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Monday, November 28
The Week in Media
by
Arron Wings
on Mon 28 Nov 2005 11:00 AM CST
 The Week in Media
Men.Style.Com/GQ
Sinclair Broadcast Group receives another lengthy review. If you haven’t yet read the great piece from Le Monde, you should. Now, GQ provides another view of the same phenomenon.
By Wil S. Hyton
Chances
are you’ve never heard of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sure, it might be
the largest independent owner of television stations in America, an
empire of sixty channels spread across thirty-seven cities with a
signal that reaches nearly a quarter of the TV-watching public, but
even if you happen to receive that signal and watch it every night,
getting your Sinclair news and Sinclair weather and Sinclair commentary
from a Sinclair station, chances are you’ve still never heard of
Sinclair and have no idea you’re watching it.
You won’t see the word Sinclair on your screen, and you’ll probably
just think you’re watching ABC or CBS or NBC, whichever network you
thought you tuned in. Right there on the screen, you’ll see the old
familiar logo—a peacock, an eye, the ABC bubble—and the anchors will
look the same as ever, and the fact that the station has been purchased
by Sinclair will be no more apparent than the fact that twenty or
thirty minutes into the program, the real news will suddenly fade to
black and Sinclair’s news will take over.
It may be a glowing interview with a defense contractor or a fiery
commentary on the evils of the French, something brief and punchy
lasting two or ten or fourteen minutes, then slipping back into the
regular news as quietly as it came. Not so much as a blip or a bleep to
let you know that what you just witnessed was not the local NBC or CBS
broadcast but just a little insert from the guys who own the station.
That’s the goal at Sinclair: to be seen without being seen.
(click here to read the entire article)
(Click here to listen to the latest FreePress Media Minute)
(Click here to find out if your station is owned by Sinclair)
 Click here to sign our petition to the FCC
Iowans for Better Local TV: The Time To Act Is Now
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 28 Nov 2005 04:00 AM CST
Iowans for Better Local TV:
The Time To Act Is Now
IBLTV.Org
Iowans for Better Local Television, Iowa's grassroots media reform group, is now leading an effort to ask the FCC to hold a hearing to review whether Iowans
are being well-served by our Sinclair-owned station KGAN. This
year, all of Iowa's TV stations are up for license renewal which
provides a rare opportunity for the public to have input. We must
act now, because the next license renewal is eight long years away.
IBLTV
has spent the past year getting organized and taking action.
After joining with the successful , nation-wide Sinclair advertiser
boycott last fall, IBLTV co-sponsored the successful FCC Town Meeting on the Future of Media in October which drew over 500 Iowans. IBLTV has also met with Congressman Leach,
published columns in newspapers, made appearances on radio and
TV, and has even drawn the attention of national media with a feature
story in the broadcast industry publication, Broadcasting and Cable magazine.
Here is what we are asking you to do:
(1) Sign our on-line signature petition asking the FCC for a meaningful license review. Just click here: "Sign the IBLTV Petition." If everyone takes this quick, simple action, it will help us enormously to demonstrate citizen support for this effort.
(2) Please let us know if you have a personal anecdote that illustrates
an example of how you feel our Sinclair-owned station has not served
the public interest.
P.S. Like all organizations we need members and financial
support. It is not a condition of your participation in this
project. But if you are able and willing please consider joining IBLTV.
Our group is focused on ACTION, not sitting around and
complaining. If you would like to get more involved in
media reform, there are many oopportunities available. Bring your
ideas! You can sign up to be on IBLTV's online discussion group
by contacting us at feedback@ibltv.org.
Even small contributions help. You can make checks payable to: IBLTV, PO BOX 578, Iowa City, Iowa 52242. (Donate $25 and receive a bonus gift, the DVD Outfoxed while supplies last)!
IBLTV would like to thank you for your concern about media issues and
we appreciate whatever you can do. Please feel free to contact us
at: feedback@ibltv.org.
Saturday, November 26
How Things Work in Washington
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 26 Nov 2005 11:00 AM CST
 How Things Work in Washington
Consortium News
It
is sadly ironic that Bob Woodward, who in his early career was a
role model for investigative journalists, appears now to have been
corrupted by power and Washington politics.
By Robert Parry
In his book, Secrecy & Privilege,
Robert Parry tracks how the Washington press corps changed from the
Watergate/Vietnam era of the 1970s, when journalists took some pride in
challenging the powerful, to the Iraq War, when many national news
outlets cowered and fawned before a White House that equated skepticism
with disloyalty.
This
gradual but unmistakable shift in the ethos of Washington journalism
marked a hard-fought victory for conservatives who invested billions of
dollars over the past three decades in building a media/political
machine for gaining as much control as possible of the information
flowing through the nation’s capital to the American people.
Journalists
who bucked the trend confronted ugly attacks from right-wing media
“watchdogs,” almost inevitable betrayal by news executives, and dashed
careers. Journalists who played along were rewarded with fame, money
and access.
Today, no
journalist personifies this transformation more than Washington Post
assistant managing editor Bob Woodward, who made his name unraveling
Richard Nixon’s Watergate cover-up but now has been caught misleading
the public while protecting the Bush administration’s cover-up of a
scheme to smear an Iraq War critic.
(click here to read the entire article)
Sign our petition to the FCC
Sign now...Time is running out!
Sunday, November 20
A Media Monster Is Eating the Dems
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 20 Nov 2005 01:54 PM CST
 A Media Monster Is Eating the Dems
by Flavia Monteiro Colgan, AlterNet.org
The
ever-consolidating news media in this country is not only destroying
political discourse, it's favoring the right-wing over Democrats.
Recent momentous news about the continuing elimination of variety in our news sources has gotten scant coverage.
First,
it was announced that Village Voice Media intended to merge with the
New Times papers. The Voice was, for years, a dependable independent
news source available not only in New York, but in major cities
everywhere, while its sister papers independently covered local news in
four other areas....
And,
just days ago, it was reported that Knight Ridder, the publisher of 32
newspapers, including the Daily News and the Inquirer, will likely go
up for sale, and the vultures are circling. Gannett, a likely suitor,
already owns 99 daily papers.
This is
a trend not just in print, but in broadcast and even the Internet.
Today, 90 percent of the top 50 cable stations are owned by the same
conglomerates that own the top networks, where more than 80 percent of
prime-time viewing is dominated by these same five media giants. They
also own the top 20 Internet news sites! And it's only going to get
worse.
Media
consolidation eats away at the fabric of democracy, which, as Josh
Silver, executive director of Free Press, a nonpartisan media reform
group, points out, "demands an informed citizenry with access to a
variety of voices and viewpoints."
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Monday, November 14
This Week in Media
by
Arron Wings
on Mon 14 Nov 2005 11:00 AM CST
This Week in Media
The news
this week included nominations for Commissioners to the FCC, indecency,
low power community radio service and a sex discrimination complaint
against Fox News. Also a new book on the ongoing attempt to discredit and
emasculate the media. Details below.
The White House announced nominations of Michael Copps and Deborah Tate to the FCC. Stories here, here and here.
A report of Indecency Complaints to the FCC was released and Chairman Martin offered his thoughts on the topic.
The FCC
is now accepting public comment on a petition to create low power AM
radio stations similar to those currently available on FM.
Fox is a defendant in a sex discrimination suit filed by the EEOC.
A review
of the book Attack the Messenger: How Politicians Turn You Against the Media by
Congressional Quarterly columnist Craig Crawford.
Click here for the audio weekly summary Media Minutes from Free Press.
Monday, November 7
This Week in Media
by
Arron Wings
on Mon 07 Nov 2005 11:00 AM CST
This Week in Media
Another week of action for those concerned with the state of the media in this
country. The battlegrounds are ownership rules, the transition to
Digital TV, and the broadcasting company that is owned by US, the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The biggest news has to be the resignation of Kenneth Tomlinson from
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board. It was first
thought that his resignation
was caused by an upcoming Inspector
General report on his efforts as the Chair of CPB to impose his
partisan agenda at PBS and NPR. It then was learned he is now
under investigation for misusing funds and hiring "ghost employees" as
Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors — which oversees Voice
of America, Radio Free Europe, TV Marti and other "public diplomacy"
programs. Here is the short version by Free Press and the long version by the New
York Times.
The issues for Digital TV this week are broadcast flags, indecency, and the date for stations to
complete conversion. In addition,
the FCC announced a notice of proposed rule making regarding the
franchising process for multi-channel video providers. They also extended the
emergency alert system to digital TV stations, and modified the
DTV-tuner mandate to cover TV sets smaller than 13 inches.
The battle over ownership rules is still in its early stages, but public interest groups are beginning to define the issues.
And lastly, an important event that didn’t happen - the
almost total absence of media coverage of the GAO report identifying
serious flaws in the 2004 election and our voting process in general.
The MP3 version of Media Minutes from Free Press is here.
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