FCC: 2007 - Latest News: ArchivesDec. 27, 2006 -- President Gerald Ford, an Advocate for Candidate Access to Nation's Airwaves: Statement of Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director America has lost a dignified elder statesman with the passing of President Gerald Ford. His legacy will be chronicled extensively, but beyond the oft-cited headlines, President Ford was a tireless proponent of American democracy.
To read the full statement, click here.
Dec. 22, 2006 -- Media Reform Coalition Challenges Portland Broadcasters' Licesne Renewal The Campaign Legal Center, the Media Access Project, and the Alliance to Reform Media (ARM) of Portland, Oregon filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking them to deny renewal of all the commercial TV stations licenses in the Portland area. The petition states the TV stations' coverage of elections fails to meet the FCC's standard of public-interest service, which is to meet the needs of the community. ARM has asked the FCC to designate the license challenge for hearing. The petition is based on a pre-election study conducted and analyzed by the petitioners.
Click here to read the complete study.
Congress Urged to Support Communication Voucher System Dec. 12, 2006 -- In the wake of record spending on campaign television advertising, the Campaign Legal Center is asking Members of Congress to support a communications voucher system in the 110th Congress to reduce the staggering fundraising burdens on candidates. The constant pursuit of contributions to fund television ads has reduced the effectiveness of our elected officials and undermined our system of government. The Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act previously introduced in the 108th Congress proposed just such a system.
To read the full letter, click here.
FCC Commissioners Adelstein and Copps Recognize Transition Shortcomings: Statement of Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director Sep. 29, 2006 -- Federal Communications Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps deserve credit for calling out their colleagues and pushing for new public-interest obligations for digital broadcasters. This process has been stalled for nearly seven years and the FCC has still not defined the public-interest duties, creating confusion for both broadcasters and the viewing public. Not only will clear public-interest obligations promise relevant and quality programming for viewers, but well-defined obligations will create greater certainty for broadcasters as they chart courses for programming in the digital world.
To read the full statement, click here.
Groups Send Letter to the FCC and Commerce Committees on Multicasting Must-Carry June 6, 2006 -- The Campaign Legal Center, along with the Benton Foundation, Common Cause, Media Access Project, New American Foundation, and the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. sent the following letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the Senate Committe on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce regarding their upcoming public hearing on multicasting must-carry rules.
Click here to read the letter.
Statement of Meredith McGehee on the Upcoming FCC Action on Digital Multicast Must-Carry June 1, 2006 -- "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should put the American people first, and issue meaningful and effective public interest obligations for digital television broadcasters before moving forward with a decision on multicast must-carry regulations. Chairman Kevin Martin has announced that the Commission will vote on must-carry rules at its public meeting scheduled for June 15. In the interest of the public which it serves, the FCC should complete its stalled public interest rulemaking for broadcasters by establishing minimum requirements for substantive civic or electoral programming and set clear standards and definitions for meeting those obligations to the public.."
Click here to read the complete statement.
Broadcasters Urged to Beef Up Election Coverage May 26, 2006 -- In a letter mailed today to every television station general manager in the nation, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Benton Foundation called on broadcasters to provide their viewers with substantive coverage of this year's elections. General managers nationwide were urged to encourage their news staffs to tackle significant election issues in order to engage and educate viewers.
Click here to read the Legal Center's press release and the letter to broadcasters.
McGehee Calls On FCC To Define Public Interest Obligations Of Digital Broadcasters May 22, 2006 -- Policy Director Meredith McGehee sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin calling on him and the rest of the Commission to define public interest obligations for digital broadcasters. The FCC has yet to mandate how broadcasters will serve the public after television broadcasting transitions from analog to digital.
Click here to read the Legal Center's press release. Click here to read the letter.
Legal Center Releases Election Season Broadcaster Guide The Media Policy Program released Beyond the Spin: Practical Ideas for Engaging Candidates and Viewers. This guide is designed to provide local broadcasters with ideas of the variety of ways to offer candidates airtime and help engage and educate viewers about the upcoming elections. Click here to view Beyond the Spin.
CLC: FCC Must Define Public Interest Obligations for Digital TV January 18 -- The Campaign Legal Center along with the Benton Foundation, Common Cause, New America Foundation and Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc. sent a letter to FCC Chairman Martin urging him to move forward in defining public interest obligations for digital television. The groups urge that this is a particularly important issue given the recent congressional action of establishing a 2009 deadline for the digital transition.
The letter states: "We urge you to seize upon this opportunity and accelerate the benefits that consumers receive from digital television by moving swiftly forward on these proceedings and clearly defining the public service that viewers can expect from local broadcasters." Click here to read the full letter.
Reformers Caution FCC Against Further Weakening the Broadcast License Renewal Process January 11 -- Media Policy Program Director Meredith McGehee along with Gloria Tristani of the UCC office of Communication and Charles Benton of the Benton Foundation urged the FCC not to exacerbate weaknesses in the broadcast license renewal process in the interest of "streamlining."
The group's letter was in response to FCC Media Bureau Chief Donna Gregg's statement in December that that "streamlining and expediting" the process through which broadcasters apply to renew their licenses would be a primary focus of her office. The letter states: "The current license renewal process permits many broadcasters to ignore their responsibilities with impunity; modifications to this process that would further exacerbate its shortcomings must be rejected by the Commissioners."
Click here to read the full letter and press release.
McGehee Sends Letter to Senate and House Commerce Committees on CLC's License Challenge Director Meredith McGehee sent a letter to the House and Senate Commerce Committees, as well as Representatives and Senators from Illinois and Wisconsin, regarding CLC's recently filed license challenge to Chicago and Milwaukee area broadcasters. The letter asserts, "The dearth of local election coverage represents a market-wide failure of local television broadcasters in these two communities. The broadcasters in Chicago and Milwaukee failed to provide citizens with the information they needed about local races. Such information enables members of the public to become informed voters who are essential to a healthy, working democracy." McGehee also insists that the FEC should not simply be a rubber stamp in the process of broadcasters' license renewals. Click here to read the complete letter. Click here to read the enclosure.
McGehee Participates in Chicago Media Conference November 15 -- Media Policy Program Director Meredith McGehee participated in the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform's (ICPR) media conference titled, "The Most Powerful Voice in America: How Candidates and Voters Speak to Each Other Through the Media".
The Chicago conference brought together representatives from the political, media, academic, legal and nonprofit communities to share research and examine the content and viewers' opinions of political and election coverage by local broadcast stations. The conference also sought to build support among attendees to help develop a plan to increase and improve media coverage of local political campaigns and issues in Chicago for the upcoming 2006 election cycle. The keynote address featured Newton Minow, former FCC Chair, and Carol Marin, investigative reporter for WMAQ-TV and Chicago Sun-Times columnist.
Click here to view ICPR's conference webpage.
Media Reform Coalition Challenges Milwaukee and Chicago TV Stations' License Renewals November 2 -- The Campaign Legal Center and the Media Access Project joined with the Milwaukee Public Interest Media Coalition and Chicago Media Action in filing petitions challenging the license renewals of television stations in Milwaukee and Chicago. The groups cited 'market-wide failure' to serve public interest as the basis for the challenge and urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny their license renewals.
Media Policy Program Director Meredith McGehee stated, "There was a market-wide failure in these two communities. Broadcasters failed to provide voters in these viewing areas with the information they needed about local races to be the informed voters that are essential to a healthy, working democracy. The FCC should not just be a rubber stamp when it comes to license renewals, but should recognize these market failures and take appropriate action to stop broadcasters' 'business-as-usual' approach which uses their broadcast license as essentially a license to mint money."
The groups concluded that the stations failed to meet the needs of the community they are licensed to serve; therefore, renewal of their licenses would not serve the public interest. They also asked the FCC for a hearing on their petition to deny renewal of the television stations' licenses. Click here to read the complete study.
October Issue of The Political Standard Released October 28 -- The June issue of The Political Standard, the quarterly newsletter of the CLC Media Policy Program , is now available online. Articles include:
* The Carter-Baker Report: Recommendations for Responsible Media Coverage
* The FEC and FCC: Commissions in Transition
* The Real "Reality TV" (commentary from Meredith McGehee )
* The New Battleground of Campaign Finance Reform (commentary from CLC Executive Director Gerry Hebert )
and more.
Click here to view the complete October 2005 Political Standard
Media Policy Program Directer Meredith McGehee: The Public Interest Demands A Dose of Reality on TV October 19 -- Today's edition of The Hill newspaper included an op-ed piece by Campaign Legal Center Media Policy Director Meredith McGehee and former FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani on broadcasters' public interest obligations. The piece highlights the importance of meaningful public interest obligations for broadcasters - a point made brutally obvious by the communication failures in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The House and Senate Commerce Committees are expected to mark up reconciliation legislation next week. While the Chairmen of each committee have indicated they do not intend to include policy issues in their bill, there are likely to be efforts in committee to add policy provisions. If those efforts fail, the Committees are expected consider a second bill addressing policy issues either later this year or at the beginning of the 2nd session. Click here to read the complete Op-Ed.
CLC Supports Carter-Baker Report Recommendations for Responsible Media Coverage October 3 -- Media Policy Program Director Meredith McGehee sent a letter to the House and Senate urging legislators to consider media recommendations in the Commission on Federal Election Reform report, "Building Confidence in U.S. Elections".
The report not only recommends the 5/30 standard (five minutes of candidate discourse every night in the month preceding elections), but it also endorses the "Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act". The Act, authored by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Richard Durbin (D-IL), seeks to reduce candidates' reliance on expensive commercial advertising, and to ensure that voters - the vast majority of whom rely on television as their primary source of campaign information - have access to the information they need to make informed voting decisions. Click here to read the "Responsible Media Coverage" section of the Carter-Baker Report Click here to read the full text of CLC's letter.
Walter Cronkite Presents the Biannual Award Named in his Honor September 30 -- Walter Cronkite presented the biannual Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism Friday at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. The former "CBS Evening News" anchor has been very active in promoting responsible and substantive journalism since his retirement 25 years ago. He cautioned that "we [as a nation] are not educated well enough to perform the necessary act of intelligently selecting our leaders," and issued a call-to-arms for fellow journalists to pressure "our employers, those who are more concerned with profits than they are with performance," to replace the current roundups of celebrity profiles and personal health and finance pieces with "the news of the day."
To read the full Los Angeles Times Article, click here.
CLC: Congress Must Define Public Interest Obligations for Digital TV September 9 -- The Media Policy Program of the Campaign Legal Center, - along with Common Cause, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc., the Media Access Program and the New America Foundation - sent a letter to the chairmen of the congressional commerce committees urging them to first define meaningful and effective public interest obligations for digital television broadcasters before making any decision on must-carry.
The committees are expected to consider legislation to set a date for the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting this fall. The House and Senate are being pressured by broadcasters to require cable providers to carry the additional streams of programming the broadcasters may air.
Read the full text of the letter.
CLC Joins in Calling for FCC Revision of Public Notice Requirements August 1 -- The Campaign Legal Center joined the Institute of Public Representation, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Media Access Project, the Benton Foundation, Chicago Media Action, and Free Press in filing comments calling on the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen the rules governing the public notice station owners must give when they apply to transfer their broadcast station license.
The comments recommend that the FCC create a specific website where listeners and viewers can access information about proposed station sales, and sumbit comments or objections. The groups urged the FCC to ensure that the rules maximize public participation in the broadcast licensing process.
Read the full text of the filed comments.
"Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act" Would Increase Electoral Competitveness and Increase Public Debate, Study Finds July 15 - A new study by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute finds that the "Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act" would foster greater competitiveness in congressional races, and enhance voters' knowledge of candidates and issues.
Senators McCain and Feingold expect to reintroduce a slightly revised "Our Democracy, Our Airwaves Act" before the August recess.
Read the CFI press release and full study.
Broadcasters Commit To DTV Hard Date July 13 - At yesterday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing, National Association of Broadcasters President Eddie Fritts said he would accept the 2009 hard date for the analog turn-off, and would accept public interest requirements in exchange for multicasting must-carry.
Read the full article in Broadcasting & Cable.
Senate Commerce Committee to Hold DTV Hearings July 12 July 11 - The Senate Commerce Committee has released the witness list for its two hearings on the digital television transition, scheduled for July 12.
The first panel will comprise representatives from broadcast, cable and satellite, while the second will feature tech types, a consumer activists, and first-reponders.
Both the House and Senate are working on bills to deal with a range of DTV-related issues, from cable carriage of TV stations' digital signals to a hard date for the rerturn of analog spectrum to a subsidy for DTV-to-analog converter boxes.
See the full witness list in Broadcasting & Cable.
Supreme Court Won't Review Ownership Rules June 13 -- The Supreme Court decided on Monday not to review the Federal Communications Commission's media-ownership rules, which means that the commissioners must now rewrite some and better justify others. Broadcasters had asked the court to review an appeals court remand of the rules for those major justifications and changes.
Various parties -- including Media General Corp., the National Association of Broadcasters, Tribune Co., FCC cross-petitions, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Clear Channel Communications Inc. -- had sought the reviews, but apparently, all were denied.
Broadcasters argued that the remand is in conflict with earlier Supreme Court and other appeals court decisions on "the treatment of regulation that singles out a particular class of speakers," as well as an earlier D.C. circuit court decision on the status of ownership rules.
The rules generally deregulated ownership by allowing more duopolies (ownership of two stations in a market), some triopolies, and allowing newspaper/broadcast crossownership.
Read the full article in Broadcasting & Cable.
June Issue of The Political Standard Released June 7 -- The June issue of The Political Standard, the quarterly newsletter of the CLC Media Policy Program, is now available online. Articles include:
Broken Promises: Digital TV Broadcasters Fail to Serve the Public Interest
National Association of Broadcasters Prepares for Time of Transition
The DTV Transition Could Leave Americans in the Dark (commentary from Meredith McGehee)
The "527 Fairness Act" Is Anything But Fair (commentary from U.S. PIRG's Gary Kalman)
New Coalition Proposes Bill of Media Rights
If you would like to receive a subscription to The Political Standard in the mail, please email the CLC Media Policy Program. Click here to read the full issue.
Broken Promises: New Study Details Failures of Digital TV Broadcasters Local public affairs programming is practically non-existent on digital television, according to a study released today by the Media Policy Program of the Campaign Legal Center .
The report, titled "Broken Promises: How Digital Broadcasters Are Failing to Serve the Public Interest," examined 20,664 hours of programming offered by 91 digital commercial broadcasters in 16 media markets during the week of October 26 through November 1, 2004.
"Broadcasters have broken their many promises to the American people - the actual owners of our nation's airwaves - when it comes to fulfilling their public interest obligations," said Meredith McGehee , Director of the Media Policy Program at the Campaign Legal Center . "The current transition from analog to digital television offers enormous benefits to the broadcast industry. Those benefits ought to be balanced with a renewed, reinvigorated commitment from the federal government to hold broadcasters accountable and ensure they fulfill statutory public interest obligations."
Read the study in its entirety.
PIPA Coalition Calls for Quantitative Public Interest Guidelines, Unlicensed Spectrum May 20 -- In a letter to Represenatatives Edward Markey (D-MA) and John Dingell (D-MI), leaders of the PIPA Coalition called on Congress to ensure that quantitative public interest guidelines and public access to unlicensed spectrum are part of any legislation dealing with the digital television transition.
Read the letter.
The Fallout From the Telecommunications Act of 1996, New Report by Common Cause May 9 - This study tells the story of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its aftermath. In many ways, the Telecom Act failed to serve the public and did not deliver on its promise of more competition, more diversity, lower prices, more jobs and a booming economy. Instead, the public got more media concentration, less diversity, and higher prices.
Read the full report from Common Cause (requires Adobe Acrobat).
Broadcasters to Seek New Multicast Vote April 25 -- Broadcasters are planning to ask federal regulators to reconsider a February ruling that banned TV stations from demanding cable-system carriage of multiple digital programming services, a high-ranking industry source said.
The National Association of Broadcasters is seeking a new ruling from the Federal Communications Commission on a hot-button issue called multicast must-carry.
Although broadcasters are legally entitled to cable carriage of a single programming service, the NAB insists that the law actually mandates carriage of any and all programming services a station can pack into its digital bandwidth. Today, that's about five or six programming streams.
Read the full article in Multichannel News.
Quid Pro Quo: Broadcasters' ploy to expand carriage rights April 25 -- A handful of station groups are pushing to include a small set of public-interest obligations in digital television legislation being drafted by House Commerce Committee leaders. The broadcasters hope they can trade a narrow slate of obligations for winning TV broadcasters' top priority in Washington: expanded cable-carriage rights for their digital programming.
Read the full article in Broadcasting & Cable.
PIPA Coalition Event at NAB2005 Trade Show
What: Press conference to discuss congressional and FCC consideration of issues related to the digital television transition, hosted by leaders of the Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition (PIPA)
Who: Jonathan Adelstein, FCC Commissioner; Jordan Goldstein, Legal Advisor to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps; Andrew Jay Schwartzman, President of Media Access Project; Meredith McGehee, Director of the Campaign Legal Center's Media Policy Program Director; Celia Wexler, Vice President of Common Cause; and Tim Karr, Campaign Director for Free Press
When: Tuesday, April 19 at 2:00 p.m.
Where: Las Vegas Convention Center (site of the NAB2005 Trade Show), Room N243
Please contact Meredith McGehee at 202.669.9919 if you have any questions about the Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition or the press conference, or would like to discuss pending FCC and congressional action on the digital television transition. Meredith will be in Las Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters annual show April 18 through April 21.
Read Meredith McGehee's statement here.
Read Gloria Tristani's statement here.
Read Celia Wexler's statement here.
TV News Just Isn't What It Used to Be: The Arizona Republic Interviews Walter Cronkite April 17 -- Network news is, by many accounts, broken.
Ratings, while still relatively healthy, have been slipping for years, with no sign of stanching the desertion to cable news, Web sites, video games, whatever. In the past four months, because of controversy, health problems or aging, different people are filling each of the Big Three network news anchors' chairs.
Who better to consult in times of flux than Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS Evening News anchor?
Read the full text of this story, which first appeared in the Arizona Republic.
'Spectrum of Democracy Awards' Honor Outstanding Local TV Stations in North Carolina April 15 -- The North Carolina Center for Voter Education presented the "Spectrum of Democracy Award" to four North Carolina broadcasters and television producers for their outstanding coverage of the 2004 elections. The award was given to recognize responsible news coverage of the 2004 elections as well as other efforts designed to improve audience access to information about campaigns and elections. Winners included Longworth Productions, UNC-TV, WNCN-TV, and WRAL-TV.
Roll Call Editorial: TV Profit, Public Loss April 13 -- Political profiteering by local television stations just goes on and on. Using publicly owned airwaves, stations last year raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in political advertising yet expended precious little of it back into political news coverage. And Congress, it appears, is going to let them multiply their earnings opportunities without exacting any assurance that they'll change their ways.
Read the full text of the editorial.
PIPA Coalition Urges Sen. Stevens to Define Public Interest Obligations April 7 -- In a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, leaders of the Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition urged adoption of a processing guideline that would set minimum standards for local civic and electoral affairs programming in the digital age, and would strengthen disclosure requirements.
Read the full text of the PIPA Coalition letter.
A Traumatic End to the DTV Transition?: Behind Barton's Battle With the Broadcasters March 28 -- So why are a few key lawmakers so eager to shut down analog broadcasting in a few months and run the risk of enraging millions of voters stuck with useless TV sets? First there's potential spectrum auction revenues, the crack cocaine of federal telecom policy. Then there's the potential that the companies that win those auctions will use them to provide wireless, broadband connections competing with the emerging cable-teleco duopoly. Add to that national security concerns as some of the returned spectrum will be set aside for first responders. At stake in a poorly planned are 73 million TV sets would become useless unless their owners obtained an over-the-air digital converter, a new DTV set or a connection to cable or direct broadcast satellite. Oh and some politicians jobs could be at stake if they screw with people's TVs.
Read the full article in Multichannel News.
Let's Define the Public Interest (Commentary) March 21 -- Charles Benton and Jim Goodmon, two past-members of a Presidential Advisory Committee, call on the FCC to define the public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters. Public-interest obligations, they write, encourage broadcasters to reach the greatest number of viewers with content that is not peripheral but central to their lives.
Read the full article in Broadcasting & Cable.
Kevin Martin to be Named New Chair of FCC Various media outlets are reporting today that Kevin Martin will be named the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, replacing Michael Powell. Following is the statement from Meredith McGehee, director of the Campaign Legal Center's Media Policy Program.
"The Federal Communications Commission is in desperate need of a fresh start. On both procedural and substantive grounds, the previous Commission failed the American people. We hope that Kevin Martin, as the new Chairman, will make a priority of taking action on the full slate of issues that have been languishing at the FCC. In particular, the public interest obligations of digital broadcasters (which has received no action since 1999) as well as disclosure requirements require expeditious action. We also hope that Chairman Martin will demonstrate his commitment to building both more open and accessible dialogue internally and externally, and a telecommunications landscape that ensures that the American people have the information they need to be informed and engaged voters."
Read the Benton Foundation's fact sheet about Kevin Martin's record as an FCC Commissioner.
March Issue of The Political Standard Published March 14 -- The March 2005 edition of The Political Standard newsletter is now available online. Stories include:
TV News Largely Ignores Local Political Campaigns
Broadcast Versus Cable? It's the Public Interest that Matters.
McCain Looks to Reform License Renewal Process
New 'Citizen's Guide' Examines How Media Can Serve the Public Interest
and more.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell to Join Aspen Institute March 11 -- The Aspen Institute announced today that Michael K. Powell, outgoing chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is to become senior fellow of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program for a three-month period effective upon his departure from the FCC. Powell is the third consecutive FCC Chairman to join the Aspen Institute following his chairmanship.
Read the press release in its entirety.
Consumers and the Digital Television Transition March 10 -- Today, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet holds a hearing on "Preparing Consumers for the End of the Digital Television Transition." The hearing's focus is on consumer issues surrounding the DTV transition -- namely getting more people to buy expensive digital television sets. On March 8, Benton Foundation Chairman and active member of the Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition, Charles Benton was appointed to the Federal Communication Commission's Consumer Advisory Committee, on which Benton plans to raise the public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters as the essential consumer issue in the DTV transition.
Benton noted that "Although the digital television debate has thus far focused on the technical questions, this transition offers great potential for broadcasters to better serve American TV viewers in ways other than prettier pictures and clearer sound. Instead of preparing consumers to buy costly digital TVs, policymakers should clearly define the compact between the public and the country's broadcasters.
"Are broadcasters prepared to use digital technology to better serve children and parents, communities and civic discourse, the hearing- and sight-impaired? If broadcasters were committed to increased public service content and interactively to match their increased capacity, consumers and citizens alike would rush to adopt this new technology."
Watch the subcommittee hearing (live at 1:00pm on Thursday) or get a transcript.
PIPA Coalition Urges President Bush to Appoint Public Interest-Minded FCC Chair March 8 -- Key members of the Public Interest, Public Airwaves Coalition today called on President Bush to appoint a public interest-minded successor to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell.
Read the PIPA Coalition's letter.
Lizard-Brain TV March 6 -- A lot of local television news is lousy. Who cares? Not many of us, apparently.
Read the commentary from Marty Kaplan, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, featured in the Los Angeles Times.
Advocacy Ads: Not-So-Easy Money February 27 -- Rare for a non-election year, political advertising in 2005 is shaping up to be a cash cow for stations. Despite the potential profits, however, TV executives are discovering that advocacy ads can be a headache.
Read the complete story in Broadcasting & Cable.
Spectrum Wars February 18 -- Generations ago, broadcasters got the right to use the airwaves -- now worth billions of dollars -- for free. Ever since, they have used heavy lobbying and political friendships to stave off rivals. But as the digital age unfolds, change is in the air.
Read the full story in the National Journal.
Senator McCain, Dr. Kaplan to Address Broadcasters' Failures in 2004 Campaign February 15 -- Senator John McCain [R-Ariz.] and Dr. Martin Kaplan will hold a press conference tomorrow, February 15 at noon in Russell 236 to discuss new findings that show broadcasters failed to live up to their public interest obligations in reporting on the 2004 elections. Contact Andrea Jones (202.224.7130) in Senator McCain's office for additional information.
Study Looks at Local Political News February 14 -- In the month leading up to last year's presidential election, local television stations in big cities devoted eight times as much air time to car crashes and other accidents than to campaigns for the House of Representatives, state senate, city hall and other local offices, according to a new study to be released tomorrow.
Read the full article in The New York Times.
FCC Denies Multicast, Dual Must-Carry February 10 -- As expected, the FCC has denied broadcasters mandatory cable carriage of both their analog and DTV signals during the DTV transition or of any DTV signal but their primary replication of the analog signal.
The commission did not address the public interest obligations associated with broadcasters' primary digital signals, saying it would address those at another time. That did not sit well with Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, with Copps calling it a case of "ready, fire, aim."
Read the full story in Broadcasting & Cable.
Read Media Policy Program Director Meredith's McGehee's statement.
FCC to Vote on Multicasting Must Carry Rule February 10
On February 10th, the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote on the so-called "multicasting must carry" proposal, which if approved would force cable operators to give enough free space on their digital system so that every local broadcaster would be able to use the system to deliver several broadcast signals instead of just one.
Read more about multicasting must carry on C-SPAN.org.
The Fairness Doctrine: How We Lost It, and Why We Need it Back (commentary) February 9, 2005 -- There are many fewer broadcast licenses than people who would like to have them. Unlike publishing, where the tools of the trade are in more or less endless supply, broadcasting licenses are limited by the finite number of available frequencies. Thus, as trustees of a scarce public resource, licensees accept certain public interest obligations in exchange for the exclusive use of limited public airwaves. One such obligation was the Fairness Doctrine, which was meant to ensure that a variety of views, beyond those of the licensees and those they favored, were heard on the airwaves.
Read the commentary by Steve Rendall in Extra!.
Some House Democrats Oppose DTV Vote February 8, 2005 -- According to a source, 10 House Democrats wrote to the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday asking it to delay the vote on multicasting must-carry scheduled for Feb. 10.
Read the article in Broadcasting & Cable.
Stevens Pitches 'Public Interest' Must-Carry February 3, 2005 -- Senate Commerce committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has told the FCC he believes it should grant multicasting must-carry to any broadcast digital channel providing public interest programming.
Read the article in Broadcasting & Cable.
U.S. Senate Race Spending Sets Record at $24 Million February 2, 2005 -- Candidates spent a record $24 million running for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Democrat Ernest "Fritz" Hollings in 2004.
Read the Associated Press story.
U.S. PIRG Spotlights Cash-Poor Candidates January 25, 2005 -- They aren't sore losers so much as they are poor losers. At least that's the conclusion of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund regarding 45 Congressional candidates who lost in 2004 thanks mainly to the massive war chests of their opponents.
Read the article in Roll Call (subscription required).
FCC Chairman Michael Powell to Step Down January 21, 2005 -- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell announced today that he will resign from the agency some time in March.
Read Chairman Powell's statement.
Public Interest Advocates React to Powell's Resignation January 21, 2005 -- Several members of the public interest community issued statements about the announced resignation of FCC Chairman Michael Powell.
Read statements from:
Powell Ready to Nix Multicasting January 20, 2005 -- Cable operators would not have to carry multiple digital services provided by local TV stations under a plan favored by FCC chairman Michael Powell.
Read the story in Multichannel News.
Political Ads Were Gold To TV Stations in 2004 January 18, 2005 -- Political candidates, committees and independent groups spent a record $1.6 billion on TV ads in the country's 100 largest media markets in 2004, according to a study by the Alliance for Better Campaigns. That's twice as much as TV spending during the 2000 campaign.
Read the article in Roll Call (subscription required).
Alliance for Better Campaigns to Merge with Campaign Legal Center's Media Policy Program December 1, 2004 -- The Alliance for Better Campaigns and the Campaign Legal Center's Media Policy Program will merge in February 2005.
"The Legal Center and the Alliance share a similar reform agenda, and not only on the role of media in politics. We look forward to working together to improve our electoral system, and helping ensure that current laws are enforced by the FCC, as well as the FEC," said Trevor Potter, President of the Legal Center.
Read the complete press release.
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