Beware of the Open Mike – Off-Air Comments that End Up On the Air Can Lead to Indecency Issues

By David Oxenford on Indecency

According to a recent article from the Des Moines Register, a station in Iowa recently fired two employees who, during what they thought was a break in programming, got into a heated, profanity-laden exchange which, luck would have it, ended up on the air as their mikes were live.  Fearing an FCC fine, the station owner fired the duo, hoping to mitigate any fine that the FCC might impose.  We will have to wait to see what impact the employers action will have on any action the FCC might take.  But the action demonstrates two things – first, mistakes happen and will happen whenever there is live programming.  Even clear station policies that absolutely ban such actions and make clear that they are a firing offense (as were apparently in place here) can’t stop human beings from messing up.  Second, the case reminds all on-air employees that they need to respect a microphone, and need to assume that a mike that can pick up sounds is in fact doing so.  Even Presidents seem to have had problems remembering that fact, but these live-mike slip ups can lead to FCC indecency fines.

The action also reminds us that, with the new administration now in place, we don’t know how the new FCC will enforce the indecency policy.  We are waiting for decisions on several court appeals of FCC indecency cases, and on the appointment of new FCC Commissioners.  Until we see the decisions in those cases, and find out who the new Commissioners are and how aggressively they want to enforce the rules, we will likely not know how cases like this one will be treated in the next few years.

Radio Industry Revenues Expected To Remain Low in 2009

A report from BIA forecasts radio’s revenue potential in the coming years, and while the economy looks bleak, there are bright spots. BIA says that small and mid-size markets are performing better and that income from digital sources is quickly proving itself to be a part of radio’s future.

According to BIA Advisory Services’ first edition of its quarterly Investing In Radio Market Report, 2008 closed with $16.7 billion in revenues (including online revenues), a decline of 8.5 percent from 2007. However, BIA’s data indicates that markets that are 51 and over were down only an average of 6.6 percent. BIA’s research also charts that the industry had online revenues of $247 million in 2008, up $67 million from 2007. Online revenue will increase an average of $132 million a year through 2013, a clear demonstration that as radio transforms into a cross-platform medium leveraging its local advertisers it will boost its revenues significantly. BIA predicts that the industry will start a slight positive trajectory beginning in 2011.

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In 2009 the top 50 markets will see revenue declines in the 11 percent range, while mid-sized and small markets (ranked 51 and higher), such as Grand Junction, CO, Grand Forks, ND-MN, and Odessa-Midland, TX will be slightly lower at 9.64 percent. BIA sees the smaller markets as continuing to provide services to their local advertisers and maintaining their presence in the local media marketplace.

Source

It’s Sunshine Week, Have you filed your FOIA today?

An open and transparent government is essential to any democracy. That’s why we are celebrating Sunshine Week – to raise awareness about access to public information and government accountability.

Sunshine Week
Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include everyone interested in the public’s right to know. This includes print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others .

Anyone can be a part of Sunshine Week. In the first two national Sunshine Weeks, not only journalists, but also students, teachers, private citizens, librarians, civic leaders, public officials, bloggers, non-profit groups were involved.

The extent to which you participate is up to you. The only requirement is that you do something to engage in a discussion about the importance of open government. Participation is not about how much you do; it’s about doing it.

It is ever so important that we stay vigilant and aware of the state of our access to public records. The Obama administration has made a pledge to bring back the Freedom of Information Act and transparency in government. This reverses the last administration’s restrictions on Freedom of Information Act requests as well as changes to the Presidential Records Act..

The sun doesn’t always shine, however, as a recent court rejected a FOIA claim regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Act. A request filed by various public-interest groups asking that details of the ACTA be revealed to the public has been denied by an official of the Office of the US Trade Representative. Knowledge Ecology International made seven document requests, all of which were denied “in the interest of national security.”

Here in the Rogue Valley we are fortunate to have the Oregon Public Records Laws which guarantees public access to the public records of government bodies at all levels in Oregon. Locally we have invested in a technical infrastructure that allows more transparency through our government websites and listservs. Through Rogue Valley Television we have our county and local meetings broadcast live to our living rooms.

As important as it is to tune into City Council meetings, it is just as crucial to attend them in person to show our councilors we are paying attention. We must be diligent and demand that our public records and meetings remain transparent. For example, in Medford, recent renovations have relocated public meetings into rooms that have no CCTV access. Critical meetings, such as the Communication Advisory Committee, are not getting the coverage that the community deserves. It is important that we attend these meetings as members of the public and independent press.

In Southern Oregon, a great opportunity to participate and learn more is the 5th annual Independent Media Week where we showcase our coalition of independent media producers, local activists and community groups organized around the theme that “A well-informed citizenry is a cornerstone of democracy”

We are proud to have the commitment of Peter Phillips director of Project Censored, to be the keynote speaker and highlight of the week’s events. Project Censored’s principal objective is the advocacy for and protection of First Amendment rights and the freedom of information in the United States.

The event with Peter Phillips is planned for April 24 at Southern Oregon University, Student Union in the Rogue River Room starting at 7 pm. You can find out more about Independent Media Week 2009 at http://www.kskq.org/imw/

For more information about Sunshine Week and ways you can participate. http://www.sunshineweek.org

Here are some additional links and resources help you be more informed. Please feel free to add to this list…

Here is a great resource to help you apply for a FOIA request on your FBI file…Also works for CIA, NSA, DIA, etc.
http://wwww.getmyfbifile.com/

Rogue Valley Community Television provides government access television services for the City of Ashland, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Medford, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, Josephine County Board of Commissioners. Ashland School District, Oregon Department of Transportation and the Rogue Valley Transporation District. Government services generally include live televised government meetings, live studio shows of topics of interest and other media productions.
http://roguetv.org/Page.asp?NavID=5

The Jackson County Website Video & TV Center provides access to live public meetings, recorded broadcasts and educational videos.
http://www.co.jackson.or.us/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=136

The Archived City Records contain a complete list of all City Documents, including Contracts, Agreements, Deeds and Easements. Also contained in this folder are Ordinances, Resolutions, City Council Minutes/Packets and Minutes for the various Commissions and Committees.
http://records.ashland.or.us/

This list is an unmoderated membership list that allows citizens of the Rogue Valley to submit comments to the Ashland City Council and each other.
http://list.ashland.or.us/mailman/listinfo/comment_to_the_council

In Medford, the Communications Advisory Committee was established to review all comment cards and determine if complaints and problems have been addressed. Review quarterly reports of activities of Community Service Officers. Review any departmental procedures that have resulted in repeated complaints and make recommendations to City Council regarding the need for policy change. Track all complaints about employee conduct and report the status of the complaints to the City Council. Listen to oral comments and complaints from citizens and suggest appropriate avenues for resolution of these matters.
http://www.ci.medford.or.us/CCBIndex.asp?CCBID=40

Finally, I want to draw your attention to an article that demonstrates the critical importance that citizens act as watchdogs. The article, “Internal Affairs: How They Cover up Police Abuse” explores the consistency and pervasiveness of the cover up of police misconduct by Internal Affairs. The article focuses on Internal Affairs in Medford, Oregon. This is the kind of story that the mainstream media would ignore as it requires months of investigation, interviews and stepping on toes…

http://rogueimc.org/en/2009/01/14517.shtml

Sun doesn’t shine on ACTA as court rejects FOIA claim

A request filed by various public-interest groups asking that details of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Act be revealed to the public has been denied by an official of the Office of the US Trade Representative. Knowledge Ecology International made seven document requests, all of which were denied “in the interest of national security.”

Society’s vital networks prone to ‘explosive’ changes

US computer scientists have found that random networks – the mathematical description for networks we experience everyday in forms such as the internet and global flight connections – have the potential for extreme behaviour never seen before.

Click Here to Read More…

Revealing the People Powering Social Media

Appeals court refuses to unmask anonymous donut shop critics

A Maryland Appeals Court has overturned a lower ruling that would have unveiled the identity of three anonymous Internet commenters due to a technicality in the discovery process. Still, the judges offer advice on how trial courts should handle the situation in the future by respecting the First Amendment rights of the posters in question.

Read the story here

News orgs must reassess why they are using social media, says Ben Hammersley

from Journalism.co.uk

Media can either aggregate cheap and plentiful content to draw in a mass audience or opt for high quality content, which pulls in fewer but more valuable people for advertisers, says Hammersley.

Wired, which launches in the UK next month, will opt for the latter. With at least five 8,000-word articles in each monthly issue, the Conde Nast title will bring a new kind of long-form, literary journalism to the UK strongly influenced by the US’ Vanity Fair, Esquire and New Yorker style, he adds.

“Everything in the middle [between aggregation and high quality] will die away and you’re going to see that in every industry, which is why we’re launching a big glossy magazine in the middle of a recession,” he says.

Read the story HERE…

Free Alternative to Facebook

A neat free software alternative to facebook is crabgrass (https://we.riseup.net/crabgrass/about).

It’s a social networking application designed with grassroots organizing in mind. Using crabgrass involves a slightly higher learning curve than using an email account, but it has some nice tools for collaborative decision-making, task lists, etc. It’s still under development, so a lot more tools are in the works. And, of course, it’s free software, so if you want a feature that’s not there yet, you can help create it.

Forget Micropayments — Here’s a Far Better Idea for Monetizing Content

While Time magazine and others claim the answer lies in asking readers to pay in small increments, that model will only hasten newspapers’ death spiral. Instead, consider what may prove to be the solution: a California start-up called Kachingle.

Read the Article… Click Here