Featured Article:
Intense Review Is Expected for NBC Deal
By Brian Stelter, New York Times
The Center for Digital Democracy, a public interest group, has already called the
potential union of Comcast and NBC Universal “the equivalent of Godzilla
swallowing Rockefeller Center.”
Clearly, some media reform advocates are girding for a fight.
Comcast’s plan to gain control of NBC Universal, which is expected to be announced in the weeks ahead, barring any unforeseen developments, is likely to be the first major test of the Obama administration’s media regulators. Given its scope, analysts and public interest groups anticipate that the deal will undergo intense government scrutiny.
Read More >>
Recent News:
Groups Seek Clarity On Net Neutrality
By Juliana Gruenwald, National Journal
A coalition of public interest groups are calling on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to clarify the agency’s position on network neutrality. In a letter sent Monday to Genachowski, the Media Access Project, Free Press, Consumers Union and the New America Foundation voiced concern with recent comments from an FCC official that seemed to indicate that network management may include priority treatment of high-bandwidth applications, the groups said in a news release. The groups said they want to be assured that some FCC officials are not pre-judging the outcome of the FCC’s rulemaking on the issue of network neutrality, which is aimed at preserving the Internet’s openness.
10 November 2009 under MAP in the News » Broadband/Open Access | Read more »
Intense Review Is Expected for NBC Deal
By Brian Stelter, NY TIMES
The Center for Digital Democracy, a public interest group, has already called the potential union of Comcast and NBC Universal “the equivalent of Godzilla swallowing Rockefeller Center.”
Clearly, some media reform advocates are girding for a fight.
Comcast’s plan to gain control of NBC Universal, which is expected to be announced in the weeks ahead, barring any unforeseen developments, is likely to be the first major test of the Obama administration’s media regulators. Given its scope, analysts and public interest groups anticipate that the deal will undergo intense government scrutiny.
9 November 2009 under MAP in the News » | Read more »
Mickey D's cup with forecast? Outlook blurry
By Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post
When Crystal Egger delivers the weather each morning on Fox’s “Good Day Colorado,” she appears behind a cup of iced coffee branded with a McDonalds’ logo. It’s not that she’s a caffeine junkie; the prominent cup of joe is part of a six-figure product-placement deal, paid for by the fast-food chain.
The cup also serves as a jolting reminder of how the line between advertising and editorial content in TV newscasts, once starkly drawn, has gotten thinner. (It’s not even coffee, by the way. It’s a prop with no liquid.)
6 November 2009 under MAP in the News » First Amendment Issues | Read more »
U.S. Government Likely to Keep Media Rules Strict
By Robert MacMillan and John Poirier, Reuters
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Newspaper publishers and other struggling media companies want the U.S. government to help them survive the toughest times they have ever known, mainly by easing rules on how big they can get.
They will be lucky if they get any aid at all.
The Federal Communications Commission held meetings this week with policy experts and consumer groups to see if it should change rules that define how many people newspapers, television and radio stations can reach and that limit their size to protect free speech and allow for healthy competition.
6 November 2009 under MAP in the News » Media Concentration | Read more »
Public Interest Groups Argue Against Loosening of Ownership Rules
FCC shouldn’t give free pass based on economic distress, consolidation critics say
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable
The broadcasting industry isn’t in such bad shape, a majority of public interest group representatives argued Tuesday on their way to making the point that the FCC should not loosen its ownership rules as a way to “prop up” the industry.
In fact, whether broadcasting is in a cyclical downturn and still a vital source of news and info or is a marginal player facing possible extinction depended on whether one was arguing for more regulation (the former) or less (the latter).
Representatives of media consolidation critics Free Press, United Church of Christ and Media Access Project were among the panelists assembled for the second of three hearings this week teeing up the commission’s quadrennial review of media ownership rules. They were all in favor of structural regulations.
3 November 2009 under MAP in the News » Media Concentration | Read more »