The Telecommunications Act of 1996 marked a major shift in the way the Federal Communications Commision, or FCC, deals with media ownership. Among its changes, the Act allowed companies to own more than one radio station within a local market and removed a limit on national radio marketshare. The result was more than 1,000 radio mergers within one year.

Since 1996, the FCC has continued on its course of deregulating media ownership. In 2003, the agency attempted its most dramatic deregulation yet, allowing cross-media ownership. That is, owning broadcast and print media within the same local market. But after a federal court struck down many of the deregulations (and the Supreme Court refused to hear multiple appeals), the FCC was told to revisit its reasoning behind relaxing its media ownership rules.

Now, the FCC appears to be ready to try this again. Chairman Kevin J. Martin has announced that he wants a vote on cross-media deregulation in the next two months.

The last time the FCC tried this, it was flooded with 3,000,000 public comments against the rule change, it went ahead with it anyway and a federal court threw out the new rules.

What will happen this time?

More on:
FCC’s new plans for deregulation here.
Promethius Radio Group (anti-deregulation activist group that won its case against the FCC’s 2003 rules) here.
Hey, I wrote a paper about the FCC and the public interest in grad school! It’s right here.

politics, podcasts, media | 1 Comment »

This week, we’ve got both net neutrality and the Patriot Act under fire, plus an airline sacrificing goats. Those go together seamlessly.

More on:
Justice Department says no to net neutrality here.
Federal Court rules Patriot Act statute unconstitutional here.
No peaches for the Treasurer here.
Southwest Airlines fashion police here.
Airline sacrifices goat here.

podcasts, week in review, terrorism, technology | No Comments »

The GAO (Government Accountability Office) announced its latest findings on Iraq yesterday. Its conclusion: things are basically negative in Iraq, and security hasn’t shown any marked improvement since “the surge” began. Not only are the Ministry of the Interior and the Baghdad police force plagued by “dysfunction,” the report says, the level of violence across the country has not decreased.

But military officials in Iraq disagree. They say that the GAO’s report does not include the most recent data, which does show a measureable decrease in sectarian violence.

So are we ever going to get a straight answer to these issues, or will opposing sides continue to discount the other’s findings?

More on:
Petraeus interviewed by Couric here.
Military officials in Iraq disagree with GAO here.
Why different people are coming up with different numbers here.
President Bush thinks “we’re kicking ass” here.

politics, Iraq, podcasts | No Comments »

We all know about the largely reported stories this week: The GAO’s less than stellar assessment of the situation in Iraq, Nawaz Sharif’s impending return to General Mr. Musharraf’s Pakistan, and - gasp! - Burning Man’s premature burning. We even got nonstop obsession with Miss Teen South Carolina (who, by the way, is of course milking it for all she can).

But chances are you missed these stories: the first reporter is allowed inside the Terrorist Screening Center, dogs hunt down pirated DVDs, and graffiti for the blind.

More on:
NPR story on the Terrorist Screening Center here.
DVD-sniffing dogs here.
Braille Graffiti project (with video) here.

(audio clip from Dr. Strangelove)

podcasts, week in review, terrorism, technology, art | No Comments »

Five months ago, it came to light that the chief anti-corruption official in Afghanistan has a less reputable past as a heroin dealer here in the U.S.

On monday of this week, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released a report showing unprecedented levels of opium production and political corruption in Afghanistan.

Hmmmm, might there be a connection here?

More on:
United Nations Office on drugs and Crime here.
U.S. reacts to report by calling the situation “very serious” here.
Guardian Unlimited article on heroin dealer chief Afghan anti-corruption official Izzatullah Wasifi here.

(audio clip from the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)

politics, podcasts, drugs | No Comments »

It’s a legal roundup for this week’s Week in Review. We’ve got spies, security theater, and more.

More on:
Interview with National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell here.
More info on the Pentagon’s TALON database here. Website for the DoD’s Counterintelligence Field Activity, which uses TALON, here.
No pudding for you, here.
Teen prosecuted for recording 20 seconds of a movie here.
AltLaw beta site here.

podcasts, week in review, terrorism, TSA | No Comments »

Earlier this month, officials announced that the Columbian Navy had confiscated a 65-foot submarine, suspected of being used to sneak cocaine into the United States.

It seems this has actually become somewhat of a trend in recent years. With the U.S. military patrolling the skies and open ocean, it seems that the logical place to go is down.

more on:
Columbia seizes submarine here.
U.S. Air Force’s efforts to fight cocaine trafficking here.
Another submarine caught, this one with drugs on-board, here.

podcasts, drugs | No Comments »

Late last week, the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, announced a settlement that the federal governement had reached in a suit brought against it by Jeff and Nicole Rank.

Three years ago, the Ranks attended a public rally for President Bush. They’re not supporters of the President, and wore homemade t-shirts to prove it. They were quickly escorted away in handcuffs and charged with trespassing.

The Ranks followed with a civil suit, which was dropped after the agreement was reached last week. During the case, the Administration admitted to a policy of hiding dissent from cameras and microphones, by use of anti-demonstration “rally squads.”

So, is $80,000 worth your right to express your opinion?

More on:
ABC News video from 2004 election showing that both parties are guilty of stifling dissent here.
AP story on the settlement between the Ranks and the federal government here.
The Presidential Advance Manual, which gives instructions to “rally squads” as how to best hide demonstrators from view, here (courtesy of the ACLU).

(the audio clip in today’s story is from an interview given by Jeff Rank at the 2006 ACLU Membership Conference. Hear him tell the story of what happened here.

politics, podcasts | No Comments »

While stories such as Karl Rove’s resignation and the conviction of terrorism-suspect Jose Padilla dominated the news this week, there are some low-reported yet interesting research studies that were recently released. They each throw a monkey wrench into the way we perceive certain issues. Namely: Iraq, military safety and the news.

More on:
Study on shifting Iraqi attitudes here.
Comparing the security danger of official military websites and millogs here. Full documentation from the Electronic Frontier Foundation here.
Gasp! Americans like hard news here.

politics, Iraq, podcasts, media, week in review, religion | No Comments »

If U.S. troops want to play a video game in which they convert or kill non-Christians, they’ll just have to get it themselves.

After pressure from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Department of Defense has shut down an evangelical group’s plan to send free copies of its video game to American soldiers serving in Iraq.

“Left Behind: Eternal Forces” is a PC-based role-playing game, in which your mission is to convert non-believers and kill the Antichrist’s army. The group planning to send the game overseas, Operation Straight Up, is an evangelical entertainment group whose leaders include champion kickboxer Jonathan Spinks and actor Stephen Baldwin.

More on:
“Left Behind: Eternal Forces” here.
Operation Straight UP here.
Max Blumenthal breaks the story here.
Department of Defense cancels the plan here.
Military Religious Freedom Foundation here.

Iraq, podcasts, technology, religion | No Comments »