Subject: [Benton's Communications-related Headlines] May 30, 2007

From: Kevin Taglang <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 07:30:59 -0500

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY MAY 30, 2007
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
	U.S. Broadband Market On The Decline
	Democrats Have an Early Lead ... in the Web 2.0 Race
	Much Ado About DoubleClick

JOURNALISM
	Newspaper Online Ad Growth Slows -- As Print Revenue Keeps Skidding
	San Francisco Editor Quits in Wake of Staff Cuts
	Tribune Co. redraws newspaper management chart
	Mexico's Journalists Feel Heavy Hand of Violence

TELECOM/CABLE
	Copper landlines gone by 2013
	Nevada Franchise-Reform Bill Heads to Gov

ED TECH
	Feds solicit ed-tech feedback
	A Bush Brother Spreads His Vision of Computerized Teaching Programs

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
	Reality, Not Rhetoric, On FISA
	Hugo Chavez versus RCTV

QUICKLY -- Keep the Books Talking; Physician, 
Upgrade Thyself ; The richest man you've never 
heard of; Nick Shares Characters with Health-Food Partners

INTERNET/BROADBAND

US BROADBAND MARKET ON THE DECLINE
[SOURCE: InformationWeek, AUTHOR: Richard Martin]
The United States is falling further behind other 
developed countries in broadband network 
deployment. According to statistics released in 
April by the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Development, the United States 
ranked 15th among the OECD's 30 member countries 
in broadband deployment at the end of 
2006.  That's three spots below the United 
States' place on the list a year earlier, and 
signs point to a continuing decline: The country 
ranks 20th in the growth rate of broadband 
penetration. So dismal is the progress that the 
Federal Communications Commission has launched an 
inquiry into the state of the U.S. broadband 
market, focusing on the question of "net 
neutrality" -- whether big carriers and service 
providers are prioritizing voice and data traffic 
for some customers at the expense of others. 
Against this backdrop, expectations for wireless 
broadband are high. Wireless broadband is seen as 
a "third pipe" -- in addition to DSL and cable TV 
-- into homes and businesses, as a way to spark 
competition between incumbents and new entrants 
that leads to new services, and as a way get the 
United States on par with other countries in overall broadband availability.
http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=199701926

DEMOCRATS HAVE AN EARLY LEAD ... IN THE WEB 2.0 RACE
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Abbey Klaassen]
Even Republican supporters concede that the 
Democrats have the upper hand in Web 2.0, which 
has become the Democratic version of talk radio. 
It's an issue that has been the subject of recent 
debate, naturally, around the blogosphere. A big 
part of the problem, according to Rob Bluey, 
director of the Center for Media and Public 
Policy at the Heritage Foundation and a 
contributor to RedState.com, is that Republican 
bloggers are more interested in being pundits 
than activists. The right, perhaps, views the web 
too much as an extension of its broadcast domination.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=116938

MUCH ADO ABOUT DOUBLECLICK
[SOURCE: BusinessWeek, AUTHOR: Catherine Holahan]
There was little doubt that the Federal Trade 
Commission would thoroughly investigate Google's 
planned acquisition of DoubleClick. Google's 
undisputed dominance of Web searches and the 
related $8 billion search-advertising market all 
but guaranteed scrutiny of any move capable of 
extending the search titan's online influence. 
The fact that DoubleClick places ads for many of 
the leading Web publishers made a government 
inquiry inevitable, say antitrust experts. But, 
there's even less doubt that the FTC will 
eventually sign off on the $3.1 billion deal. 
Even some who see red flags in the transaction 
don't seriously think it will be blocked. "We are 
not foolish enough to think the FTC will say you 
can't buy DoubleClick," says Jeff Chester, 
executive director of the Center for Digital 
Democracy. His group is nonetheless concerned 
over the combination of the leading aggregator of 
information on who's searching for what on the 
Web with a company that tracks Web surfing 
behavior to help advertisers measure the 
effectiveness of their ads. Putting the two 
companies together leaves consumers' privacy at 
risk, Chester says. And he's hoping the scrutiny 
by Uncle Sam will result in some conditions placed on the transaction.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2007/tc20070529_360181.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech

JOURNALISM

NEWSPAPER ONLINE AD GROWTH SLOWS -- AS PRINT REVENUE KEEPS SKIDDING
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Jennifer Saba]
Newspaper online advertising revenue growth is 
starting to slow, according to the most recent 
data from the Newspaper Association of America. 
In Q1, advertising spending for newspaper Web 
sites increased 22.3% to $750 million compared to 
the same period last year. In the first quarter 
of 2006, newspaper online ad revenue advanced 
34.9% to $613 million. However, online 
advertising revenue makes up more of total ad 
revenue in Q1 versus the same period a year ago. 
In Q1 of this year, online advertising 
expenditures represent 7.1% of total ad revenue 
versus 5.5% for Q1 2006. Newspaper print 
advertising revenue fell sharply in Q1, down 6.4% 
to $9.8 billion. The growth realized with online 
advertising revenue did not push up total ad 
spending. Combined, print and online advertising 
revenue declined 4.8% to $10.6 billion in Q1.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003591163

SAN FRANCISCO EDITOR QUITS IN WAKE OF STAFF CUTS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Vivek Shankar]
Robert Rosenthal, managing editor of the San 
Francisco Chronicle, has resigned two weeks after 
the newspaper announced a plan to cut 25 percent 
of newsroom jobs. Rosenthal said he was leaving 
"without rancor or acrimony," the Chronicle said 
yesterday in a statement. The resignation comes 
at a time when the Hearst Corp. newspaper is 
cutting about 80 union-covered and 20 management 
positions, out of about 400 newsroom jobs. The 
cuts are an effort to curb costs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052901943.html
(requires registration)
* The decline of news
[Commentary] The Chronicle's announcement earlier 
this month that 100 newsroom jobs will be slashed 
in the coming weeks in the face of mounting 
financial woes represents just the latest chapter 
in a tragic story of traditional journalism's decline.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/29/EDGFKQ20N61.DTL

TRIBUNE CO REDRAWS NEWSPAPER MANAGEMENT CHART
[SOURCE: Crain's Chicago Business]
As it prepares to go private, Tribune Co. redrew 
its newspaper organization chart Tuesday so more 
executives report directly to CEO Dennis 
FitzSimons. Los Angeles Times Publisher David 
Hiller and Robert Gremillion, who now oversees 
four newspapers, report to Mr. FitzSimons. Mr. 
Gremillion, who has been publisher of the South 
Florida Sun-Sentinel, becomes executive vice 
president in charge of the Fort Lauderdale-based 
paper, the Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant and 
Orlando Sentinel.  Both men previously reported 
to Tribune Publishing President Scott Smith, who 
also has been publisher of the Chicago Tribune 
since last fall. The number of papers under Mr. 
Smith’s direct supervision will fall from five to 
two: the Chicago Tribune and Newsday in New York. 
He’ll also continue to run Tribune’s syndication and national ad sales units.
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=25162

MEXICO'S JOURNALISTS FEEL HEAVY HAND OF VIOLENCE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Manuel Roig-Franzia]
Mexico is now the second deadliest country in the 
world for journalists after Iraq. More than 30 
journalists have been killed in the past six 
years in Mexico. As more reporters die, 
journalism itself is suffering. A newspaper in 
Sonora said last week that it was temporarily 
shutting down because of attacks and threats by 
criminal gangs. Top editors at the two largest 
newspapers in Monterrey, Milenio and El Norte, 
said in interviews that they no longer ask crime 
reporters to dig deeply on their stories. At risk 
is the vibrancy of the free press in Mexico's 
still developing democracy. President Felipe 
Calderón has called the intimidation of 
journalists "an unacceptable situation," promised 
to protect journalists and discussed possible 
legislation to achieve that goal. But reporters 
keep dying and news media offices keep getting attacked.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052902132.html
(requires registration)
* Severed Head Left At Doorstep Of Mexican Daily
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003591391

TELECOM/CABLE

COPPER LANDLINES GONE BY 2013
[SOURCE: TelephonyOnline, AUTHOR: Ed Gubbins]
The copper “last mile” line to the house won’t 
exist in six years, according to Tom Evslin, 
co-founder of Internet service provider AT&T 
Worldnet and voice-over-IP wholesaler ITXC. "By 
2012 [there will be] no more reason to use our 
landlines -- so we won’t,” Evslin said. “I don’t 
think the copper plant will last past 2012. The 
problem is the cost of maintaining and operating 
it when it has very few subscribers. Obviously 
[it’s] a huge problem for AT&T and Verizon. And 
an important social issue as well.” Evslin 
pointed to a study showing the percentage of 
homes with landline phones declining from about 
96% to 94% between 1998 and 2003 while cell phone 
penetration jumped from 36% to 63%. Those trends 
have probably accelerated since then, he argued. 
By 2012, copper landlines will have been replaced 
by WiFi-enabled mobile phone services like the 
one T-Mobile will roll out nationwide this 
summer, Evslin wrote. Such services will 
highlight the superiority of mobile phones over 
land lines in consumers’ minds: mobile phones are 
more capable (with built-in cameras, directories 
and address books, etc.) and less expensive.
http://telephonyonline.com/home/news/copper_landlines_gone_052507/

NEVADA FRANCHISE-REFORM BILL HEADS TO GOV
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
A bill reforming cable franchising is headed for 
the desk of Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons. The bill 
unanimously passed the state Senate May 25. If 
signed by the governor, the bill mandates that 
franchises will now be issued by the Secretary of 
State. That office will have up to 20 days to 
issue the authority. Incumbent cable operators 
may decide whether they wish to operate under 
their current local franchises or apply for 
state-authorizing authority, but they will have six months to make that choice.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6447150.html

ED TECH

FEDS SOLICIT ED-TECH FEEDBACK
[SOURCE: eSchool News, AUTHOR: Laura Devaney]
The U.S. Department of Education is asking school 
stakeholders to comment on the use of technology 
in schools. While advocates of educational 
technology say they welcome this latest request 
for comments, some question whether the 
department will act on any of the advice it 
receives, given how little importance it placed 
on the last National Educational Technology Plan.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=7095

A BUSH BROTHER SPREADS HIS VISION OF COMPUTERIZED TEACHING PROGRAMS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Diana Jean Schemo]
Curriculum on Wheels (COW) is the brainchild of 
Neil Bush, brother of the president, who is 
president of Ignite! Learning. The company has 
sold its science and social studies curriculums, 
aimed mostly at middle school grades, to 2,300 of 
the nation’s 85,000 public schools, and is 
seeking to expand its business to China, Japan, 
South Korea and the Middle East. Mr. Bush’s 
curriculum coordinates with both the standards 
movement sweeping states and its national 
embodiment, No Child Left Behind, which requires 
all children in Grades 3 to 8 to be tested each 
year in reading and math, and once in science. 
Some educators have criticized Mr. Bush for using 
his brother’s No Child Left Behind law to market 
his product. To educators, though, a big question 
is whether a technology-based curriculum — Mr. 
Bush’s or any of a multitude of others -- works.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/nyregion/30education.html
(requires registration)

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

REALITY, NOT RHETORIC, ON FISA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Rep Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)]
[Commentary]  The congressional testimony this 
month by former deputy attorney general James 
Comey called into question the accuracy of 
everything I had heard before about the so-called 
Terrorist Surveillance Program. According to 
Comey, in the spring of 2004 President Bush 
authorized a program of domestic surveillance 
even though his acting attorney general was so 
concerned about the surveillance that he could 
not in good faith "certify its legality." I 
believe it was the administration's cumbersome, 
uncoordinated process and not the statutory 
requirements that led the president to authorize 
an end-run around FISA. The House Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence will hold 
hearings on this issue next month and will focus 
on the following important questions: 1) What 
surveillance activities has President Bush 
authorized under the NSA surveillance program 
disclosed in December 2005? What was the legal 
basis for these activities, and how did those 
activities change since the inception of the 
program? What activities are occurring today? 2) 
How does the current FISA system operate? Can 
this system be improved? 3) Are current legal 
authorities adequate for tracking terrorist 
communications, or are changes to the law 
required? 4) Do current and proposed legal 
authorities adequately protect the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052901637.html
(requires registration)

HUGO CHAVEZ VERSUS RCTV
[SOURCE:  Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Bart Jones]
[Commentary]  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's 
refusal to renew the license of Radio Caracas 
Television might seem to justify fears that 
Chavez is crushing free speech and eliminating 
any voices critical of him. But the case of 
RCTV  has been caught up in a web of 
misinformation. While one side of the story is 
getting headlines around the world, the other is 
barely heard. In 1998 RCTV, controlled by members 
of the country's fabulously wealthy oligarchy 
including chief Marcel Granier, tried to help out 
the democratically elected leader from office. 
RCTV's most infamous effort to topple Chavez came 
during the April 11, 2002, coup attempt against 
him. For two days before the putsch, RCTV 
preempted regular programming and ran 
wall-to-wall coverage of a general strike aimed 
at ousting Chavez. A stream of commentators 
spewed nonstop vitriolic attacks against him — 
while permitting no response from the government. 
Then RCTV ran nonstop ads encouraging people to 
attend a march on April 11 aimed at toppling 
Chavez and broadcast blanket coverage of the 
event. When the march ended in violence, RCTV and 
Globovision ran manipulated video blaming Chavez 
supporters for scores of deaths and injuries. 
After military rebels overthrew Chavez and he 
disappeared from public view for two days, RCTV's 
biased coverage edged fully into sedition. 
Thousands of Chavez supporters took to the 
streets to demand his return, but none of that 
appeared on RCTV or other television stations. 
RCTV News Director Andres Izarra later testified 
at National Assembly hearings on the coup attempt 
that he received an order from superiors at the 
station: "Zero pro-Chavez, nothing related to 
Chavez or his supporters…. The idea was to create 
a climate of transition and to start to promote 
the dawn of a new country." Would a network that 
aided and abetted a coup against the government 
be allowed to operate in the United States? The 
U.S. government probably would have shut down 
RCTV within five minutes after a failed coup 
attempt — and thrown its owners in jail. Chavez's 
government allowed it to continue operating for 
five years, and then declined to renew its 
20-year license to use the public airwaves. It 
can still broadcast on cable or via satellite dish.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-jones30may30,1,5388072.story?coll=la-news-comment
(requires registration)
* Venezuela's last opposition station on notice
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-venez30may30,1,6243498.story?coll=la-news-a_section
* Venezuela Stations Under Fire
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6447164.html?rssid=193

QUICKLY

KEEP BOOKS TALKING
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary]  A half-million Americans stand in 
danger of losing their public library. They are 
the nation's blind, and their library is Talking 
Books, through which the National Library Service 
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the 
Library of Congress (NLS) provides 500,000 
Americans with free audio recordings of about as 
many books. Unlike the "books on tape" that are 
sold at retail bookstores, these recordings are 
unabridged, extensive and diverse -- and are 
designed for people who have no other way of 
reading print. NLS hopes to digitize its entire 
library and create new players. It has spent 17 
years researching, building and testing new 
products, and it is ready to manufacture a fully 
accessible flash-drive player. The Library of 
Congress has asked Congress to appropriate about 
$76.4 million to produce the players and digitize 
thousands more books. But the Government 
Accountability Office faults NLS for not 
considering existing commercial products such as 
CD players and iPods instead of creating a new device.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/29/AR2007052901736.html
(requires registration)

PHYSICIAN, UPGRADE THYSELF
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Thomas Goetz]
[Commentary] Go into almost any medical office, 
hospital or clinic in the United States and your 
records will still be handled the old-fashioned 
way — on paper. You can use a computer to pay 
your taxes, to program your TiVo or to read a 
message from your great-aunt, but your doctor has 
to practically level a forest just to examine 
your medical files. The cost, however, isn’t 
calculated in trees but in human lives: 
Electronic medical records would reduce the risk 
of medical errors and spare hospitals the expense 
of missing records and unnecessary treatment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/opinion/30goetz.html
(requires registration)

THE RICHEST MAN YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Chris Hawley]
A look at Mexico's Carlos Slim Helú, the owner of Telmex among other things.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070530/1a_cover30.art.htm

NICK SHARES CHARACTERS WITH HEALTH-FOOD PARTNERS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: ]
SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora and Diego will all be 
helping sell healthier foods to children.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6447170.html?rssid=196
--------------------------------------------------------------
Communications-related Headlines is a free online 
news summary service provided by the Benton 
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important industry developments, policy issues, 
and other related news events. While the 
summaries are factually accurate, their often 
informal tone does not always represent the tone 
of the original articles. Headlines are compiled 
by Kevin Taglang [email-masked] -- we welcome your comments.
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Kevin Taglang
Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Foundation
Communications in the Public Interest
1625 K Street, NW 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
headlines AT benton DOT org 

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