October 25, 2007

Collected and Edited by Rick Kaempfer






Obama calls on FCC Chairman Martin to slow down on ownership review
(Broadcasting & Cable) John Eggerton writes: "Presidential candidate and Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama wants Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin to take a series of intermediary steps before making the leap to rewrite media-ownership rules, saying that not to do so would be irresponsible. In a letter to Martin Monday, the senator asked the FCC chairman to 'reconsider your proposed timeline, put out any specific change to the rules for public comment and review, move to establish an independent panel on minority and small-business media ownership and complete a proceeding on the responsibilities that broadcasters have to the communities in which they operate.' The letter came in response to the news last week that Martin had come up with a timetable for moving forward on the congressionally and court-mandated rule review, planning to put out his own proposals for media ownership rules Nov. 13, then letting the public comment for four weeks before holding a mid-November vote on the changes."


NAB Asks FCC to Lift Ban, Ease Ownership Restrictions
(Radio Online) (Rick's note: They're getting panicky the public will revolt again...and we will.) NAB filed comments today on the ten research studies regarding media ownership conducted for and by the Commission for its pending quadrennial broadcast ownership review. Overall, NAB says, the new studies are consistent with other surveys of the media marketplace, including several previous Commission ownership studies, and "support the case for reforming outmoded ownership restrictions that only apply to local broadcast stations."


Post's Kurtz is getting a bum rap (well, mostly)
(Marketwatch) Jon Friedman writes: "Sometimes I think American media critics are a petty and self-righteous bunch in search of a slogan. Judging by some of the reactions to Howard Kurtz's new book, Reality Show, I'll suggest this one: We eat our own. Kurtz, the dean of media critics, is getting a bum rap -- mostly -- from the people who should understand his work the best. He has written a good old-fashioned page-turner about the rivalry among the big three TV news anchors, filled with revealing anecdotes. (I especially got a kick out of reading that Tom Brokaw, NBC's longtime anchor, had invited Jon Stewart, "the Mort Sahl of their era," to participate in the network's election coverage.)"


Media myths about the Jena 6
(Christian Science Monitor) Craig Franklin writes: "By now, almost everyone in America has heard of Jena, La., because they've all heard the story of the "Jena 6." White students hanging nooses barely punished, a schoolyard fight, excessive punishment for the six black attackers, racist local officials, public outrage and protests – the outside media made sure everyone knew the basics. There's just one problem: The media got most of the basics wrong. In fact, I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts, and journalists abdicated their solemn duty to investigate every claim because they were seduced by a powerfully appealing but false narrative of racial injustice."


Ignoring Ann Coulter is a plan that won't work
(Chicago Tribune) Leonard Pitts writes: "I already know what's going to happen after I write this column. Someone is going to say, why did you waste space condemning the latest drivel from the mouth of Ann Coulter? Don't you know she only says these outrageous things to promote her books? Why reward her with attention? The argument is not without merit. Coulter plays the news media like Louis Armstrong played his cornet. She is a virtuoso of stage-managed controversy. So there's something to be said for refusing to play along, for ignoring her in the hope that she will go away. But some things only fester and grow in the dark. Some things use silence as assent."


Rick Reilly leaves SI for big bucks, ESPN
(Bloomberg) Columnist Rick Reilly left Sports Illustrated for ESPN, less than a week after former ESPN announcer Dan Patrick was hired by Sports Illustrated. Reilly, whose ``Life of Reilly'' column was featured weekly on the Time Inc.-owned magazine's back page, will have a column in the same spot in ``ESPN The Magazine'' and be a regular writer on ESPN.com under a multiyear agreement, the Walt Disney Co. cable sports network said in a news release. He'll also be an essayist for ESPN's SportsCenter television show and contribute to the network's coverage of major golf events.


Poll Tries to Measure Colbert Effect
(Washington Post) Chris Cillizza writes: "A Republican polling firm, recently completed a national poll of 1,000 likely 2008 voters that included Colbert's name in both the GOP and Democratic primaries. (He has announced his plans to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.) In the field from Oct. 18-21, the survey has a 5 percent margin of error. In the Democratic primary, Colbert takes 2.3 percent of the vote -- good for fifth place behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (40 percent), Sen. Barack Obama (19 percent), former Sen. John Edwards (12 percent) and Sen. Joe Biden (2.7 percent. Colbert finished ahead of Gov. Bill Richardson (2.1 percent), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (2.1 percent) and former Sen. Mike Gravel (less than 1 percent). He was less lucky in the Republican field, where he took less than 1 percent of the vote behind even longshot candidates like Reps. Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani led the Republican field with 29 percent, followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney at 12 percent, former Sen. Fred Thompson (11 percent) and Sen. John McCain (10 percent)."


With deadline on menu, WGA sets table for strike 2
(Hollywood Reporter) Carl DiOrio writes: "Another day, another strike authorization. With a contract deadline looming in the WGA's film and TV talks with studios and networks, the guild Monday scheduled a separate strike-authorization vote by WGA newswriters. The move -- involving 500 members whose CBS contract expired more than 2 1/2 years ago -- follows Friday's announcement that WGA members had authorized a possible strike by screenwriters and primetime broadcast scribes."


Sam Zell Speaks at Inland Conference, Slams That Guy Nero
(Editor & Publisher) Why, someone asked Sam Zell, at the Inland Press Association's annual meeting in Chicago on Monday afternoon, would the real estate mogul want to buy Tribune Company, "a 10-times leveraged newspaper company?" Zell, who is leading the $8.2 billion deal to take Tribune private, didn't miss a beat. "Because," he said. "I don't view it as a 10-leveraged company. I view it as 61 different entities -- each with a wonderful opportunity to get lucky."



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