of top managers ­ and cut the number of those managers. Likewise, the BBC must fess up to the earnings of its  talent. Third, the corporation must rebuild the quality of its journalism. It should start by ensuring that programme editors demand accuracy instead of "impact" from the BBC's large pool of talented journalists. Fourth, the BBC should think strategically about the space a publicly funded broadcaster should be occupying 10 years hence. Some of what the BBC does speaks for itself ­ national and regional news, current affairs, original drama and comedy, talk radio. There is a strong case that these services should be available through the web as well as more traditional broadcasting channels. But the BBC must eschew the desire to be a monopoly supplier. Pluralism helps everyone. Finally, and most importantly, the BBC must rediscover the difference between ends and means. The licence fee is the means by which the BBC can provide the sort of programming beyond the reach of commercial rivals; it is not, repeat not, an excuse for the BBC to justify permanent ratings wars with competitors in the name of something called audience "reach". The BBC's future lies in being distinctive in the range and quality of its output.
http://benton.org/node/28933

MORE BAD NEWS FOR NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain and publisher of USA Today, said Monday that its third-quarter profit plunged 53 percent from a year earlier, but the results still beat analysts' forecasts, a sign of how low expectations are for the battered newspaper industry. The company reported a profit of $73.8 million (31 cents a share) on $1.3 billion in third-quarter revenue this year, compared with a profit of $158.1 million (69 cents) on $1.6 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2008. Gannett publishes 84 newspapers in the United States and 200 in Britain. The company also owns 23 television stations and CareerBuilder.com. The New York Times Co. said Monday that it plans to cut 100 newsroom jobs by the end of the year.
http://benton.org/node/28937

THE NEWS IS BROKEN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: ]
In the current media environment, where it's more important to have it first than to get it right, it won't be long until the next mix-up. Exhibit A: Breaking news that the US Chamber of Commerce will no longer oppose climate change legislation. Exhibit B: Balloon Boy.
http://benton.org/node/28936

BROADBAND USERS CONSUME 11.4 GBYTES PER MONTH
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Todd Spangler]
A survey by Cisco finds that about 10% of the world's broadband subscribers generate more than 60% of all Internet traffic, with the average connection chewing up about 11.4 Gigabytes of Internet traffic per month. Meanwhile, the top 1% heaviest global subscribers account more than 20% of all traffic, Cisco found. The networking company's Visual Networking Index (VNI) Usage report represents activity during the third quarter of 2009 aggregated from cable, wireline telco, and mobile providers in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and various emerging markets. Globally, the average broadband connection consumes about 4.3 Gbytes of video and other "visual networking applications" (such as social networking) per month. That's the equivalent of approximately 1.1 hours of Internet video, according to Cisco. Peer-to-peer traffic represented about 38% of all Internet traffic, which was a significant decrease from Cisco's earlier pilot studies that showed P2P accounting for more than half of all bandwidth used.
http://benton.org/node/28974

TV WINDOWS COLLAPSING
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Sue Zeidler]
Traditional television viewing patterns are collapsing and the industry needs to quickly figure out how to profit in a world where people can watch TV shows anytime, anywhere, NBC Universal's TV chief said. The challenge now was drawing viewers to network shows at designated times when people can either record those shows or turn to online outlets to watch at their convenience, said Marc Graboff, Chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. Networks need to figure out how to make their content more immediately available in a lucrative way, such as by charging viewers to stream episodes shortly after airing -- narrowing viewing "windows" -- or providing them to multiple outlets, he told an industry conference. Meanwhile, Comcast, the largest US cable operator, will look at all opportunities in the content business Chief Executive Brian Roberts said. Roberts said if there was an opportunity to acquire more content his company's philosophy was that is "prudent" to think about it and look at it.
http://benton.org/node/28963

STATE OF THE BLOGOSPHERE 2009
[SOURCE: Technorati, AUTHOR: Jen McLean]
The growth of the blogosphere's influence on subjects ranging from business to politics to the way information travels through communities continues to flourish. In a year when revolutions and elections were organized by blogs, bloggers are blogging more than ever, and the State of the Blogosphere is strong. Indeed, it's so strong that the attitudes held by bloggers don't differ very much by age or gender, or even across geographies — which is why we've decided to display the results of the survey according to four different types of bloggers: 1) Hobbyists.  2) Part-Timers.  3) Self-Employeds.   4) Pros. [more at the URLs below]
http://benton.org/node/28952

E-BOOK FANS KEEP FORMAT IN SPOTLIGHT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Brad Stone]
Some book sellers and owners of electronic reading devices are making the case that people are reading more because of e-books. Amazon for example, says that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before owning the device. That factor is up from 2.7 in December 2008. So a reader who had previously bought eight books from Amazon would now purchase, on average, 24.8 books, a rise from 21.6 books. "You are going to see very significant industry growth rates as a result of the convenience of this kind of reading," said Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon. Fans of the reading devices suggest that the convenience of using these products, which offer a sense of control and customization that consumers have come to expect from all their media gadgets, has created a greater interest in books.
http://benton.org/node/28972

DISNEY TOUTS A WAY TO DITCH THE DVD
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Ethan Smith]
Walt Disney is close to unveiling technology that it says will enable entertainment companies to adapt their business models to a new reality in which consumers increasingly rely on computers and cell phones in place of DVD players and TVs. The technology, code-named Keychest, could contribute to a shift in what it means for a consumer to own a movie or a TV show, by redefining ownership as access rights, not physical possession. The technology would allow consumers to pay a single price for permanent access to a movie or TV show across multiple digital platforms and devices—from the Web, to mobile gadgets like iPhones and cable services that allow on-demand viewing. It could also facilitate other services such as online movie subscriptions. The company has been quietly demonstrating Keychest for other movie studios and technology companies in a bid to get them to sign on. It plans to unveil the technology next month. Keychest aims to address two of the biggest hurdles blocking widespread consumer adoption of movie downloads: the difficulty of playing a movie back on devices other than a PC or laptop, and limited storage space on those computers' hard drives. As such, Keychest could put Disney on a collision course with an initiative, known as the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE, that has similar goals.
http://benton.org/node/28970

HOW USERS TOOK OVER TWITTER
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Steven Levy]
In an amazingly short time, Twitter -- the messaging service which does little more than circulate bursts of text limited to 140 characters to a list of people who have chosen to receive them -- has established itself as a staple of social networking, commerce, electioneering, celebrity culture, public relations, media, and political protest. According to internal documents leaked earlier this year, the company expects to have 25 million active users by the end of 2009 and 100 million by the end of 2010. In 2013, it hopes to become the first Internet service to sign up 1 billion users. Can something as elementary as Twitter become an enduring pillar of the Internet? Perhaps. Twitter rocketed into the mainstream without really knowing what its service was. Its users defined it. It was those users who made Twitter into a throbbing global sensing organism that delivers instant opinion and eyewitness reporting on everything from presidential debates to football injuries. Though the company held a discussion earlier this year called "What Do We Want to Be When We Grow Up?" the mission statement is still a work in progress. "If there are three sentences I'd use to describe Twitter, one of them would be 'I don't know.'"
http://benton.org/node/28953

INTERNET MAKES YOU SMARTER!
[SOURCE: ComputerWorld, AUTHOR: Sharon Gaudin]
A team of scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles report that new Internet users between the ages of 55 and 78 improved their scores on decision-making and complex reasoning tests after just seven days online. The researchers said they found that surfing the Web seemed to stimulate neural activity and possibly enhance cognitive functioning in those mature Internet beginners. Just a week online increased brain activity twofold in the oldest Internet users studied, according to the scientists. The researchers reported that using the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that usually atrophy with age and lack of use. However, when people begin using the Internet, it positively affects cognitive functions and alters the way the brain encodes new information.
http://benton.org/node/28999

VAST WEB CHANGES COMING
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google Inc., spoke to about 5,000 chief information officers and information technology executives at Gartner Symposium/Itxpo, a technology conference. He said in just five years we may see a Web where Chinese is the dominant language, and connections are so fast that distinctions between audio, video and text are blurred. Teens today consume information much differently on the Web and are able to juggle various forms of information seamlessly, he said. Streams of information will increase as connections grow faster, and if Web surfers feel as though they are drowning in information, it is because a fundamental shift is occurring to user-generated content. The success of sites such as Facebook and Twitter are examples of this shift, he said. "You will tend to listen to other people," he said. The problem, of course, is how to organize all the information, he said. It is the fundamental problem facing Google, a company offering many products but built on a Web search engine that trolls for information, gathers it and ranks it for users.
http://benton.org/node/29060

LIFE BEYOND PRINT
[SOURCE: Northwestern University's Media Management Center, AUTHOR: Vickey Williams, Stacy Lynch, Bob LeBailly]
Today's newspaper journalists have no trouble envisioning a career where news is delivered primarily online and to mobile devices instead of in print, according to a new report by the Media Management Center. In fact, almost half think their newsroom's transition from print to digital is moving too slowly. This survey finds that many journalists are heavily engaged in digital activities in their personal lives and would like to devote more effort to digital products at work. But most of their time in the newsroom is still spent on print responsibilities. Among the study's other findings: Newspaper journalists still love their jobs; Online desire in the newsroom is not determined by age, years of journalism experience, or proximity to retirement; and Digital journalists know customers best.
http://benton.org/node/29058

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: ABC News, AUTHOR: Leslie Harris]
[Commentary] Now it's time to pay attention, because this week the Federal Communications Commission turned up the heat on a long-simmering debate known as "Internet neutrality." So why should you care? If you use the Web or instant messaging -- or Google or Facebook or Twitter or use VoIP to make a call, to take just several popular examples -- you are enjoying the fruits of the Internet's history as an open and "neutral" network. Individuals or small start-ups launched each of these applications and services on a level playing field. That's what makes the Internet different from other media. Broadband companies provide consumers with "on ramps" to the Internet. But unlike other media, they do not try to control what gets carried across their networks. They are, for the most part, agnostic as to which online applications or service their subscribers' access.
http://benton.org/node/29113

PROSECUTORS TURN TABLES ON STUDENT JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Monica Davey]
For more than a decade, classes of students at Northwestern University's journalism school have been scrutinizing the work of prosecutors and the police. The investigations into old crimes, as part of the Medill Innocence Project, have helped lead to the release of 11 inmates, the project's director says, and an Illinois governor once cited those wrongful convictions as he announced he was commuting the sentences of everyone on death row. But as the Medill Innocence Project is raising concerns about another case, that of a man convicted in a murder 31 years ago, a hearing has been scheduled next month in Cook County Circuit Court on an unusual request: Local prosecutors have subpoenaed the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the journalism students themselves. Among the issues the prosecutors need to understand better, a spokeswoman said, is whether students believed they would receive better grades if witnesses they interviewed provided evidence to exonerate a convict. John Lavine, the dean of the Medill School of Journalism, said the suggestion that students might have thought their grades were linked to what witnesses said was "astonishing." He said he believed that federal law barred him from providing the students grades, but that he had no intention of doing so in any case.
http://benton.org/node/29096

NEWS ORGS TURN TO INDIE SITES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Marisa Guthrie]
News organizations with shrinking budgets are forming an increasingly symbiotic relationship with a new wave of independent online news sites—many of them staffed by pink-slipped print reporters.
http://benton.org/node/29095

NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION FALLS 10%
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Richard Perez-Pena]
Newspaper sales moved sharply lower this year, falling about 10 percent in the six months ended Sept. 30 compared with the same period last year, according to figures released on Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation has been sliding since the early 1990s, but in the last few years, the pace of the decline has accelerated sharply. In the same six-month period a year ago, circulation fell at roughly half the rate. The decline has been attributed to the continued migration of readers to the Web, the deep recession, newspapers intentionally shedding unprofitable circulation and, in some cases, waning reader interest as budget cuts reduce the content of the papers. Among the nation's largest newspapers, the biggest decline was reported by The San Francisco Chronicle, whose weekday circulation, about 252,000, was down 25.8 percent. The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Dallas Morning News each fell more than 22 percent on weekdays, and about 19 percent on Sundays. Over all, the audit bureau said that of the hundreds of newspapers whose reports it had so far, weekday circulation was down 10.6 percent, and Sunday was down 7.5 percent. In the same period a year ago, both declines were under 5 percent, and even that was a marked acceleration from the previous years.
http://benton.org/node/29158

FACEBOOK BECOMING BIG FRIEND OF SMALL BUSINESS
[SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Dan Fost]
Facebook is not just for friends anymore. The free social networking site -- blocked in many workplaces as a potential time-waster -- is increasingly becoming an inexpensive marketing tool for small businesses. A growing number of mom-and-pop businesses are taking advantage of a relatively new program on Facebook, one that allows them to claim their name, become visible even to folks who aren't on the site, and stay in close contact with their customers. The business, in effect, can act like any other person on Facebook, posting status updates and seeing what its fans are doing.  Facebook doesn't break out figures for small businesses but says it has 1.4 million business "pages," with an average of 100 fans per page. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a speech in New York last month that every day, 10 million people become fans of pages. (Many of those pages are for random concepts, such as the beach, or laughter, or even one called "I don't sleep enough because I stay up late for no reason," which has 3.5 million fans.) Businesses need to go where their customers are, and increasingly these days, that's on Facebook and other social media sites, analysts say. More than 300 million people have signed up for Facebook, and half of them visit the site every day.
http://benton.org/node/29180

MEDIA EXECUTIVES SHOULD LET LOCAL NEWS LEAD THE WAY
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Don Campbell]
[Commentary] Thomas Jefferson famously said that if he had to choose between having a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, he wouldn't hesitate to choose the latter. Jefferson was right, but I'd rather have a government without newspapers than newspapers that depend on government for economic survival. Publishers and news executives face perilous challenges, but they don't need, nor should they accept, help from government at any level. They have to save themselves. They should start with this premise: Their future lies in local news and analysis that have monetary value, no matter how they're delivered. Some newspapers have accepted the first part of that premise by shrinking their circulation areas and ending or curbing coverage of Washington and state capitols. But they are more reluctant to accept the second.
http://benton.org/node/29219

PTC FINDS TV VIOLENT TO WOMEN
[SOURCE: Parents Television Council, AUTHOR: Press release]
New research from the Parents Television Council finds that storylines depicting violence against females are increasing and being shown more graphically and in ways that have not been seen in the history of television. The PTC's report examined fatal and nonfatal female victimizations on prime time broadcast television and finds that there was a significant increase in all forms of female victimization storylines; an increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims; an increase in the use of female victimization as a punch line in comedy series; and an increase in the depiction of intimate partner violence. Major findings include: 1) Incidents of violence against women and teenage girls are increasing on television at rates that far exceed the overall increases in violence on television. 2) Every network but ABC demonstrated a significant increase in the number of storylines that included violence against women between 2004 and 2009. 3) Although female victims were primarily of adult age, collectively, there was a 400% increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims across all networks from 2004 to 2009. 4) Fox stood out for using violence against women as a punch line in its comedies -- in particular Family Guy and American Dad -- trivializing the gravity of the issue of violence against women. 5) From 2004 to 2009 there was an 81% increase in incidences of intimate partner violence on television.
http://benton.org/node/29248

WHY IS THE MEDIA DEFENDING FOX AND ATTACKING OBAMA?
[SOURCE: Salon.com, AUTHOR: Mike Madden]
[Commentary] By the time the White House got around to declaring that the administration had simply had enough of Fox News Channel, it wasn't exactly a surprise to anyone. On the face of it, there wasn't much to argue with when White House aides started saying most of the Fox News crew wasn't giving them a fair shot. Still, listening to some Beltway pundits react to the administration's decision, you might think the White House had ordered Fox boss Roger Ailes to be shipped off to Guantánamo. Fox News isn't exactly universally admired by other political reporters -- after all, the network's "Fair and Balanced" slogan is pretty obviously meant to be a shot at the rest of the press corps, and its cable news competitors get almost as many barbs from Fox as the administration does. But some talking heads from other news organizations started scolding the White House as soon as the battle was joined. For now, both sides in the fight probably think they're winning. The White House gets a boost from its allies, who like to see it battling back against Fox; the network gets higher ratings. As long as that continues, don't expect to see a truce any time soon. Don't expect to see much change in the way the rest of the press handles it, either. It's not personal -- it's just business.
http://benton.org/node/29287

YES, JOURNALISTS DESERVE SUBSIDIES TOO
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert McChesney, John Nichols]
[Commentary] Newspaper newsrooms, once packed with reporters, are disappearing, and neither broadcast nor digital media are filling the void. For the first time in American history, we are nearing a point where we will no longer have more than minimal resources (relative to the nation's size) dedicated to reporting the news. The prospect that this "information age" could be characterized by unchecked spin and propaganda, where the best-financed voice almost always wins, and cynicism, ignorance and demoralization reach pandemic levels, is real. So, too, is the threat to the American experiment. Our Constitution is, the Supreme Court reminds us, predicated on the assumption of an informed and participating citizenry. If insufficient news media exist to make that a realistic outcome, the foundation crumbles. The First Amendment necessarily prohibits state censorship, but it does not prevent citizens from using their government to subsidize and spawn independent media. Saving newspapers may be impossible. But we can save journalism. Step one is to begin debating ways for enlightened public subsidies to provide a competitive and independent digital news media. Also, we should greatly expand funding for public and community media, and establish policies that help convert dying daily newspapers into post-corporate low-profit news operations that realize the potential of the Internet. If we do so, journalism and democracy will not just survive. They will flourish. [McChesney and Nichols are the founders of Free Press, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to media reform.]
http://benton.org/node/29293

WILL COPYRIGHT ISSUES INTERFERE WITH THE NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN?
[SOURCE: BroadbandCensus.com, AUTHOR: Christina Kirchner]
A panel discussion last week about what can be done to protect copyrighted content over the Internet united discussions of intellectual property protection with the congressionally-mandated effort to create a national broadband plan. The possibility of a national broadband plan being adopted in the coming year raised the possibility that content may be more readily available to consumers. This might mean that piracy might become more widespread, too. Speaking at a "digital breakfast" held on October 1 by Gotham Media Ventures, moderator Paul Sweeting, a media and technology consultant, cited a French law putting consumers on notice that broadband access may be denied if they are caught downloading illegal content. According to Michael O'Leary, executive vice president of governmental affairs at Motion Picture Association of America, there are various ways of dealing with copyright-infringing content, some more effective than others.
http://benton.org/node/28607

AMERICA'S MOBILE BROADBAND FUTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski]
Speaking at a wireless industry event in San Diego, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski admitted, "It's all about mobile." As a business executive and investor, Chairman Genachowski witnessed mobile's evolution from futurist fantasy, to a nice-to-have part of a company's gameplan, to a must-have strategic priority. Now every business has to have a mobile strategy. The FCC's goal, Genachowski said, is "fostering innovation and investment, promoting competition, empowering and protecting consumers, all in an effort to help ensure the U.S. has a world-leading communications infrastructure for the 21st century." The FCC's specific objectives are unleashing spectrum for broadband; removing obstacles to 4G deployment, like delays in tower siting; developing fair rules of the road to preserve the openness of the Internet, while recognizing the differences between wired and wireless technologies; and empowering consumers by supporting a vibrant, transparent and competitive mobile marketplace.
http://benton.org/node/28592

ONLINE ADS: BIG BROTHER OR CUSTOMER SERVICE?
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Basil Katz]
US marketers and consumer advocates are preparing for battle over the rules governing online advertising tailored to individual browsing habits, often tracked and collected without notice or permission. Congress is due to intervene in the issue in the coming weeks, with a bill in the House of Representatives that would oblige websites to state explicitly how they use the information and allow those using the site to opt out. A billion-dollar industry and consumer privacy are at stake. Advertisers and popular websites say visitors prefer ads that are targeted to their interests and must accept advertising as a necessary condition to obtain free content. But 75 percent of Americans said in a recent survey they were opposed to tailored advertising if it meant their behavior surfing the Internet was being tracked.
http://benton.org/node/28594

VALUING JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: SaveTheNews.org, AUTHOR: Josh Stearns]
[Commentary] The news has always been subsidized ­ whether by the government (as with National Public Radio), advertisers (most newspapers), or other forms of income (such as the Washington Post's ownership of the Kaplan Test Prep company). As other systems of subsidies are failing, we are left with a clear and present need, and the government has a key role to play. A focus on value makes it clear that it is not readers who should pay for the news, but all of us who should be footing the bill. We all benefit from a vibrant watchdog press, from in-depth reporting, from the value quality journalism adds to our communities. We all should support that value, and policy is the vehicle to make it happen. We need government to focus on the question of value, not the question of cost. The question of cost is a Wall Street question. The question of value is a Main Street question. By shifting the conversation to the value that local news organizations provide, we get closer to finding actual solutions to the problems facing journalism.
http://benton.org/node/28595

THE PRESS IS STILL MISSING THE STORY OF FRAUD AND ECONOMIC DECLINE AHEAD
[SOURCE: MediaChannel.org, AUTHOR: Danny Schechter]
[Commentary] We know that Wall Street has not learned much from the crash it helped instigate. We know that our government, whatever its stated desire to clean up the markets and reform the financial behemoths, lacks the willingness and perhaps the clout to rein in the real power centers. We are not sure if they have been "captured" by them, or just lack the guts to take on institutions and individuals that helped fund their rise to power. But do we know that, even now, much of our media, despite the sheer volume of coverage may be missing the real story? Do we know that if we want to find missing facts and the real context we have to turn away from the failed media system that never really investigated the failed financial system?
http://benton.org/node/28578

RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SEE DOUBLE STANDARD IN TWITTER ARREST
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Michelle Nichols]
The arrest of a New Yorker for using Twitter to alert protesters to police movements at a meeting of world leaders in Pittsburgh last month would be deemed a human rights violation if it happened in Iran or China, rights activists charge. The criminal complaint against Madison said he broke the law by using Twitter to direct unlawful protesters and other people involved in criminal acts to avoid arrest and to inform them of police movements and actions. Laura DeNardis, executive director of Yale Law School's Information Society Project, said Madison's arrest could be used "by repressive countries who may be looking to crack down on technologies." "They might cite this as a justification for thwarting free speech in even more direct ways and for cracking down in cases like we saw in the Iranian election protests," said DeNardis. "To me this seems like a double standard."
http://benton.org/node/28609

BLOGGED AND SOLD
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Choire Sicha]
[Commentary] These are the amazing new methods that the persuasion industry has developed. And running behind this wild new world of marketing like a Pomeranian racing for a bullet train, the Federal Trade Commission has now promulgated guidelines that compel celebrities and bloggers and those horror hybrids, blogger-celebrities, to reveal when they are compensated for any association with products. Stealth marketing, direct advertisement and product placement work only on the clueless, and our immersive, hippo-like wallowing in the marketplace serves only to make us resistant to these viral contagions. Because the more we are sold to — and, believe it, we are being pitched every minute — the more immune we are to it all.
http://benton.org/node/28603

THE DEATH OF THE MEDIA MOGUL
[SOURCE:  Financial Times, AUTHOR: John Gapper]
[Commentary] Reinhard Mohn, the man who turned Bertelsmann from a printer of Protestant bibles in a small town in Germany to a global media company that employs 106,000 people, died on Saturday at the age of 88. His life has encouraging and discouraging lessons for media companies as they confront the upheaval of recording, print and broadcasting industries caused by the Internet. A true entrepreneur can seize upon social and technological changes to revolt against traditional ways of doing business and forge new ones. But the Internet presents a different type of challenge to those Mohn confronted. The challenge of the Internet is that it blows up the control of distribution, ensuring that all content owners compete on equal terms. Moguls can no longer exploit its scarcity by buying television spectrum or by owning printing presses. That is why media moguls have been pushed on to the defensive by a new breed of technology moguls such as Steve Jobs of Apple and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google. Control of distribution has passed to people who make the software through which content passes.
http://benton.org/node/28606

NEW 'CONSUMER-INTELLIGENCE' TECHNOLOGY WILL COMPILE DETAILED PROFILES
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Scott Duke Harris]
[Commentary]  A  new startup called Causata, led by Paul Phillips and boasting a proven team of techies and $4.5 million in venture funding from Accel Partners, aims to push customer-intelligence technology to an unprecedented level. Harnessing advances in distributed computing and machine learning, Causata aims to pioneer the development of a "multichannel customer interaction platform" that can be deployed by big retailers and financial services firms. The platform would constantly update its profiles of customers, effectively "learning" from any purchase or query and adding that to personal information in its database. It might "know" that you like skiing, wine and jazz, and be cognizant of your location and calendar. Imagine a text message that, say, includes your spouse's name in a reminder about your upcoming anniversary, because you inserted the date on a wedding registry years before.
http://benton.org/node/28605

A LIBRARY TO LAST FOREVER
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sergey Brin]
[Commentary] The vast majority of books ever written are not accessible to anyone except the most tenacious researchers at premier academic libraries. Books published before 1923 are in the public domain, but books written after 1923 quickly disappear into a literary black hole. With rare exceptions, one can buy them only for the small number of years they are in print. After that, they are found only in a vanishing number of libraries and used book stores. As the years pass, contracts get lost and forgotten, authors and publishers disappear, the rights holders become impossible to track down. Because books are such an important part of the world's collective knowledge and cultural heritage, Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, first proposed that we digitize all books a decade ago, when we were a fledgling startup. At the time, it was viewed as so ambitious and challenging a project that we were unable to attract anyone to work on it. But five years later, in 2004, Google Books (then called Google Print) was born, allowing users to search hundreds of thousands of books. Today, they number over 10 million and counting.
http://benton.org/node/28662

CONTENT OWNERS WILL NOT SET THE PRICE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Julia Angwin]
In a wide-ranging, 90-minute news conference Wednesday, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and co-founder Sergey Brin discussed the economy, the company's recent announcement with Verizon Wireless, the books settlement, Gmail outages and its merger and acquisitions outlook. 1) On paid content models online: Schmidt said, "There is clearly a market for free content, and that market is the size of the Internet. There is clearly a market for subscription content- — meaning per-view or per-month payments — and it's clear there are also going to be very expensive negotiated transactions for high-value content." He said it is similar to broadcast television, cable television and pay-per-view. "The size of those markets are correspondingly different. So when we argue over this, we're not arguing about the principle. We're arguing over the size of the market." "We are working on payment systems and subscription models to enable those other tiers," Schmidt added. Content owners will not set the price. "Everyone is familiar with this problem in selling your house. We're not going to use the price you suggest," he said. 2) On Google's plans to buy one company a month: Schmidt said,  "That was our historic average...I think it's going to be small companies of five to 10 people. Half of the most interesting things at Google came from small companies. When Larry and Sergey bought Android I didn't even notice. Sergey was surfing on the Web one day and came across what became Google Earth. He came in my office and said 'I bought them.' I said, 'For what price?' It was a small number so I said OK." 3) On the problem of "orphan works" in the Google books settlement: On Tuesday, Google said it would submit an amended books settlement in November. One of the criticisms of the settlement has been that it gives Google license to orphan works, whose rights-holders are unknown. "Some of the criticisms are legitimate and can be addressed by changes in the settlement. Some other criticisms are by people who don't want a change," Sch midt said. "The scenario in front of us is not perfect. But the perfect is the enemy of the good...my challenge to the critics is, make an alternative proposal that solves the problem that consumers do not have access to books that they cannot read today." "The companies that are making these objections have done nothing for orphan works," Brin added. "Nobody was interested in these works at all, and there is no existing market for them. So I think these objections that Google will be the only one are pretty ludicrous given that no one else has done this." He said that he has written an opinion piece on the topic that he hopes will be published soon.
http://benton.org/node/28628

TV EVERYWHERE AND THE END OF FREE TV
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: ]
The  end of free TV is looking imminent. The pay TV providers are already laying the groundwork for their response to disintermediation from free online TV sites, but the best way to turn online eyeballs into profit is still a topic up for discussion. As TV Everywhere ramps up, the question becomes, is there even money to be made from online video? According to The Diffusion Group analyst Colin Dixon, the answer depends on the execution. TV Everywhere ­ as a concept ­ is very popular with consumers. TDG surveyed consumers on the notion of getting TV content on the PC and found that about 46% of broadband heads of households were very interested in the service, and 30% saw enough value to pay upwards of $10 for it. The problem is, Dixon said, that pay TV providers are not going to be able to deliver on this concept of program-rich TV Everywhere. "They really can't start charging for this until they can deliver on that promise," Dixon said. "Consumers will be very disappointed when they get the service and they can't get ESPN, ABC, Disney or other programs."  The success of any business model will rest on the operators' ability to authenticate their users.
http://benton.org/node/28627

MURDOCH URGES CHINA TO OPEN UP TO MEDIA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sky Canaves]
News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch urged China's government to allow its media companies to take advantage of the opportunities in new media by addressing copyright piracy and a lack of competition in the domestic market that he said could impede their expansion. "The digital renaissance offers China an opportunity to exercise leadership," Mr. Murdoch told the World Media Summit in Beijing, hosted by the state-run Xinhua news agency. Alluding to China's "open door" policy that ushered in economic reforms in the late 1970s, Mr. Murdoch said that the government now has a chance to open China's "digital door."
http://benton.org/node/28659

HOW THE MEDIA HAVE DEPICTED THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression has been covered in the media largely from the top down, told primarily from the perspective of the Obama Administration and big business, and reflected the voices and ideas of people in institutions more than those of everyday Americans, according to a new study by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Citizens may be the primary victims of the downturn, but they have not been not the primary actors in the media depiction of it. A PEJ content analysis of media coverage of the economy during the first half of 2009 also found that the mainstream press focused on a relatively small number of major story lines, mostly generating from two cities, the country's political and financial capitals.
http://benton.org/node/28637

MEDIA BREAK-UPS
[SOURCE: Dow Jones, AUTHOR: Nat Worden]
Media companies should pursue break-ups, where they've had more success, than marriages, given the industry's poor track record on big deals. That's the opinion of some long-time industry observers as talk of media consolidation intensifies following Walt Disney's agreement in August to buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, and reports of talks between Comcast and General Electric for NBC Universal. Big media companies may be tempted to get even bigger as they face revenue and audience declines amid the rise of digital media. High cash piles, low valuations and an easier credit market make deals possible, but heartbroken shareholders are less willing to commit. Major media conglomerates have written down $200 billion in assets since 2000 after "relentlessly overpaying for acquisitions" and delivering subpar returns to investors. Underlying that performance is the rapid rise of digital communications and the damage it's doing to the media's traditional business models. Just as the Internet has spelled trouble for the music and publishing businesses, a decline in DVD sales is crimping profits at movie studios and the ability to watch video on-demand and skip commercials is hurting the television industry. Cable networks have been an exception, benefiting from audience fragmentation and steady subscription revenue from TV distributors, making them a favored subject of acquisition speculation. But they depend on pay-TV distributors for subscription revenue, and Comcast's push for content doesn't look like a vote of confidence by the cable giant in the future of distribution amid the rise of online video.
http://benton.org/node/28623

LIBRARIES CONNECT COMMUNITIES
[SOURCE: American Library Association, AUTHOR: Denise Davis, John Carlo Bertot, Charles McClure]
America's 16,592 public library buildings provide communities of all sizes free access to computers and the Internet; formal classes and informal staff assistance using these technology assets; a wide range of Internet services including homework resources, digital reference and e-books; and wireless access to the Internet. Additional key findings include: 1) Libraries serve a unique and important role in providing free access to all types of information and telecommunications services. Just over 71 percent of libraries report that they are the only source of free access to computers and the Internet in their communities. Library staff report an increase in the use of library computers and Internet access for job-seeking and e-government purposes. 2) In a time of widespread economic turmoil, 14.3 percent of public libraries report decreased operating budgets in FY2009. Only 38 percent of libraries report budget increases at or above the rate of inflation. More than half (53 percent) of the state library agencies that provide state funding to public libraries report declining state funding in FY2009, according to questionnaires to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA). 3)  Public libraries are investing in and improving Internet access speeds, but they still find patron demands are growing faster than their ability to increase bandwidth. Nearly 60 percent of libraries report Internet connection speeds are insufficient to meet needs at some point in the day. Achieving sufficiency of public access to computers and the Internet is an elusive goal.
http://benton.org/node/28694

EMAIL NO LONGER RULES AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro]
While email continues to grow, other types of communication services are growing far faster. In August 2009, 276.9 million people used email across the US, several European countries, Australia and Brazil, according to Nielsen, up 21% from 229.2 million in August 2008. But the number of users on social-networking and other community sites jumped 31% to 301.5 million people. "The whole idea of this email service isn't really quite as significant anymore when you can have many, many different types of messages and files and when you have this all on the same type of networks," says Alex Bochannek, curator at the Computer History Museum. We all still use email, of course. But email was better suited to the way we used to use the Internet—logging off and on, checking our messages in bursts. Now, we are always connected, whether we are sitting at a desk or on a mobile phone. The always-on connection, in turn, has created a host of new ways to communicate that are much faster than email, and more fun. Why wait for a response to an email when you get a quicker answer over instant messaging?
http://benton.org/node/28717

MEDIA MOGULS AND CREATIVE DESTRUCTION
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: L. Gordon Crovitz]
[Commentary] For media, this is the best of times and the worst. The best because the cost to publish news, make a video or distribute a song has never been lower. But also the worst because it's hard to find a company, new or old media, that has emerged with a sustainable business model. Consumers are left wondering how much longer their favorite sources of news and entertainment will be around. Content creators from musicians to authors can sidestep the middlemen who were once required to package and deliver the content. This means that as consumers, we have unprecedented choice in many areas. Media companies also have options. They can become more efficient, find new revenue streams from their most engaged consumers, and add new services. Still, no one knows which brands will survive in a world where the traditional advantages are the new disadvantages and where so many new-media companies don't survive the pace of change they helped accelerate. The challenge for all media—old and new—is the same, even if the difficulty level is higher than ever before: Focus on what makes each brand different and more valuable than the ever-increasing number of alternatives that technology makes inevitable.
http://benton.org/node/28719

WEB ADS GET TANGLED IN CLOAK OF INVISIBILITY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Emily Steel]
Kraft Foods, Greyhound Lines and Capital One Financial have bought some strange ads on the Internet lately. What's so strange about them is that they're invisible. The companies might not have known about their invisible display ads—the kind that are supposed to appear alongside content on Web pages—if not for Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School who studies Internet advertising. Edelman says his research shows that all three marketers, and many others, have fallen victim to Web sites that use such ads as a way to sell more ad space than they have. The Web sites can get away with it, he says, because online advertisers don't always audit their campaigns for proof their ads are appearing. It isn't clear how common these ads are or how much they cost marketers.
http://benton.org/node/28718

SMARTPHONE DATA REVENUE CLIMBS 31 PERCENT
[SOURCE: PC Magazine, AUTHOR: ]
CTIA's annual survey has found that revenue derived from data plans climbed 31 percent to over $19.4 billion in the first half of 2009, versus the same period a year ago. The CTIA's survey also showed steady growth for wireless subscribers, cell towers, and total revenues. According to the CTIA, however, the average cell-phone bill remained flat with last year, and has basically remained so since June of 2003. In total, there were 276 million wireless users in June 2009, up from 263 million a year ago. All told, the cellular industry raked in more than $75.8 billion for the first six months of 2009, versus $72.7 billion in 2008. CTIA found that more than 246 million data-capable devices are being used, with 40 million smartphones or PDAs and another 10 million 3G cards.
http://benton.org/node/28676

PUBLIC SUBSIDIES NO CURE FOR JOURNALISM
[SOURCE: TVNewsCheck, AUTHOR: Harry Jessell]
[Commentary] Despite his reliance on National Public Radio, Jessell is troubled by the idea of the federal government pumping more money into public media, particularly the local variety. He doesn't see publicly-funded media as the solution to our journalism woes. For one thing, public media cannot be the counterbalance to government at any level, a terribly important role for journalism in sustaining democracy in any age. The watchdog of the government cannot rely on government for a good portion of its care and feeding. Journalists covering government must maintain their independence. It also seems that handing over more government cash to public media so that they can do more local reporting would simply aggravate the troubles of the local legacy media. The last thing newspapers and TV stations need right now is more competition for the attention of consumers and for the marketing dollars of businesses. (Those underwriting dollars that public stations boast of are advertising dollars in disguise.)
http://benton.org/node/28710

30 COMPANIES CONTROL ONE THIRD OF ALL INTERNET TRAFFIC
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
The majority of Internet traffic now goes through direct peers and does not flow through incumbent tier-one telecom networks, according to a recent report from Arbor Networks, which sells network management and security products. Tier-one incumbents were once the chief providers of connectivity between content companies like Google and local or regional broadband providers like Comcast. But over time, Google and other content providers have built out their own infrastructure, connecting more directly to end users and bypassing those tier-one intermediaries. "This is a pretty dramatic shift," said Craig Labovitz, Arbor's chief scientist. The trend coincides with another that Arbor cited in the recent report: the consolidation of companies that control the Internet. About 30 large companies - including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, which Arbor referred to as "hypergiants" -- control nearly a third of all Internet traffic today. Whereas two years ago it took more than 5,000 companies to handle just half the world's Internet traffic, today that volume is controlled by about 150 companies, Arbor said. Google alone controls 7% of the world's Internet traffic.
Most Internet traffic bypasses tier-one networks
http://benton.org/node/28748

RADIO WILL STOP PLAYING MUSIC
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Tamara Conniff]
[Commentary] Stations are threatening to flip to talk, religion and sports. Or even worse, only play hit songs. Why? The music industry wants radio to pay for playing music. Radio stations currently pay the songwriters and publishers of songs, but not the artists performing the work (which often is different from the songwriter). Of course radio should pay. Part of the reason why songs become popular is because of the performers. However, it may be too little too late. The coffers have dried up. If radio is really 'promotional' for record labels, then maybe the labels should pay radio stations every time a song is played? Oh right, program directors asked for that once upon a time, and the labels coughed it up. It's called payola.
http://benton.org/node/28732

NATURAL BORN CLICKERS
[SOURCE: comScore, AUTHOR: Press release]
The number of people who click on display ads in a month has fallen from 32 percent of Internet users in July 2007 to only 16 percent in March 2009, with an even smaller core of people (representing 8 percent of the Internet user base) accounting for the vast majority (85 percent) of all clicks. The original research, conducted using July 2007 comScore data, showed that 32 percent of Internet users clicked on at least one display ad during the month. These clickers were segmented into Heavy, Moderate and Light Clicking segments based on the group of users accounting for the top 50 percent of clicks (heavy), middle 30 percent (moderate), and bottom 20 percent (light). In 2007, comScore, Starcom and Tacoda found that heavy clickers represented 6 percent of U.S. Internet users, moderate clickers accounted for 10 percent and light clickers accounted for 16 percent. By March 2009, those numbers had dropped substantially in each case, to 4 percent of Internet users for heavy clickers, 4 percent for moderate clickers and 8 percent for light clickers. The results underscore the notion that, for most display ad campaigns, the click-through is not the most appropriate metric for evaluating campaign performance. Rather, advertisers should consider evaluating campaigns based on their view-through impact. comScore has conducted more than 200 client studies demonstrating that online display ads generate significant lift in brand site visitation, trademark search, and both online and offline sales among those Internet users who were exposed to the online ad campaigns ­ whether they clicked on the ad or not.
http://benton.org/node/28762

SHRINKING NEWSPAPERS HAVE CREATED $1.6 BILLION NEWS DEFICIT
[SOURCE: Poynter Institute, AUTHOR: Rick Edmonds]
Newspapers have, just in the last several years, reduced their spending on journalism by about $1.6 billion annually. The new media sector defies that kind of collective measurement. By its nature, digital launches are extraordinarily diffuse. There is room for debate over what qualifies as a news/information site. And by any definition, new media ventures are a fast moving target with the pace accelerating even in the last few months. But would take roughly 1,600 MinnPosts or Voice of San Diegos to replace the spending on journalism newspapers have cut.
http://benton.org/node/28765

FINLAND: BROADBAND ACCESS MADE LEGAL RIGHT
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: ]
Finland has just passed a law making access to broadband a legal right for Finnish citizens. When the law goes into effect in July 2010, every person in Finland, which has a population of around 5.3 million, will have the guaranteed right to a one-megabit broadband connection, says the Ministry of Transport and Communications (via Finland's YLE). Finland is reportedly the first country in the world to enact a law that makes broadband access a right.
http://benton.org/node/28822

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING IN THE WEB ERA
[SOURCE: McKinsey, AUTHOR: Paul Steiger]
[Commentary] We used to be able to count on robust metropolitan dailies to provide a steady flow of journalism intended to shine a spotlight on abuse of power and failure to uphold the public interest, and by so doing to give the public the information needed to produce positive change. Now, while many newspapers continue to do as much of it as they can, the destruction of the business model they once depended on and the resultant shrinkage and even shuttering of newspapers around the country are robbing the American people of an important bulwark of our democracy. This change, of course, is just one of the many effects of a revolution in the way we get our news and information, caused by the dazzling rise of the Internet. This revolution has transformed the typical large and mid-size metro newspaper from a hugely profitable quasi monopoly turning out a must-have product for vast swaths of society, into an at-best break-even business with the dismal prospect of flattening or shrinking revenues. Newspapers are in the position of producing, at legacy expense, a product that is liked but considered not needed by college graduates over the age of 40—while increasingly ignored by everyone else. At the same time, however, it's important to remember that this revolution has also brought many, many positives to society already, with many more likely to come in the future. [Steiger is editor-in-chief of ProPublica]
http://benton.org/node/28806

GOOGLE'S BACK
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jessica Vascellaro]
Google shook off the recession and said its Internet advertising business picked up steam during the third quarter, as marketers began spending again. The Internet search company's revenue increased 7% from the year-earlier quarter to $5.94 billion. That compares with just 3% year-over-year growth in the second quarter. Revenue was also up 8% sequentially from the second quarter, picking up after being flat from the first to second quarter of the year. Profits grew even faster as Google continued to restrain its costs. Net income rose 27% to $1.64 billion from a year ago. "While there's obviously a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and we're seeing lots of signs of that in all of the industries that we pay attention to," said Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt. Schmidt added that Google was ready to start investing again, citing plans to hire and pursue acquisitions and partnerships. The company is launching a new online service that will let readers buy electronic versions of books and read them on such gadgets as cell phones, laptops and possibly e-book devices. Google Editions marks its first effort to earn revenue from its Google Books scanning project, which attempts to make millions of printed books available online. Although the scanning program has faced complaints from authors and publishers over copyright, Google Editions will cover only books submitted and approved by the copyright holders when it launches next year.
http://benton.org/node/28865

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS OUGHT TO BELONG TO ALL ... NOT JUST APPROVED 'JOURNALISTS'
[SOURCE: Online Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Robert Niles]
[Commentary] Can you do journalism and not be a "journalist"? Do people declared "journalists" get special speech and press rights that other American citizens do not enjoy? Can anyone enjoy the right to free speech and free publication, even if that individual is not a full-time professional reporter? These are some of the important legal questions that American politicians and bureaucrats must confront now that the Internet has made possible for people other than employees of major media companies to reach large and widespread audiences. There ought to be no special class of citizen called a "journalist." Anyone who does journalism, even if for just a moment in their lives, ought to enjoy the protections of the First Amendment when they choose to speak or to publish. Otherwise, we are ceding to unelected corporate employers the power to determine who gets First Amendment rights, or not. Freedom of the press belongs to all Americans, and not just to the newspaper industry - despite what the FTC and the New York Times would have you believe.
http://benton.org/node/28879

FAUX NEWS
[SOURCE: Center for American Progress, AUTHOR: Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani]
[Commentary] While the Fox News cable channel infamously maintains that it is "fair and balanced," the fact is that the network often does little more than shovel out Republican Party talking points. For example, its "news" anchors regularly parrot the "where are the jobs?" mantra of the GOP. In July, House Republicans, one after another, took to the floor to engage in political theater by repeatedly asking that question. Numerous Fox hosts, especially America's Newsroom co-host Bill Hemmer, have echoed that talking point time and time again, failing to mention that they borrowed it from the GOP. Another example of the network aligning itself directly with the Republican agenda was its endless promotion of the conservative "tea party" demonstrations. The network even went as far as to "[provide] attendance and organizing information" for the right-wing demonstrations -- hardly the behavior of an objective network. As Comedy Central's Jon Stewart recently pointed out, the network gave wall-to-wall coverage of the anti-tax, anti-government demonstrations, yet completely ignored a similarly-sized demonstration in favor of gay rights. Indeed, Fox News chief executive Bill Shine has proudly boasted that his network aims to be "the voice of opposition."
http://benton.org/node/28878

US MUST PASS SHIELD LAW TO GUARD FREE PRESS
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] President Obama has another pledge to fulfill: signing into law a federal shield law for journalists. It's a promise made easier with the Bush administration gone, but it remains an important barometer on press freedom. This year, the bill has cleared the House and awaits a first-stop vote in the Senate the Judiciary Committee, possibly today. The Senate should pass this essential element of maintaining a free press in this nation.
http://benton.org/node/27767

PRESIDENT OBAMA MEMORIALIZES CRONKITE, CHALLENGES JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: The White House]
In memorializing former CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite, President Barack Obama said, "[We] celebrate the journalism that Walter practiced -- a standard of honesty and integrity and responsibility to which so many of you have committed your careers.  It's a standard that's a little bit harder to find today.  We know that this is a difficult time for journalism.  Even as appetites for news and information grow, newsrooms are closing.  Despite the big stories of our era, serious journalists find themselves all too often without a beat. Just as the news cycle has shrunk, so has the bottom line. And too often, we fill that void with instant commentary and celebrity gossip and the softer stories that Walter disdained, rather than the hard news and investigative journalism he championed.  'What happened today?' is replaced with 'Who won today?'  The public debate cheapens.  The public trust falters.  We fail to understand our world or one another as well as we should ­- and that has real consequences in our own lives and in the life of our nation.  We seem stuck with a choice between what cuts to our bottom line and what harms us as a society.  Which price is higher to pay?  Which cost is harder to bear? "This democracy," Walter said, "cannot function without a reasonably well-informed electorate."  That's why the honest, objective, meticulous reporting that so many of you pursue with the same zeal that Walter did is so vital to our democracy and our society:  Our future depends on it.  Walter was no naive idealist.  He understood the challenges and the pressures and the temptations facing journalism in this new era.  He believed that a media company has an obligation to pursue a profit, but also an obligation to invest a good chunk of that profit back into news and public affairs.  He was excited about all the stories that a high-tech world of journalism would be able to tell, and all the newly-emerging means with which to tell it. Naturally, we find ourselves wondering how he would have covered the monumental storie s of our time.  In an era where the news that city hall is on fire can sweep around the world at the speed of the Internet, would he still have called to double-check?  Would he have been able to cut through the murky noise of the blogs and the tweets and the sound bites to shine the bright light on substance?  Would he still offer the perspective that we value?  Would he have been able to remain a singular figure in an age of dwindling attention spans and omnipresent media? And somehow, we know that the answer is yes.  The simple values Walter Cronkite set out in pursuit of -- to seek the truth, to keep us honest, to explore our world the best he could -- they are as vital today as they ever were. Our American story continues.  It needs to be told.  And if we choose to live up to Walter's example, if we realize that the kind of journalism he embodied will not simply rekindle itself as part of a natural cycle, but will come alive only if we stand up and demand it and resolve to value it once again, then I'm convinced that the choice between profit and progress is a false one -- and that the golden days of journalism still lie ahead. Walter Cronkite invited a nation to believe in him -- and he never betrayed that trust.  That's why so many of you entered the profession in the first place.  That's why the standards he set for journalists still stand.  And that's why he loved and valued all of you, but we loved and valued Walter not only as the rarest of men, but as an indispensable pillar of our society.
http://benton.org/node/27766

GLENN BECK VS VAN JONES: MCCARTHYISM ENTERS 21ST CENTURY
[SOURCE: The Huffington Post, AUTHOR: Joseph Palermo]
[Commentary] When Fox News' Glenn Beck called President Barack Obama a "racist" and claimed that he had "a deep-seated hatred for white people" an African-American netroots group, ColorOfChange.org, organized a successful boycott of Beck's corporate sponsors. It wasn't long until fifty seven of Beck's sponsors jumped ship lest they be associated with Beck's own "deep-seated" white supremacy. Burned, Beck and his right-wing Republican producers sought revenge by using his slice of the echo chamber to go after Van Jones, one of President Obama's most important advisers on green jobs, who could be linked to ColorOfChange. Beck and his buddies viewed Jones as the low hanging fruit of the Obama White House and launched a focused smear campaign against him. During one of his many conspiracy-laden tirades Beck asked: "Will progressive pigs fly right out of Van Jones' butt and pedal bicycles to" replace coal power? It didn't take much time under the glare of Beck's assault for Jones to make the politic move and resign his official post. The Beck vs. Jones saga illustrates that even with the Republicans out of power their control over a propaganda ministry called Fox News, combined with their domination of the AM radio dial, still allows them to frame the debates within our wider political discourse.
http://benton.org/node/27765

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
[SOURCE: The Atlantic, AUTHOR: Mark Bowen]
With journalists being laid off in droves, ideologues have stepped forward to provide the "reporting" that feeds the 24-hour news cycle. The collapse of journalism means that the quest for information has been superseded by the quest for ammunition.
http://benton.org/node/27764

MOST AMERICANS BELIEVE UNINTERRUPTED BROADBAND ACCESS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE LIKE OTHER UTILITIES
[SOURCE: SUPERCOMM, AUTHOR: Press release]
According to a recent survey commissioned by SUPERCOMM, the telecommunications industry's trade show hosted by TIA and US Telecom, nearly 70 percent of all respondents believe uninterrupted broadband access should be as readily available as other utilities like electricity and water.  This sentiment spreads almost evenly across all ages, race, income brackets and geographic lines. Additionally, the SUPERCOMM study, which involved over 1,000 respondents, found that more than half of respondents believe faster broadband access positively impacts productivity at the workplace
http://benton.org/node/27758

INNOVATION AND THE INTERNET
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Jon Peha]
Once something becomes a part of our everyday lives, we tend to assume that it will always be roughly as we see it now. In the case of the Internet, while we hope that even greater data rates will become available, and that these rates will become available to even more homes and businesses, we may assume that little else will change. Last week's panel discussion on "the Internet of the Future" was a powerful reminder that the Internet, and broadband technology more generally, will continue to evolve. Moreover, innovation is critical to an infrastructure that meets our long-term needs, and this has implications for broadband policy. Moore's law suggests that electronic devices will continue to improve exponentially, and if the Internet does not improve at a comparable pace, it may become what Dave Clark called a "sea anchor." Moreover, progress does not simply mean we will see the same actors doing the same things but more quickly. Although the Internet has been around for four decades, elements of the current infrastructure, applications, and industry structure have emerged fairly recently, quickly, and sometimes unexpectedly ­ a phenomenon that could continue in the future.
http://benton.org/node/27756

TURKISH MEDIA GROUP IS FINED $2.5 BILLION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Sebnem Arsu, Sabrina Tavernise]
Turkey's Tax Ministry this week imposed a $2.5 billion fine on a media group, Dogan Yayin, a conglomerate of newspapers and television stations that has been the most critical of the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's strong-willed prime minister. The fine was issued Monday, just months after a first tax penalty of more than $500 million was leveled against the group, whose holdings include CNN-Turk, a Turkish-language version of CNN that is jointly owned with the Time Warner broadcasting company. The group's parent organization, Dogan Holding, is owned in part by a Turkish businessman, Aydin Dogan, who has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Erdogan. Many of his papers portray Mr. Erdogan as pushing secular Turkey in a direction that is too Islamic. The fines are nearly as much as the value of the holding company, raising fears that Mr. Erdogan is trying to put the entire conglomerate out of business.
http://benton.org/node/27768

GLOBALLY, 445M BROADBAND SUBSCRIBERS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
If there was any lingering doubt that broadband was the new platform for technology innovation, new data out from trade group The Broadband Forum should put it to rest for good. The number of broadband subscribers around the world grew to 445 million in the second quarter, led by China, with 93.6 million, followed by the U.S., with 86.2 million. Many of them are using DSL connections to log onto the Internet, the report found. The data also shows that over the past 12 months, Latin America and Eastern Europe were the fastest-growing broadband regions. Meanwhile Europe has emerged as the hub of IPTV activity, with some 13.6 million IPTV users as of the end of June. France remains the "champion" IPTV country, with more than 7 million subscribers.
http://benton.org/node/27716

CONGRESS WEIGHS CHANGE IN WEB PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Joelle Tessler]
The Web sites we visit, the online links we click, the search queries we conduct, the products we put in virtual shopping carts, the personal details we reveal on social networking pages — all of this can give companies insight into what Internet ads we might be interested in seeing. But privacy watchdogs warn that too many people have no idea that Internet marketers are tracking their online habits and then mining that data to serve up targeted pitches - a practice known as behavioral advertising. So Congress could be stepping in. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) -- chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet -- is drafting a bill that would impose broad new rules on Web sites and advertisers. His goal: to ensure that consumers know what information is being collected about them on the Web and how it is being used, and to give them control over that information. While Congress has waded into Internet privacy issues before, this measure could break new ground, as the first major attempt to regulate a nascent but fast-growing industry that represents the future of advertising. Chairman Boucher insists his bill will benefit consumers and preserve the underlying economics of the Internet, which relies on advertising to keep so much online content free.
http://benton.org/node/27725

OBAMA WARNS US TEENS OF PERILS OF FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: ]
President Barack Obama warned American teenagers on Tuesday of the dangers of putting too much personal information on Internet social networking sites, saying it could come back to haunt them in later life. "Well, let me give you some very practical tips. First of all, I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," the President said. "And when you're young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff. And I've been hearing a lot about young people who -- you know, they're posting stuff on Facebook, and then suddenly they go apply for a job and somebody has done a search." President Obama referred several times to "mistakes" he had made when he was at school but offered no specifics.
http://benton.org/node/27719

RESIST EXTREMISM IN THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Press release]
Van Jones, an adviser to the Obama administration and a former Free Press board member, resigned from his White House post after being ruthlessly attacked for weeks in a smear campaign started by Fox News pundit Glenn Beck. Beck, who has also called President Obama a "racist," targeted Jones for his background in environmental and civil rights activism. Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, issued the following statement: "Most Americans want affordable health care, good schools and clean air. But if you watch Glenn Beck's show, you would think the opposite is true: that the only proponents of these ideas are socialist, anti-American radicals operating out of the White House basement. At Free Press, our focus is on structural media policy, not on media content. But we take this extraordinary step because what's happening is so poisonous to American political discourse. That Fox News Channel lets Beck use its media megaphone to stir up hatred and fear of others is repulsive, divisive and beyond all common sense or decency. By giving Beck a nightly platform for such McCarthy-esque witch hunts and smear campaigns, the national news network undermines our democracy. But Fox News is not alone. Unfortunately, this kind of rant is endemic to a media system that cares about ratings far more than about the truth. Beck has a First Amendment right to stoke prejudice, and we do not and will not support efforts to silence him. This is not about censorship; it's about sanity. Our leaders have a responsibility to condemn fear mongering in all its forms, defend those who are unfairly attacked, and support a more diverse media system that provides alternative voices to the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and other extremists. The lesson from the shameful McCarthy era that culminated in 1954 is that we must confront the politics of personal attack with decency, reason and a commitment to more political speech, not less. It's time for our elected officials -- from the White House to local town halls -- to join people a cross the country in a stand against agents of fear and misinformation."
http://benton.org/node/27707

THE PC IS BECOMING THE NEW TV
[SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Colker]
A survey by the nonprofit Conference Board released Tuesday showed that nearly a quarter of households in the U.S. now view television programs online. That's up from 20% last year. The quarterly Consumer Internet Barometer survey found that news shows were watched by 43% of online viewers, followed by sitcoms, comedies and dramas, watched by 35%. Slightly less than 20% viewed reality shows online, and 18% took in sports.
http://benton.org/node/27723

THE PENTAGON'S NEW WATCHDOG
[SOURCE: Forbes.com, AUTHOR: Dirk Smillie]
A Q&A with Stars and Stripes senior managing editor Howard Witt. Witt was a civil rights reporter in Houston and a foreign correspondent in Russia and South Africa. He was a Pulitzer finalist last year for reporting on racial tensions in Deep South towns, known as the "Jena 6" story. Stars and Stripes' first edition appeared during the Civil War. Peaking at 1 million circulation in World War II, it now hovers at 100,000. Five editions are published daily. That includes some 52,000 copies produced in Iraq, where local contractors have been killed trying to deliver the paper. Chartered by Congress, Stars and Stripes receives one-third of its $50 million operating budget from federal funding through the Department of Defense. Witt says, "We deeply honor the audience that we're serving. It's a sacred mission because, in many cases, we're their only source of news. But you don't do that by feeding the troops pablum and feel-good stories. Reporters at Stars and Stripes are now blossoming and doing amazing stories they never did before. It's all about making this newspaper aggressive. We won't be ignored anymore."
http://benton.org/node/27696

LOW-POWER RADIO'S VOICE RISES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Kirk Johnson]
Low-power noncommercial radio stations, which emerged about 10 years ago in a brief window of eased federal regulation intended to foster competition with the big corporate radio chains, might be soon about to roar, some communications experts say — or at least squeak loudly enough to be heard. A bill now before Congress, and considered by some low-power radio advocates to have a good chance of passage this year, would potentially double the number of licensed, low-power stations from about 800 now to perhaps 1,600 or more. At the same time, technology is shifting the boundaries and definitions of what it means to be local, and even what it means to be radio. Internet streaming and digital wireless reception are combining in ways that could allow almost any station, even one broadcast from a front porch, to be heard anywhere in the world from the next generation of hand-held devices and smartphones.
http://benton.org/node/27686

GOOGLE TELLS EU ONLINE BOOKS MAKE WEB DEMOCRATIC
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: John O'Donnell, Foo Yun Chee]
Google defended its scanning and publishing of millions of books online on Monday by saying the project was making finding information on the Web more democratic. The Californian company struck a deal with author and publisher groups in the United States earlier this year, allowing it to copy books for the Internet. But the agreement has been criticized and come under the gaze of the U.S. Justice Department because it does not say what Google might charge libraries, for example. Some of them fear the service will become an expensive must-have. Dan Clancy, architect of the Google program, told a hearing at the European Commission, which is the European Union's executive body, that the group hoped to allow Web surfers to find out-of-print books.
http://benton.org/node/27665

FRANCE TO OPPOSE GOOGLE BOOK SCHEME
[SOURCE:  Financial Times, AUTHOR: Stanley Pignal]
Google's ambitious plans to scan millions of books and make them readable through its search engine suffered another blow on Monday after France said it would formally oppose the US settlement that Google needs to circumvent complex copyright issues. France's objections came as policymakers and interest groups met on Monday in Brussels to discuss the possibility of establishing a European framework that would give it permission to scan entire libraries in Europe. France's opposition to the US deal, on the grounds it will undermine French authors' rights, means it is far less likely the European Union will adapt its copyright system to suit Google's digitisation efforts. Google's efforts have stuttered in Europe because it cannot legally scan books that are still in copyright, which extends for 70 years after the death of a book's author. In the US, by contrast, a 2005 class-action lawsuit by authors and publishers has culminated in a $125m settlement paid by Google and a wide-ranging agreement on how to split any money made from the scheme.
http://benton.org/node/27683

VIDEO IN BROADBAND DRIVER'S SEAT
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
How big is Internet video to the future of broadband? Well, if the PBS's experience is any indication, "sick nasty" big.
According to Angela Morgenstern, managing director of PBS Online and formerly with MTV, their online audience wants "everything ever made," and they want it in high definition, full screen and top quality, and they have little patience for delay. That was her message in an FCC workshop Thursday on how online video is shaping, and may shape, the deployment and adoption of broadband, all part of a series of workshops to help FCC staffers draft a national broadband plan. PBS earlier this year began making full-length videos of its programs available online, and while the industry average for online video viewing has been three or four minutes -- YouTube still dominates with 40-45% of video viewing -- Morgenstern said PBS surfers have been tuning in much longer than expected: 20 minutes. She also talked about the double primetime effect, where the site is now seeing a viewing peak at 10 p.m. along with the traditional daytime peak. "Sick nasty," she pointed out, is a good thing. But while the rise in online viewing was generally seen as helping drive adoption and supplementing public interest programming on other media (or compensating for its lack by the reckoning of some), some of those efforts were not without their critics. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn, for example, took aim at the cable/telco online play, TV Everywhere, or ESPN360, saying the content was being put behind a pay wall because Disney charges operators a per-sub fee for the content, and because TV Everywhere is bundled with other services. She took the opportunity to push for Carterfone-like regulations from devices on cable nets, openness conditions and a host of other conditions, including program access enforcement for the Internet.
http://benton.org/node/27674

CHINA WEB SITES SEEKING USERS' NAMES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jonathan Ansfield]
News Web sites in China, complying with secret government orders, are requiring that new users log on under their true identities to post comments, a shift in policy that the country's Internet users and media have fiercely opposed in the past. Until recently, users could weigh in on news items on many of the affected sites more anonymously, often without registering at all, though the sites were obligated to screen all posts, and the posts could still be traced via Internet protocol addresses. But in early August, without notification of a change, news portals like Sina, Netease, Sohu and scores of other sites began asking unregistered users to sign in under their real names and identification numbers, said top editors at two of the major portals affected. A Sina staff member also confirmed the change. The editors said the sites were putting into effect a confidential directive issued in late July by the State Council Information Office, one of the main government bodies responsible for supervising the Internet in China. The new step is not foolproof, the editors acknowledged. It was possible for a reporter to register successfully on several major sites under falsified names and ID and cellphone numbers. But the requirement adds a critical new layer of surveillance to mainstream sites in China, which were already heavily policed. Further regulations of the same nature also appeared to be in the pipeline.
http://benton.org/node/27667

NET NEUTRALITY AND THE LAW
[SOURCE: Open Video Alliance, AUTHOR: ]
A Q&A with Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott. He defines network neutrality as "something that you take for granted every time you go online. When you're surfing the web and you're moving from website to website, whether it's your Facebook page or cnn.com or Amazon, you're pretty much in control of your Internet experience. You can go wherever you want, you can read anything you want, you can watch anything you want, you can hear anything you want, and everyone who is offering content on the Internet for you to find is treated the same by the network operator. The phone companies and cable companies that give you access to the Internet through their wires have nothing to say about what you do, content-wise, on the Internet. That concept is known as network neutrality, and it was built into the engineering when the Internet was created. That was the whole idea behind the Internet. That's net neutrality."
http://benton.org/node/27635

RIGHT EBBS, LEFT GAINS AS MEDIA 'EXPERTS'
[SOURCE: Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, AUTHOR: Michael Dolny]
Progressive think tanks gained in media prominence over 2008, despite overall think tank citations declining for the fourth year in a row.  The 25 most-cited think tanks in major U.S. media received 13,149 citations in 2008, a 6 percent decline from 2007 levels. The decline primarily hit conservative or right-leaning think tanks, whose share of citations in corporate media fell from 36 percent to 31 percent in 2008 , while progressive or left-leaning think tanks--the only group to actually see an increase in their total citations--went from 17 percent to 21 percent. Centrist think tanks saw little change, still beating both ends of the spectrum with 48 percent of total citations, versus 47 percent in 2007. The overall decline in think tank citations, now in its fourth year, is quite likely simply a reflection of the changing media landscape. As noted last year, the decrease in citations primarily comes from newspapers, not television; as newspapers fold and those that survive shrink their newshole, the overall news output by the outlets surveyed is decreasing. National and international news--the areas national think tanks would most likely be quoted on--are shrinking the fastest of all.
http://benton.org/node/27604

A RADICAL PLAN TO SAVE OLD MEDIA
[SOURCE: Newsweek, AUTHOR: Daniel Lyons]
[Commentary] Since the dawn of the Internet, news organizations have accepted the notion that the only way to survive the onslaught of the Web is to publish everything online, at no cost to readers, and let anyone in the world synopsize it, refer to it, and copy and link to it. You can't charge for your work—that's rule No. 1 on the Internet. And you can't block others from copying or linking to it—that's rule No. 2. But those rules are starting to look stupid. All the media companies that follow them are going broke, so now they're casting about for a new business model. Some are talking about making readers pay subscription fees. But the most radical idea, and the one I find most intriguing, is being advanced by Mark Cuban, a billionaire Internet entrepreneur. Cuban's advice: declare war on the "aggregator" Web sites that get a free ride on content. These aggregators—sites like Drudge Report, Newser, and countless others—don't create much original material. They mostly just synopsize stuff from mainstream newspapers and magazines, and provide a link to the original.
http://benton.org/node/27629

ADVOCATES: GOOGLE BOOKS CAN BRIDGE DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Tom Krazit]
A coalition of civil-rights and disability groups in favor of Google's book-scanning project held a press conference Thursday to marshal support for improving access to knowledge, the key benefit of Google's deal with authors and publishers to create a new kind of digital library. They fear that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain digital access to knowledge previously stored in libraries at expensive universities or rich communities could be hampered by the opposition to the settlement from some authors and privacy advocates. Blind people, for example, have access to a special library run by the Library of Congress that converts print books into formats readable by the visually impaired, but that library--in existence since 1931--only has 70,000 texts, said Chris Danielsen, director of public relations for the National Federation of the Blind. If the settlement is approved in October, it will give "print-disabled" people "access to more books than we have ever had in human history," he said. Providing digital access to literature and textbooks would allow libraries at all schools to simply maintain PCs, rather than having to devote resources toward acquiring and maintaining books, several supporters argued. Many communities in poorer parts of the country don't have the resources to maintain libraries competitive with those in richer communities, and lack of access to knowledge makes it harder for students in those communities to learn, according to Wade Henderson of the Leadership Council on Civil Rights.
http://benton.org/node/27634

HOW THE IPHONE IS DRIVING A WIRELESS BANDWIDTH BOOM
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Om Malik]
The mobile Internet is one of the most dynamic parts of today's technology ecosystem. But most of the mobile companies are using older-generation technologies — a handful of T-1 connections that pump 6-10 megabits per second of bandwidth capacity into cell towers that turn around and share it with tens of thousands of users. But the popularity of new 3G devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry 3G has increased the use of data, putting the backend networks under strain. And from that perspective, today's 3G networks are like glittering skyscrapers built on a foundation of matchsticks. The current buildout of wireless networks is mirroring that of the wired Internet in the late 1990s and early part of this decade. Back in the day, every time you pulled down a track from Napster, you put an enormous strain on the network, which, in turn, led to the rise of bandwidth providers such as Qwest and Level 3, along with a series of hardware makers. Today that problem is magnified manifold, mostly because the number of mobile users is so much higher than PC users accessing the Internet.
http://benton.org/node/27589

WHY NOT MERGE TV AND INTERNET?
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Michael Kokernak]
[Commentary] Internet video distribution today seems like the inevitable path media companies are going to take in order to ensure their content gets to consumers. But big media needs to figure out a way to operate (for at least the next five to seven years) with one foot firmly planted in today's TV distribution platform, while incubating their Internet audiences. Once the digital transition fog lifts and the industry looks at the current distribution ecosystem, we might find that TV Everywhere and Hulu (to just name two) should technically be integrated with the digital spectrum and cable distribution. We, for instance, should probably be concentrating our efforts on how to combine the Internet and the digital television experience so consumers get content delivered through one seamless "platform."  Cross-platform technologies could satisfy everyone, including the consumer, while also building revenue streams that are integrated across both TV and the Internet. After all, wouldn't you like to be able to click your TV remote control and move the TV show you are watching to the Internet without missing a punch line?
http://benton.org/node/27585

NIELSEN: VIEWERS HUNGER FOR WEB AND TV AT THE SAME TIME
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alex Dobuzinskis]
US television viewers are increasingly turning on the Web, tuning into television and not missing a beat on either, as simultaneous TV and Internet use continues to rise, research firm Nielsen said on Wednesday. Nielsen said in a report that 57 percent of TV viewers in the U.S. who have Internet access use both mediums at the same time at least once a month. That translates to more than 128 million U.S. consumers. As the heightened importance of the Web changes the way Americans watch TV, industry executives and marketers are considering ways to adjust their broadcast shows and play into viewers' simultaneous use of the Internet.
http://benton.org/node/27584

AMAZON OBJECTS TO GOOGLE'S BOOKS PACT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: ]
Lawyers for Amazon.com blasted Google's copyright settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers as an anticompetitive agreement that would increase how much consumers pay for digital books and undermine Congress's role in amending copyright law to address changes in technology. Amazon filed a legal brief late Tuesday with the US District Court in New York, formally intervening in the settlement that has drawn a wide range of critics and supporters from across the publishing industry. Others, including Sony Corp. have expressed their intention to file briefs in support of the settlement .In its 41-page brief, Amazon said, "Because such a resolution would fly squarely in the face of Congress's constitutionally delegated role to legislate changes to the copyright law, it must be rejected." Google responded, saying "the Google Books settlement is injecting more competition into the digital books space, so it's understandable why our competitors might fight hard to prevent more competition."
http://benton.org/node/27595

KINDLE FRIENDLIER TO ENVIRONMENT THAN PRINT BOOKS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Joseph Galante]
Amazon's Kindle and rival electronic reading devices will do more to curb pollution from the production of printed books than publishing industry efforts such as recycling, according to Cleantech Group. By 2012 the carbon-emission benefits from using e-readers will outweigh by more than twofold the environmental damage caused by manufacturing, electricity and battery disposal associated with the devices.
http://benton.org/node/27573

FRIENDS, NOT EDITORS, SHAPE INTERNET HABITS
[SOURCE:  Financial Times, AUTHOR: David Gelles]
With social media on the rise, traditional Internet portals such as Yahoo and AOL, once the front doors to the online world, are being spurned in favor of social sites, where users are discovering a new, more personal filter to the infinite world of the Internet. This behavioral change has forced content providers to adapt quickly. Rather than assuming that users will seek out their content, media organizations - from the big international newspaper groups, down to the small local publications - are now actively promoting their content on social networks, and encouraging readers to distribute links to their friends. It is de rigueur for news websites to be embedded with devices that automatically publish articles to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and to content sharing websites such as Digg and StumbleUpon.
http://benton.org/node/27572

TELSTRA WANTS ROLE IN AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL BROADBAND NETWORK
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Georgina Prodhan]
David Thodey, CEO of Telstra, Australia's biggest phone company, says the company is having "productive" and "professional" talks with the Australian government on its potential role in the building of a nationwide super-fast broadband network. The company does not yet know what part it would play in the government's planned new $36 billion) network. The project is expected to take several years to complete.
http://benton.org/node/27617

WE CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Lazarus]
[Commentary]  Network Neutrality is "what every Internet user takes for granted when they go online," said Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, a nonprofit advocacy group that focuses on communications issues. "It simply means there are no gatekeepers. Any consumer can access any content without discrimination by the network owner." What he's referring to is a pay-for-play system that would allow network operators -- phone companies, cable companies -- to decide for themselves which online content gets preferential treatment. That's not how things are now. But if the telecom heavyweights have their way, it could be. In effect, the debate over net neutrality -- short for "network neutrality" -- is a debate over whether the companies that own the pipes through which data flow can dictate terms to the websites that originate the data. (Aug 30)
http://benton.org/node/27517

FCC: CONTENT-MANAGEMENT SURVEY FAILS TO ANSWER SOME KEY QUESTIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Federal Communications Commission's report to Congress on  video content-management technologies identifies a number of questions the Commission believes need more study: To what extent are parents aware of the control technologies that exist today? Does parental awareness differ among media? Are there reasons besides lack of awareness that keep parents from using these technologies? If so, what are they, and do they differ among media? It appears that adoption of control technologies may be greater for the Internet than for broadcasting and other traditional media sources: Why is this so? Are there data to determine the pace of innovation in parental control technologies, whether innovation is proceeding at a pace consistent with other consumer technologies, and whether evolving needs of parents, caregivers, and children are being satisfied in a timely manner? Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller welcomed the report, but added, "I believe more must be done ­ by the industry, by the FCC, and by the Congress ­ to provide simple ways for families to control and monitor their children's screen time.  We must offer the tools and policies that make it easy for people to be good parents and oversee the viewing that goes on in their homes.  We must do more than simply gather information and hope this alone protects our children. For this reason, I look forward to the FCC's next action in this area." Apparently, the FCC is planning an event in September to help parents and kids navigate the state of the art in content-management technologies and help parents better understand where there kids are going online.
http://benton.org/node/27516

TELEVISION EXECUTIVES REACH FOR RESET BUTTON
[SOURCE:  Financial Times, AUTHOR: Kenneth Li]
Broadcasters have marked 2009, their worst year in recent memory, by seeking a term other than "television" to describe the business of captivating couch potatoes. An existential crisis is gripping TV executives, who now prefer to call their output "video". They face what newspaper executives witnessed a decade ago - big cash cow businesses in inexorable decline. The consumption of broadcast media has fragmented across hundreds of cable channels, countless mobile phones, the YouTube broadcasting website, as well as TV's own digital ventures, such as Hulu and the BBC iPlayer. This all leaves the broadcast business at a critical moment. As advertising - the industry's lifeblood - congeals, the threatened incumbents at the top of broadcast TV must redefine their businesses if they are to find growth once more.
http://benton.org/node/27520

DISNEY TO BUY MARVEL FOR $4 BILLION
[SOURCE: Variety, AUTHOR: Leo Barraclough]
The Walt Disney Co. has agreed to acquire Marvel in a stock and cash transaction worth $4 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Marvel shareholders would receive $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion. Disney will acquire ownership of more than 5,000 Marvel characters, including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor. The boards of both companies have approved the pact, which is subject to antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.
http://benton.org/node/27500

SHRINKING NEWSROOMS WAGE FEWER BATTLES FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO COURTROOMS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Adam Liptak]
You don't see newspapers fighting to open court proceedings the way they used to, and people are starting to notice. It is notable, for instance, that the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups have taken the leading role in trying to shake loose information about the Bush administration's policies and actions, while news organizations have largely sat on the sidelines.
http://benton.org/node/27524

A CAUSALITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION: 'LOCATIONAL PRIVACY'
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Adam Cohen]
[Commentary] A little-appreciated downside of the technology revolution is that, mainly without thinking about it, we have given up "locational privacy." Even in low-tech days, our movements were not entirely private. Now the information is collected automatically and often stored indefinitely. Privacy advocates are rightly concerned. Corporations and the government can keep track of what political meetings people attend, what bars and clubs they go to, whose homes they visit. It is the fact that people's locations are being recorded "pervasively, silently, and cheaply that we're worried about," the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a recent report. People's cellphones and E-ZPasses are increasingly being used against them in court. If your phone is on, even if you are not on a call, you may be able to be found (and perhaps picked up) at any hour of the day or night. As disturbing as it is to have your private data breached, it is worse to think that your physical location might fall into the hands of people who mean you harm.
http://benton.org/node/27523

GO FOR GIGABIT SPEEDS
[SOURCE: Knight Center of Digital Excellence, AUTHOR: Mark Ansboury]
[Commentary] Wayne Gretzky is credited for saying, "Go to where the puck's going, not where it is." As the Federal Communications Commission is charged with establishing our nation's first broadband policy, we should focus not only where we fall short today, but also where we will entirely miss opportunities - and the puck. We need to know where our broadband strategy is going and what happens to our nation's future without a bold one. We need to follow the lead of other countries and start aiming (including investing and incentivizing) for gigabit Internet speeds for all. Gigabit-speed networks would provide Americans with hundreds of times the Internet speeds broadband households currently have. Today's spending choices and public policy decisions amount to an incentive and investment into the business plan for America's future. Good planning requires that we learn from the past while keeping our eye on a greater future. Our American tradition is one of reaching for the highest goals, whether, in our past, via the Oregon Trail or an Apollo mission to the moon. Today, in the 21st century, why wouldn't we go for gigabit speeds?
http://benton.org/node/27533

THE INTERNET AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, AUTHOR: Aaron Smith, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, Henry Brady]
Contrary to the hopes of some advocates, the Internet is not changing the socio-economic character of civic engagement in America. Just as in offline civic life, the well-to-do and well-educated are more likely than those less well off to participate in online political activities such as emailing a government official, signing an online petition or making a political contribution. In part, these disparities result from differences in Internet access—those who are lower on the socio-economic ladder are less likely to go online or to have broadband access at home, making it impossible for them to engage in online political activity. Yet even within the online population there is a strong positive relationship between socio-economic status and most of the measures of Internet-based political engagement we reviewed.
http://benton.org/node/27545

JOB SEEKERS FLOCKING TO LIBRARIES
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Ron Barnett]
Libraries across the USA are filling up with people waiting to get online to fill out applications, write résumés or look for job openings, a national study by the American Library Association shows. "Libraries are really the first responder in this economic crisis, and particularly for job seekers," says Larra Clark, who managed the study due for release Sept. 15. Eight out of 10 libraries nationally have someone on a computer waiting list at some point during the day, Clark says. At the beginning of 2007, before the economy took a nosedive, 44% of libraries nationally said assisting job seekers was a "critical use" of their library, she says. Now, it's 67%. The increased demand comes in a year when 22 states have cut funding for libraries, Clark says. "There's a lot of people to serve and in some cases fewer hours to serve them," she says. More than seven out of 10 libraries say they're the only place that offers public access to the Internet in their community, Clark says. Nationally, 38% of households had no Internet connection in 2007, according to U.S. Census figures released in June.
http://benton.org/node/27564

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES GRAB BIG SLICE OF WEB ADS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Alexei Oreskovic]
About one of every five Internet display ads in the United States is viewed on a social networking Web site like MySpace and Facebook, according to a new report. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/27550

DOES LESS EVENING INTERNET MEAN EUROPEANS LEAD BETTER LIVES?
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Nate Anderson]
What don't Europeans do all night? Surf the Internet, apparently. [more at the URL below]
http://benton.org/node/27549

WHY A GOVERNMENT RATINGS SYSTEM WOULD BE LESS THAN GRADE AA
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Shankar Gupta]
[Commentary] Every once in a while, the specter of universal ratings for multiple content forms -- TV, video games, mobile content, and the like -- rears up in Washington and needs to be put down. Late last week, it appeared once again, with the Federal Communications Commission starting its inquiry after delivering a report to Congress about media blocking technologies. The main objection being raised to this universal ratings system and its enforcement by law is that it would violate media companies' First Amendment rights. But this objection -- while an important one -- leaves aside another key question about universal ratings for multiple content types. Is it even possible to rate video games on the same scale as an iBeer iPhone app and a T-Pain ringtone? It also isn't clear at all what problem these universal ratings are supposed to be addressing. The Entertainment Software Association's SVP for communications and industry affairs described universal ratings as "a solution in search of a problem," and said that they would only confuse consumers.
http://benton.org/node/27548

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(c) Benton Foundation 2003. Redistribution of this email publication -- both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message:
Communications-Related Headlines are compiled, summarized and edited by Rachel Anderson (rachel@benton.org), Andy Carvin (andy@benton.org) and Charles Meisch (charlie@benton.org) of the Benton Foundation -- we welcome your feedback. Based in Washington DC, the Benton Foundation's mission is to articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Other projects at Benton include:
Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork.org)
Digital Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org)
OneWorld US (www.oneworld.net/us)
Sound Partners for Community Health (www.soundpartners.org

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