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Media Scope
Activists Launch New FightPublic Interest/Public Airwaves Coalition takes fight to NAB.It was dubbed a guerrilla news conference -- a band of media-reform activists fighting for headlines inside its enemy's temporary campgrounds. Leaders of the Public Interest/Public Airwaves Coalition showed up at last week's convention of the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas and demanded that the Federal Communications Commission impose new public service rules as the TV industry converts to digital transmission. Digital broadcasting enables six or more channels to be simultaneously transmitted, or multicast, over the same frequency that accommodates only one analog signal. That means local TV stations could program six separate stations and sell six times as many commercials. But to maximize that potential -- "Nothing short of a rebirth of the over-the-air broadcast service," says the NAB's top officer --broadcasters are lobbying the FCC to order local cable providers to carry all locally programmed digital channels."Predictably, the cable industry is fighting multicasting," the president and chief executive officer of the NAB, Edward O. Fritts, said April 19 in convening the convention. "I can understand cable not wanting competition," he allowed. "What is baffling is why the FCC has not yet embraced the notion of more competition to cable and more public service programming for consumers -- all free of charge. To the cable companies, we say, ÔPick up our signals and pick up the pace of progress.' To the FCC, we ask respectfully: "Please make a decision on cable DTV carriage, and let's get on with it.'"Not so fast, countered the Public Interest/Public Airwaves Coalition at its April 20 guerrilla news conference. "We are here to say to broadcasters, 'You can do better,'" said Celia Wexler, vice president of Common Cause, a founding partner in the coalition. "We are here to present to broadcasters a new vision of television, one that permits their news staffs and producers to use their creativity to connect their audiences to their local, state and national governments, and to engage viewers in lively discussions and debates about issues they care about."The media-reform activists want the FCC to require that licensed broadcasters carry three hours every week of "civic or electoral affairs programming on their most-watched primary channel as well as independently produced programming for 25% of the primary channel's prime-time schedule."The coalition pointed out that Congress gave licensed broadcasters digital TV licenses in 1996 that the FCC then valued at $70 billion."Broadcasters are now lobbying the FCC for a massive new federal giveaway that will force cable operators to give them preferential access. Despite this free gift of digital beach-front property, the broadcast lobby opposes any call for a policy on public interest programming," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, also a member of the coalition.In response, the NAB's Fritts said, broadcasters already provide "$9.9 billion a year in public service announcements and funds raised for local charities and disaster relief. That $9.9 billion is worth more in public service than the top 100 foundations combined."During his appearance at the NAB convention, FCC Chairman Michael T. Powell said he is "not averse to the commission's considering new public-interest obligations" for broadcasters, although he offered no specifics. "My personal view is that government should be reluctant to regulate content for anybody," Powell added.(Howard Stern could not be reached for comment.)In early April, Clear Channel sold stations in New Castle, Pa., for $2.85 million (to read story, click here)."