Media Reform Headlines for April 9, 2008 Resent-Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 23:56:51 -0500 (CDT) Media Reform Daily News of the movement for April 9, 2008 --SAVE THE INTERNET-- A SIDE DEAL DOESN'T SAVE THE NET Comcast may have reached an agreement with BitTorrent, but one side deal won't save the Internet. Congress and the FCC need to outlaw Internet discrimination and blocking on all networks. Craig Aaron, Multichannel News http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=z65Kg3fWJbVEF4jWUvpg0Q.. WE WON'T KNOW WHAT WE NEVER GOT Outright censorship is way too visible for network providers to get away with. Creeping proactive censorship built into a new infrastructure is a much harder story to tell. And a much bigger danger. And at first it will look exactly like legitimate network management. David Isenberg, Isen Blog http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=AoaZsmR4Yg8QONQ3bfw3tg.. STUDY GIVES HIGH MARKS TO U.S. INTERNET A new report is touting that the Internet infrastructure in the United States is climbing up the global ranks. John Markoff, New York Times http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=siVaSbpoBo1QBktH2r42bA.. RANK DISAPPOINTMENT A study with a new spin on America's digital decline claims that the Internet infrastructure in the U.S. is one of the world's best. But only four of the study's factors have anything to do with residential use of broadband. The fact is, in this race we're getting lapped by South Korea, France, Qatar and all the rest. Craig Aaron, SavetheInternet.com http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=0pDvazb1DDLjHpvF_Z-15w.. TECH COMPANIES, ONE ECONOMY LAUNCH BROADBAND PROGRAM A nonprofit group has enlisted the help of tech companies to launch a campaign to bring broadband to 500,000 low-income U.S. residents by 2010. Grant Gross, IDG News Service http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=AkaD3WuwbWu_GCphZAGCFg.. FRUSTRATION GROWS IN CANADA OVER INTERNET 'THROTTLING' The Canadian Association of Internet Providers filed an application to the federal telecom regulator requesting it direct the company BCE Inc. to desist from "throttling" wholesale Internet traffic, which has degraded its services "beyond recognition." Canwest News Service http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=u15_Zq676DPshke0JdTC2A.. Support the Internet Freedom Preservation Act: ACT NOW! http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=tfS44hwfjc4amdtmL-rEUw.. --SAVE OUR SPECTRUM-- CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS UNSOLD SPECTRUM BLOCK INTENDED FOR PUBLIC SAFETY USE The company advising a public safety group on the recently concluded 700MHz spectrum auction at the FCC has denied that it demanded lease payments from potential winning bidders for a piece of that spectrum. Grant Gross, IDG News Service http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=wzhY9u8VCETJ0Wrom8vDMw.. AN ADVERTISING BATTLE IN THE WAR OVER WHITE SPACES The war over white spaces heated up in Washington with the start of full-blown advertising campaigns targeting members of Congress. Kim Hart, Washington Post http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=MYLWc-MxqqrVcy9QyPiXsw.. --JOURNALISM & BEYOND-- STUDY FINDS EDITOR-READER GAP IN NEWS SITES Newspaper readers agree with editors on the basics of what makes good journalism, but they are more apt to want looser rules for online conversations, a new study on news credibility has found. Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=LoZzucddkBY0nb7KktQzOw.. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH If newspapers hope to survive the Internet transformation, in which their brand name and reputation will be paramount to success, they must stop the ax-wielding and accept that the era of exceptional profitability is over. Or should be. John Morton, American Journalism Review http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=VkYQqs1p1anao7ijGr2Vww.. 'I'D PROBABLY JUST SIT HERE AND DRINK' IF I HAD TO READ CNN'S NEWS, SAYS DAN RATHER Dan Rather responded to the New York Times report that CBS may outsource its newsgathering operation to CNN. Rather stressed that he did not support the plan. Danny Shea, Huffington Post http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=nD1EHQ8BUxwqsD2OzGDyjQ.. CBS LAYOFFS SIGNAL A FINANCIAL SQUEEZE ON TV STATIONS The jettisoning of experienced on-air talent at several CBS television stations has exposed the weakening of the once-robust local station business, which historically has enjoyed some of the fattest profit margins in the media industry. Matea Gold and Meg James, Los Angeles Times http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=xTT98hepOmlTyj0FEuqv8w.. MEDIA GENERAL TO HARBINGER: YOU JUST DON'T GET US In another series of dueling presentations to an influential proxy advisor, Media General accused dissident shareholder Harbinger Capital Partner of failing to understand its strategy. Mark Fitzgerald, Editor & Publisher http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=ROgRnN0x4ZyrxUTKOkCRcg.. CHINA DOCTORS THE NEWS OF OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY The tumultuous reception to China's Olympic torch relay around the world has touched a nationalistic nerve here, where heavily censored reports about Tibet and other topics at hand have left many wondering why China is under attack from foreign critics. Kathleen E. McLaughlin, San Francisco Chronicle http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=mG1ltunZdb6wy36xuOY7Nw.. TWO YOUNG WOMEN JOURNALISTS WORKING FOR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY RADIO STATION IN MEXICO AMBUSHED AND SHOT Two journalists for an indigenous community radio station in the southern state of Oaxaca in Mexico were ambushed and fatally shot, according to Reporters Without Borders. http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=db_s-RcMfTRh-q-2LCWVYg.. --NCMR 2008-- There are only seven weeks before the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform. If you care about the state of the media, this is the one event you can't miss. http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=57f-kzDzcDBVCHz7AGp0dA.. Sign up now. http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=-BVRq5gDQkcKIRcaFdeIQw.. June 6-8 - Minneapolis --FP ACTION NETWORK-- http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=sZxajCefZ4EoU09udFYLtA.. --IN OTHER NEWS-- WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WI-FI DREAM? The rush to Wi-Fi in cities across the country has slowed to a crawl. Whatever happened to the Wi-Fi dream? Virginia Prescott, New Hampshire Public Radio http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=YgbgL_KpFAwhQLdsrSFIng.. SLIGHT GAINS FOR WOMEN IN RADIO MANAGEMENT IN '07 The percentage of women managers of AM and FM radio stations in the U.S. increased slightly in 2007. Radio Ink http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=hG3VwIJkYPe98poi5jB5tQ.. EU GROUPS: DATA RETENTION POLICIES VIOLATE RIGHTS CONVENTION A group of 43 European civil liberties groups filed a brief with the European Court of Justice that argues for overturning a 2006 EU directive mandating data retention policies across EU countries. The groups assert that the directive is illegal, but more importantly, that the directive interferes with basic human rights granted to all Europeans. Nate Anderson, ars technica http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=WT4rpsUEOXq12e9Ehgb5vg.. INDONESIA BLOCKS ACCESS TO YOUTUBE OVER ANTI-KORAN FILM At least four Indonesian firms providing Internet services haveblocked access to YouTube for carrying a Dutch lawmaker's film thataccuses the Koran of inciting violence, an information ministryofficial said. Reuters http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=FQ-aIjDJerF3Px9MuvsWrQ.. Many of these articles are copyrighted material. 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