ECREA: EU Parliament approves Community Media report

From: Salvatore Scifio
Subject: EU Parliament approves Report on Community Media
Date: 9/26/08

Exciting news (I should have posted sooner!). The report I earlier mentioned had been passed by the EU Parliament:

Dear All,
Thursday 25th September 2008 the European Parliament. in plenary session in Brussels, approved the report ‘Community Media in Europe’ (A6-0263/2008), rapporteur the Austrian MEP Karin Resetarits (European Liberal Democrats (ALDE)), with 471 votes in favour to 42 against.

The provisional edition of the adopted full text can be retrieved at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2008-0456+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN

The attendance list of MEPs, and the detailed results of votes can be accessed at
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/plenary/home.do?date=20080926&tab=LAST&language=EN#
Pdf of the roll-call vote can be accessed directly at
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+PV+20080925+RES-RCV+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN

The motion for the report, as voted in the Committee on Culture and Education earlier this year, and including
- the motion for a EU Parliament resolution
- the explanatory statement
- the result of the final vote in the Committee
and the full text of the report itself, in word and pdf formats, available in all EU official languages, is still available at
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A6-2008-0263&language=EN&mode=XML

The European Liberal Democrats group has also published a press release on its website at
http://www.alde.eu/index.php?id=42&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=9805&cHash=255e55819f

Full text attached below:

The European Parliament supports Alternative and Community media which are vital for social integration
25/09/2008

The European Parliament , meeting in Brussels today for its plenary session adopted a report by Karin Resetarits (Die Liberalen, Austria) which calls on the European Union to encourage alternative media in Europe in order to promote pluralism and cultural diversity.  Stemming from the old family of “free radio” and other pirate broadcasting, alternative media today is often a community media, addressing a certain category of the population for example the Muslim population, senior citizens or young people.  They can be distinguished from commercial media by the fact that they are not profit-making but purely social, linked with their community by the service they provide.  Mrs Resetarits would like to see this recognised by the European Commission and the Member States.

“Alternative media does not result in isolating people, on the contrary they allow a community to integrate, informing them of their rights, especially in the area of education and access to public services but also promotes citizens to  take part in active life and listens to their problems and concerns.  This type of media is a community tool and serves as a cultural and social integration project”, says Karin  Resetarits.

The support measures recommended by Mrs Resetarits are mostly of a technical nature, legal (attribution of frequencies) and financial (possible financing by the EU).   “I hope that when the European Commission publishes in 2009 their Communication on the indicators of pluralism in the media, it will take into account our proposals on alternative and community media which obviously  contributes and promotes  pluralism”, concluded Mrs Resetarits.

For more information
Corlett Neil - Tel: +32 2 284 20 77 Mob: +32 478 78 22 84
Laude Yannick - Tel: +32 2 284 31 69 Mob: +32 495 22 78 37
Category: Press Release, media policy
—————————————————————————————————-

Full information on this and other recent community media reports, research and policy is available on the new version of the website www.communitymedia.eu
Any comments and suggestions welcome!

Best Wishes,

Salvo

OnlineMediaDaily: FCC & censored text message campaigns

Source: OnlineMediaDaily, “FCC urged to ban Wireless Carriers from Refusing Text Campaigns,” by Wendy Davis, 10/3/08.

The issue has to do with wireless carriers right to, “turn away text message senders in order to control spam.” Why not use the word censorship?

Parties involved & explored by Davis include:
FCC: I could not find news on their site — searched “short code” and “text campaigns”
Verizon Wireless: news not found today
Public Knowledge: FIR 10/2/08 “Wireless Industry Wrong on Key Elements of Text Messaging…”
CTIA: news not found today
NARAL (Verizon blocked a pro-choice campaign via text alerts– was covered by the NYT)
NYTimes.com: “Verizon blocks messages of Abortion rights group,” by Adam Liptak, 9/27/07
NY State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky: A04042 -

Prohibits the transmission of unsolicited advertising text messages to cellular
telephones or pagers; makes an exception for providers of such services and
their affiliates who have permission; provides for enforcement by the attorney
general and a private right of action

MediaDailyNews: Arbitron’s PPM

Source: MediaDailyNews, “Arbitron Commercializes Early, Wants Legal Relief,” by Erik Sass, 10/6/08.

Sass reports on Arbitron’s move to the Portable People Meter — a move from paper diaries on electronic measurement. He also notes on a suit by NY’s own AG Cuomo. Why is the AG stopping the PPM?

Cuomo is seeking to delay PPM ratings because of “fraudulent and illegal business practices”–in essence, accusing Arbitron of deceiving the radio industry about PPM’s readiness and rushing the system to market despite methodological flaws.

So, the AG thinks the PPM is not ready for prime time. Why doesn’t the state collect the data? Then I can have access to it.

I searched LexisNexis for “Arbitron” and found no case. There is a statement on the Office of the Attorney General’s website Media Center from Spokesman Alex Detrick:

Arbitron’s decision to release its unreliable and unaccredited radio ratings system is an affront to racial and ethnic minorities in New York and around the country. The Attorney General’s Office cautions all advertisers and broadcasters against using these prematurely released ratings as we believe they are flawed and will be the subject of ongoing litigation. Arbitron’s unwillingness to defend the validity of their system on its merits proves it places its own economic incentives over the interests of minority broadcasting. As a monopolist, Arbitron owes consumers an explanation for its decision to force feed the PPM system to broadcasters. Their irresponsible decision threatens the existence of diversity in radio and muzzles the voices and viewpoints of millions of Americans. Obviously, the Attorney General’s Office will continue to seek justice in this case.

Copyright office: prohibition on circumvention

From: loc@service.govdelivery.com
Re: U.S. Copyright Office, NewsNet Issue 352
Date: 10/6/08

From the Copyright Office:

Copyright Office Requests Comments on Possible Adverse Effects of Prohibition on Circumvention Measures

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is announcing the commencement of its rulemaking proceeding in accordance with provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that provide that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works (17 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1)(c)). The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention. The Office’s notice of inquire requests written comments from all interested parties, including representatives of copyright owners, educational institutions, libraries and archives, scholars, researchers, and members of the public, in order to elicit evidence on whether noninfringing uses of certain classes of works are, or are likely to be, adversely affected by this prohibition on the circumvention of measures that control access to copyrighted works. Written comments proposing classes of works to be subject to the exemption are due by December 2, 2008. Comments in support of and in opposition to the proposals will be due in February 2009. Hearings will be held in spring 2009 at times and places to be announced early in 2009.

For further information, go to the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov. (Read further information)

Calendar

Dec. 2, 2008 - Due date for comments on section 1202(a)(1)(C) rulemaking

Feb. 2, 2009 - Due date for comments on proposed classes of works to be exempted from prohibition on circumvention

ECREA: Alternative Media Global Project’s map

From: Giovanni Navarria, Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), University of Westminster, UK
Subject: Alternative Media Global Project
Date: 10/6/08

Navarria posted a link to the Alternative Media Global Project and the Project’s Map that, “seeks to graphically display the location of any alternative, radical, citizen, participatory, community (etc.) media project in the world.” Contact info.

Try Zotero!

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wired Campus, “Company’s Lawsuit over Free Scholarly Organization Tool Generates Buzz,” 10/3/08.

Thomson Reuters created a PR disaster for itself by suing programmers at George Mason over the Zotero freebie program. This means that all scholars should boycott Thomson Reuters’ Endnote and try Zotero (my op-ed). Nothing like bad PR to spike usage and promote something (or, vice-versa-reversa-engineera, to ruin something trying to un-promote something). Marketing lesson: Never bite the hand that feed you.

The ACRLog (blog of the Association of College & Research Libraries) also posted on this issue, “The Mark of Zotero,” by Barbara Fister, 9/28/2008.

NYT: Google & Yahoo deal

Source: NYTimes.com, “Google deal with Yahoo draws more opposition,” by Miguel Hlft, 10/5/08.

Helft reports on, “the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation of the advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo…”  Guess who is mad?: “…Microsoft has lobbied against the deal and raised antitrust questions.”  Never a dull moment. I had trouble finding news on this at the DOJ’s Antitrust Division.

Ad Age: Media 100 List

Source: Ad Age, “Ad Age’s Media 100 List Gives Glimpse of a New Order,” by Nat Ives, 9/29/08.

Ives reports on the new annual list of top media companies.   There is a lot of the same — except fo the rise of Google up the charts.   Here is his lead:

NEW YORK AdAge.com) — Old-media guardians might find some solace in Ad Age’s annual list of the 100 Leading Media Companies, which can be found on AdAge.com starting this week. Not a single company in the top 10 has budged even one spot since last year. Nineteen of today’s top 20 were last year’s top 20 too. And we thought there was a media revolution going on.

Journalism.org: The Economy & the Campaign

From: Tom Rosenstiel
Subject: Financial Meltdown Tops Press Agenda Again
Date: 9/30/08

From Mr. Rosenstiel, PEJ:

The media paid more attention to the nation’s economic crisis than to the presidential campaign for the second consecutive week, according to a Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism study of election coverage from Sept. 22-28.

Coverage of the economic meltdown and bailout plan registered at 40% of the newshole last week, while the 2008 campaign accounted for 33% of the overall coverage. Within the campaign coverage itself, the financial crisis drove the narrative last week. The candidates’ response to the situation (24% of the newshole) was the top campaign theme, followed closely by stories related to John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign (23%). The debate itself and the media post-mortems accounted for another 7%.

John McCain’s prominent role in reacting to events made him the top newsmaker for the second week in a row. From Sept. 22-28, McCain was a significant or dominant factor in 68% of stories compared with 60% for Obama. McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin (15%), continued to garner more attention than her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden (6%).

The findings in PEJ’s Campaign Coverage Index—which will appear weekly during the campaign season—include:

Strategic campaign narratives accounted for 13% of the election newshole last week. Poll-driven stories (6%), strategizing for the swing states (3%), and campaign-generated ads (2%) were the top three horse race-related storylines.
Even in a week when she generated attention for what many observers viewed as a shaky interview with Katie Couric, Palin’s coverage fell significantly. Last week, she was a significant or dominant factor in 15% of the stories, down from 26% the previous week and 53% the week before.

The 2008 race for the White House filled 33% of the newshole last week. It was the No. 2 story in the newspaper, online, network TV and radio media sectors. However, it was the top story on cable news, capturing 51% of the newshole.

Click here for a direct link to a PDF of the report. The study is for immediate release at our website, www.journalism.org.

MediaDailyNews: RIAA’s royalty deal

Source: MediaDailyNews, “RIAA: Details Royalty Deal with Radio,” by Erik Sass, 9/24/08.

An excerpt:

Per the terms of the agreement, online music services will pay 10.5% of their total revenues to the musicians and studios that own songs played or temporarily downloaded online. Performance royalties for songwriters will also be included in this sum.

I found a press release on the RIAA site.  Here is the Copyright Royalty Board site (Library of Congress).  I also glanced at SoundExchange; the news there was regarding the “Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008″ (pdf) H.R.7084.

CJR conference on Consumer Journalism

Source: email from CJR 10/1/08
RE: Consumer Journalism Conference at Columbia
Act now to take advantage of the special discount:
Registration is $70 before Oct.7, and $85 after.

The Columbia Journalism Review and Consumer Reports invite you to attend

Consumer Revolution on the Web:
Opportunities and Dangers for Journalism
Sponsored by the Columbia Journalism Review & Consumer Reports

Thursday, November 20, 2008
An all-day conference, hosted by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Keynote address by David Pogue, New York Times personal technology columnist

The Web and social media have empowered the individual consumer and grass-roots groups to hold corporations and the government accountable for flawed products, policies, and services. How can journalists harness this new energy? Learn from experts who understand the pitfalls and opportunities of the new consumer landscape.

Hear from more than 20 experts and peers including:
Walt Bogdanich, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning assistant editor for the New York Times investigations desk
Diane Farsetta, senior researcher at The Center for Media and Democracy/PRWatch.org
Bob Garfield, Ad Age columnist, host of NPR’s “On the Media,” and the creator of ComcastMustDie.com
Jeff Jarvis, blogger for Buzzmachine.com and an associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism
Brian Lehrer, host of “The Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC
Ben Popken, editor of Consumerist.com and an advocate and practitioner of citizen journalism
Steve Rubel, VP at Edelman and author of the PR industry blog, MicroPersuasion.com

View the conference agenda and registration information at www.cjr.org/conference/

Register before October 7 for the early-bird discount: $70
Alumni of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism: $70
Registration fee after October 7: $85

For more information, please contact Kathleen Brow at (212) 854-2717 or events@cjr.org.

Congress (other than Wall Street)

Some news from Congress — other than coping with Wall Street’s greed &utter failure.

Reporters Committee, “House passes ‘libel tourism’ bill,” by Samantha Fredrickson, 9/30/08. H.R. 6146

OnlineMediaDaily, “Congress Passes Broadband Data Improvement Act,” by Tanya Irwin, 9/30/08. S.1492

LibraryJournal.com, “Senate Passes Orphan Works Bill; ‘PRO IP’ Bill Headed to President’s Desk,” by Andrew Albanese, 9/30/08. Orphan works bill: Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act, S.2913; copyright enforcement bill: Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008, S.3325 (aka PRO IP).

Emmy Awards 2008

It was so busy last week that I didn’t have a chance to link to the 60th Primetime Emmys that were held in Los Angeles, Sunday, September 21st. I only watched the last half hour as I was watching the Ruby in the Smoke on Mystery, PBS (not a great mystery but ok if you like costume dramas). Here is a PDF of the press release announcing the winners. Here is a selection of them; I’ve linked to the IC Catalog if we have holdings (seasons are usually cataloged separately).

Entourage (HBO) — consider to purchase…
Damages (FX Networks) (on order)
John Adams (HBO) (on order)
Pushing Daisies (ABC) — we even have the pilot (pie-lette) script
30 Rock (NBC) — just stream it from Hulu
Cranford (PBS) — maybe the Humanities Librarian will purchase
Mad Men (AMC) (on order)
The War (PBS)
The Simpsons (Fox)
This American Life (Showtime) (on order)
Autism: The Musical (HBO)

Much of the news coverage of the event is not glowing (LA Times “The Big Picture” by Goldstein, 9/22 calls it “interminably snoozy”).

There is one glowing report: Dean Lynch noted that Park graduate Nicole Muehlhausen was nominated for 4 regional Emmy awards.

OnlineMediaDaily: Video search wars

Source: OnlineMediaDaily, “Video Search Wars: Truveo claims top spot,” by Tameka Kee, 9/3/0/08.

In the past two years I’ve tried a variety of video search engines. Truveo has worked well in ferreting out news clips and ads. Kee explains that the study was based on the number of sites retrieved (coverage, not relevancy). I’m a little confused that AOL conducted the study – their video search uses Truveo.

Kee also mentions the “newcomer” OVGuide.com will add to the competition. I had not heard of that one. Looks like a Yahoo! interface (good for browsing).

Check out Truveo. The study is not mentioned in their press center (that I can find).

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Couric / Palin Open

Tina Fey won an Emmy. It wasn’t for playing Palin, but hey! I’m starting to enjoy this election season.

more about “Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Couric / …“, posted with vodpod

LibraryNews: Cathy out of the office, Friday through Monday

I’m out of the office Friday, Sept. 26th through Monday, Sept. 29th.  If you need reference help, feel free to contact one of my colleagues at the reference desk. 

Happy Weekend,
Cathy

CJR: The Press & Phil Gramm

Source: Columbia Journalism Review, Campaign Desk, The Audit, “The Press and Phil Gramm: The alternative press leads on the policy roots of the credit crisis,” by Elinore Logobardi, 9/24/08.

If you’re not convinced that the alternative presses are impacting society, read Logobardi’s piece.  Here is her lead:

The alternative press has led the way on the story of Phil Gramm and the policy roots of the financial crisis, beating the mainstream business and other media rather badly about the face and neck.

She examines articles in Mother Jones, The Texas Observer, the Philadelphia Daily News, et al that discussed issues that discussed how Texas Senator Phil Gramm’s legislation would effect finance.

The article also marks the interplay between the main stream media & alternative presses that was mentioned during Josh Marshall’s talk at the Park School. By the way, Dean Lynch blogged the Indy media forum in case you’ve not read.  Here is coverage in The Ithacan by Peter Blanchard, 9/18/08.

Resourceshelf: Media Guides, Factbooks, etc.

Source: Resourceshelf.com, 9/22/08, Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
RE: media guides, factbooks/fact sheets, and press kits

This post by Kennedy highlights the usefulness of online media guides from organizations, groups, and the government.   It is a great lesson for J-students researching a topic or a PR student representing such a group or agency.  Click here to peruse the examples.

Ad Council: Ride, don’t drive campaign

from adcouncilcreative.org: “If everyone drove 10 fewer miles per week, we would prevent the same amount of global warming-carbon dioxide pollution that is emitted by producing electricity for 8 million homes. Created by Ogilvy New York, this new online video is a compelling call for Americans to “ride, don’t drive” to help save the planet. Campaign Website: www.fightglobalwarming.com Official Sponsor Name: Environmental Defense Fund”

more about “Polar Bear : Fight Global Warming - E…“, posted with vodpod

Reporters Committee: Abu Ghraib photos, Cheney records

Source: reporters committee news, “Abu Ghraib photos must finally be released,” 9/22/08 by Corinna Zarek.

Quote from Zarek’s article:

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan (2nd Cir.) affirmed a 2006 district court order that dismissed the government’s arguments that privacy rights of the soldiers and detainees in the images would be violated — noting the redactions in the form of black bars over the subjects’ faces — and agreed that any potential damage caused by the release of the photos was “far too speculative” to justify their withholding.

ACLU v. DOD, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 20074 (available via LexisNexis Academic subscribers, members of IC).

Also of interest: “Cheney must preserve all records,” by Jordan Zappala, 9/22/08. They refer to Christopher Lee’s Washington Post article, “Cheney is told to keep official records: Judge’s order responds to suit filed by open-government advocates, historians,” 9/21/08.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, et. al. v. Richard B. Cheney, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71359 (available via LexisNexis Academic subscribers, members of IC).