March 22nd, 2013
onaissues
jcstearns: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Stepping Down After Contentious Term

jcstearns:

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Stepping Down After Contentious Term

Reblogged from Talking To Strangers
4 notes·
news FCC internet freedom
December 10th, 2012
onaissues
jcstearns: Huge round up of essays, resources and more —- all focused on the impact media consolidation is having on our democracy. (via » Fight Media Monopoly » BillMoyers.com) BillMoyers.com looks into the debate around relaxing the media ownership rules in big markets, which the FCC is currently considering. They argue that this is “a move that would allow Big Media, including News Corp, to monopolize print and broadcast media in key markets, controlling local news messages and limiting diversity in American media.” The FCC responded to complaints that the change in the rules would limit media diversity last week. The Chicago Tribune reports that Bill Lake, Chief of the FCC’s media bureau, said in a statement, “[R]eports that the order would make it easier to own a top TV station and a major newspaper in a market are wrong. In fact, the order would strengthen the current rule by creating an express presumption against a waiver of the cross-ownership ban to allow such a combination.”  The debate about relaxing the FCC rules is ongoing. What do you think about the proposed changes?

jcstearns:

Huge round up of essays, resources and more —- all focused on the impact media consolidation is having on our democracy.

(via » Fight Media Monopoly » BillMoyers.com)

BillMoyers.com looks into the debate around relaxing the media ownership rules in big markets, which the FCC is currently considering. They argue that this is “a move that would allow Big Media, including News Corp, to monopolize print and broadcast media in key markets, controlling local news messages and limiting diversity in American media.”

The FCC responded to complaints that the change in the rules would limit media diversity last week. The Chicago Tribune reports that Bill Lake, Chief of the FCC’s media bureau, said in a statement, “[R]eports that the order would make it easier to own a top TV station and a major newspaper in a market are wrong. In fact, the order would strengthen the current rule by creating an express presumption against a waiver of the cross-ownership ban to allow such a combination.” 

The debate about relaxing the FCC rules is ongoing. What do you think about the proposed changes?

Reblogged from Talking To Strangers
12 notes·
news journalism FCC
March 28th, 2012
onaissues
News Organizations That Lobby Against Their Own Reporters’ Interests : CJR

“The battle playing out over a new government transparency proposal has taken a turn that should concern journalists. Many of the nation’s major news organizations are now aggressively opposing a proposal to disclose more information about political advertising—acting directly against the interests of their own reporters and calling into question the companies’ commitment to journalistic values.”

Steven Waldman discusses the irony of media organizations opposing the proposed FCC rule that would force TV stations to make campaign ad data available online. Read the full article on CJR. 

Read previous posts on ONA Issues about the proposed FCC rule here and here. 

22 notes·
news journalism FCC
March 23rd, 2012
onaissues
Broadcasters don’t want to put campaign ad data online, so ProPublica pitches work-around » Nieman Journalism Lab

The FCC is considering granting the public more access to campaign ad data by forcing media companies to make transparent how ad money is spent. The National Association of Broadcasters is opposed to the rule and debate has been going on for months. 

In the meantime, ProPublica is taking action. 

“Instead of waiting for broadcasters and the FCC to figure things out, ProPublica is crowdsourcing a nationwide effort to collect the public files that trace the money spent on televised campaign ads: ‘If TV Stations Won’t Post Their Data on Political Ads, We Will,’ the headline read.”

Read more about ProPublica’s efforts on Nieman Lab. For more background in the proposed FCC ruling, check out our previous ONA Issues post. 

news journalism FCC politics campaigns
March 5th, 2012
onaissues
Zoom Thank you for including the comment link, nhaler. Crucial point.  nhaler: onaissues: FCC seeks comment on police shutdowns of cell service | CNET News “Last year’s police shutdowns of cell phone service in San Francisco subways was prompted by protests against police shootings. The FCC wants public input on the issues around shutdowns.”  Read more on CNet. I really want to put that slug in quotes just to show how ridiculous it is that, in the face of such behaviour, all the police are required to produce is “comment”.  Edit: Since ONA didn’t include this:  People can submit comments electronically via this link.

Thank you for including the comment link, nhaler. Crucial point. 

nhaler:

onaissues:

FCC seeks comment on police shutdowns of cell service | CNET News

“Last year’s police shutdowns of cell phone service in San Francisco subways was prompted by protests against police shootings. The FCC wants public input on the issues around shutdowns.” 

Read more on CNet.

I really want to put that slug in quotes just to show how ridiculous it is that, in the face of such behaviour, all the police are required to produce is “comment”. 

Edit: Since ONA didn’t include this:

 People can submit comments electronically via this link.

Reblogged from nhaler
6 notes·
news protest FCC
March 5th, 2012
onaissues
Zoom FCC seeks comment on police shutdowns of cell service | CNET News “Last year’s police shutdowns of cell phone service in San Francisco subways was prompted by protests against police shootings. The FCC wants public input on the issues around shutdowns.”  Read more on CNet.

FCC seeks comment on police shutdowns of cell service | CNET News

“Last year’s police shutdowns of cell phone service in San Francisco subways was prompted by protests against police shootings. The FCC wants public input on the issues around shutdowns.” 

Read more on CNet.

6 notes·
news journalism FCC privacy protests
February 10th, 2012
onaissues
Big Media Executives Take To FCC To Fight Political Advertising Disclosures

“Executives from News Corporation, NBCUniversal, the Walt Disney Company and the National Association of Broadcasters met with officials at the FCC on Monday to express their displeasure at proposed public interest rules, according to FCC filings obtained by TVNewser.

The rules in question would force TV networks to share details online about political advertising, including the rates that political campaigns pay for ad time. The executives argued that by posting the rate information in their “public files” and posting those files online:

‘[C]ompetitors in the market and commercial advertisers may anonymously glean highly sensitive pricing data, which, by law, will represent the lowest rates charged by the station to its most favored commercial advertisers,” adding that they were “[O]pen to discussing other options for keeping sensitive rate information out of the online public file.’

news privacy FCC disclosure
February 2nd, 2012
onaissues
A comment filed by the stations owned by the major TV networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and Univision) suggested that researchers should not expect their task to be made easier by the Internet. ‘Research by its nature requires the expenditure of effort,”’they wrote. And for reporters, ‘a certain amount of leg work is eminently practical.’ (One almost expects them to next blurt out, “in my day, we didn’t have no new-fangled Intertubes; we had to go to the damn library and they should too!)

Steven Waldman reacts to local broadcasters response to the FCC proposal to require stations to disclose their political ad buys online.  Local TV Stations and their “public interest obligations” - On The Media

What exactly is the FCC proposal and why is the National Association of Broadcasters opposed to the ruling? This ONA Issues post, Available vs. Accessible: Looking to Access the Public Files at Media Companies, will give you the details. 

1 note·
news journalism fcc disclosure open government
January 11th, 2012
onaissues

Available vs. Accessible: Looking to Access the Public Files at Media Companies

Right now, the FCC is considering a rule that would digitize the “public file” at broadcast stations.

Why are journalists paying attention to this? The public files at each station contains a number of items, but one of the most interesting items to journalists is the “political file,” record of political ad buys.  This list includes the amount spent and the buyers of political ads, information that is not readily available otherwise. Though the files are open to anyone, they are rarely seen by anyone in the public, since the information is on paper, sitting in file cabinets in individual stations.

The FCC is proposing to digitize the files, making them available online to the public. A number of media and advocacy organizations support this.

The National Association of Broadcasters has raised concerns about putting the political file on line and has made public comment. about how posting the material online would be “burdensome” and require continuous updates. Journalists and advocacy organizations that are interested in having the information online note that these updates include valuable information which is not being captured in a usable way now.

The public comment period has now been extended to January 17.

To read the comments offered so far, go here and enter proceeding number 00-168. To submit your own comment, click here. To read the FCC’s proposal in full, you can download it as a Word document from CJR at the bottom of this page. Would the proposed changes affect your work? Let us know in the comments how you think the FCC rule would impact journalists.

Here’s some additional information:

Local TV Disclosure Rule Would Put Political Ad Spending Online. FDL
Local TV, meet the internet. Columbia Journalism Review.

Why Journalists Should Weigh on on the FCC Disclosure Act while there is still time. Poynter (Note: Comment period was extended after publication)

Iowa Kicks Off the Media’s Mud Season. Huffington Post

Petition to Open the Files. Save the News

14 notes·
news journalism FCC disclosure open government
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