Grumpy Editor

FCC shelves controversial plan to snoop on newsrooms

Most broadcast/print media --- finally hearing alarm bells last week --- were slow to recognize a long-in-the-works Federal Communications Commission proposal that would dispatch “researchers” to monitor newsrooms even though the snooping plan surfaced nine months ago but gained major attention after a Feb. 10 warning by Ajit Pai, Republican commissioner with the FCC, who penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece, observes Grumpy Editor.

Pai, a lawyer, noted the plan posed great danger to the First Amendment and could be used in “pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.”  Following Pai’s revealing op-ed, many journalists and radio/TV talk show hosts termed the plan an attempt by the White House to rein in the media.  Also shedding light on the dangers of newsroom monitoring was the American Center for Law and Justice.

After a barrage of broadcast and print criticism, federal officials on Friday released a one-page statement that the “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN, has been suspended.  The study had been set to begin this year in Columbia, S.C.  (However, media in that city said the monitoring plan was news to them.) 

The CIN initiative included surveying media markets to determine how different demographics get news.  It also called for interviews with media owners and editorial staffers on how their newsrooms operate. 

Similar to discussions in an editorial meeting, the FCC planned to quiz editors and reporters on how they determine stories to cover and how they should be presented, along with asking reporters about rejected stories deemed important and reasons for the rejections. 

Among suggested questions: "What is the news philosophy of the station?" and "How much does community input influence news coverage decisions?"

Veteran journalists regarded this as an initial interrogation step in an attempt to control and intimidate the media. 

Ten months ago, unknown to most media, a 78-page “Research Design for the Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs” was prepared for the FCC by Social Solutions International, Inc., Silver Spring, Md., which describes itself as “a research and evaluation firm dedicated to the creation of social and health solutions to improve the welfare of underserved populations worldwide.”

Richard Zaragosa, whose Washington law firm represents the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations, cautioned that the suspension does not mean the FCC will not proceed later with the snooping plan. 

“Our reading … suggests that they have postponed the survey until it can be reworked, not that they canceled it entirely and permanently,” he pointed out.

 

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WHITE HOUSE PRESS CAMERAS SHELVED AGAIN.  White House photographers were grumbling again on Friday when locked out from President Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.  Only a handout photo was provided after the “closed press” event.  Some news outlets, including USA Today have nixed using handout photos. 

KERRY LOOKS SKYWARD.  Secretary of State John Kerry turned “climatologist” and raised eyebrows with a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, declaring climate change is perhaps the worlds’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. 

AVOID CRIME, STAY AWAY FROM HOT SUN.  Equally strange were amazing, crystal ball precise forecasts the Los Angeles Times gleaned from a study published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management that high temperatures are likely to produce more crime.  Between 2010 and 2099, it pinpointed “climate change can be expected to cause an additional 22,000 murders, 180,000 cases of rape, 1.2 million aggravated assaults, 2.3 million simple assaults, 260,000 robberies, 1.3 million burglaries, 2.2 million cases of larceny and 580,000 cases of vehicle theft.”  (Of course, not many of us will be around in 85 years to check on the study's accuracy at the end of the century.  Hopefully, The Times has put a note in its future file --- for 2099 --- for a follow-up.  Also, the crime/high temperature factor portends it being rather dangerous to visit or live in places such as Palm Springs, Phoenix and Las Vegas during simmering periods.)  

FILM AT 11?  CBS in Miami reported media organizations, including Associated Press and CNN, petitioned a Miami/Dade court for access to videos that reportedly show singer-songwriter-actor-musician Justin Bieber "during the time he was asked to provide a urine sample to Miami Beach Police as part of his DUI arrest” last month.

Media jump on single Tesla fire, skip major Toyota recalls

Media were excited last week reporting on a single, non-injury Tesla Motors Model S fire in a garage in Canada while most ignored two major Toyota Motors recalls --- two days apart --- involving 261,114 Toyota and Lexus brands in the U.S., 713,000 Prius vehicles in North America (1.9 million worldwide) plus 260,000 other vehicles in the U.S., including the RAV4, Tacoma and Lexus RX350 models, notes Grumpy Editor.

The fire involving Tesla’s electric car in Toronto occurred shortly after the driver parked it in a garage.  The vehicle reportedly wasn’t plugged in for recharging. 

A spokesperson for Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla said: 

“In this particular case, we don’t yet know the precise cause, but have definitively determined that it did not originate in the battery, the charging system, the adapter or the electrical receptacle, as these components were untouched by the fire.” 

Interestingly, Toronto Star editors on Friday ran a Bloomberg story --- with a Los Angeles dateline --- updating the Tesla fire in a Toronto garage rather than putting one of its staffers on the local happening. 

In “localizing” the story, Star editors changed Canada (last word in the Bloomberg lead) to Toronto.

 

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NEWSPAPER FOR MARINES GETS LESS EXPOSURE AT BASE EXCHANGE CHECKOUTS.  Marine Corps Times, part of Gannett Co. which owns and operates 82 daily newspapers among other media properties, is being removed from prominent up-front newsstand locations at base exchange stores worldwide and placed away from checkout lines, where it is harder to find.  Marines are raising eyebrows because in the past year, the newspaper published many articles on the service’s commandant, Gen. Jim Amos, abusing his authority to ensure Marines were punished for an embarrassing war-zone scandal.

PRISON NEWSPAPER SUSPENDED.  San Quentin News, the monthly newspaper produced by an inmate staff of 15 at California’s San Quentin State Prison, is back in business this week following a 45-day suspension after "inmates circumvented the editorial process by publishing disapproved content" in the December issue.  The suspension of the paper, with an 11,500-copy press run, stems from inmate editors switching a photo after prison staff already approved the page.

MSNBC CONTINUES NON-STOP SPOTLIGHT ON CHRISTIE.  MSNBC is not letting up on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and “bridgegate.”  The cable network continues its daily extended focus on last year’s traffic jam into New York.  But Christie remains busy.  He visited Chicago Tuesday and returns tonight after he and his family spent the weekend in Puerto Rico.

BLIZZARD BATTERS TOKYO.  While snow and ice slam much of the eastern part of the U.S., as some experts, with straight faces, attribute the unusual record-setting frigid/snowy weather to global warming (aka climate change), not much is reported in the U.S. on Tokyo getting more than a foot of snow following the worst blizzard to hit the region in 45 years. 

WILL CANDY, CHERRY PIES, CHOCOLATE CAKES AND HEAPING TEASPOONS OF SUGAR INTO COFFEE BE NEXT? California state Sen. William Monning, a Democrat representing the state’s central coast, proposes to make the Golden State first in the nation to require warning labels on soda and other sugary drinks.  His bill would require labels on the front of all 12-ounce beverage containers with added sweeteners that have 75 or more calories reading: "STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay."

DOCUMENTARY JOURNALISM COURSE SLATED.  Missouri School of Journalism at University of Missouri in Columbia receives a $6.7 million gift to create a degree program in documentary journalism, educating students in the history, business and production of film and other nonfiction multimedia.

NSA daily phone data collection ebbs but still in millions

Dual weekend stories on the National Security Agency’s collection of daily phone data on Americans falling off to between 20 percent and 30 percent of all U.S. calls didn’t get much attention probably because it sounded like a dwindling total, notes Grumpy Editor. 

But with at least 3 BILLION phone calls being made daily, that comes out to at least 600 million (figuring information gathered on 20 percent, based on a NSA surveillance operations story in the Wall Street Journal) or about 900 million (when calculating 30 percent of call data as indicated in a Washington Post story). 

Both newspapers report the latest tally shows a steep drop-off since 2006 when the government extracted nearly all of U.S. calling records. 

Observing that the government “can and does spy on its citizens” including emails and phone calls, former Gov. Mike Huckabee on his Fox News Channel program on Saturday/Sunday --- following a week of travels around the country, meeting thousands --- finds “something is troubling to people no matter where they live.” 

He points out, “A lot of Americans are genuinely concerned about their country and many express outright fear of their own government.” 

Huckabee reminds, “We, the people, should not be afraid of our government.  The government needs to be afraid of us.”

 

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LACK OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA CURIOSITY CITED.  Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, on Fox News’ “Special Report” on Wednesday, denounced the "incredible lack of curiosity of the mainstream media" regarding the Obama administration's IRS scandal, noted Kyle Drennen, a Media Research Center news analyst.  “Had this been a Republican abusing the IRS, you can be sure the mainstream media would have been all over it,” added Krauthammer. 

BONUSES SET FOR IRS EMPLOYEES.  New IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, citing the need to boost employee morale, said he will disburse millions of dollars in bonuses to employees at the agency.  Bonuses are needed, he claimed, to retain and attract good employees in a time of cutbacks.

OOPS!  FOOTAGE FROM THE WRONG COUNTRY.  A television spot from President Obama’s political action group urges Congress to raise the minimum wage in the U.S.  But it seems that opening frames, via stock footage, shows a blonde female aboard a commuter train  --- in England, observed London’s Daily Mail.

GANNETT SHUTTERS LAST OF TUCSON CITIZEN.  Gannett Co. Inc., which acquired the Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen in 1976 and halted the printed version in 2009, ended current news at the website last week.  However, 200,000 articles, dating from 1993, will continue to be searchable.

IT’S JUST OVER THE HILL, ONLY 365 MILES AWAY.   On the Los Angeles Times website, the “Daily Dish” --- featuring “the inside scoop on food in L.A.” --- promotes a story on "4 great beers to try as San Francisco Beer week begins." 

TV ANCHOR NOTES MUCH SNOOPING.  Alix Kendall, who anchors the morning news on Fox’s KMSP, Minneapolis-St. Paul, claimed her license information was accessed more than 3,800 times during a 10-year period through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Driver and Vehicle Services database.  She has filed a lawsuit accusing public employees of abusing their access to driver's license information through the state database.

MAGAZINE CIRCULATION DIPS.  Total average U.S. circulation for 386 magazines slipped 1.7 percent to 284.9 million in the second half last year, reported the Alliance for Audited Media, which added paid magazine subscriptions were down 1.2 percent and newsstand sales were off about 11 percent.

THE OTHER USC, ON THE EAST COAST, PLANS UPDATED JOURNALISM BUILDING.  University of South Carolina is sprucing up a building in Columbia to house its College of Mass Communications and Information Studies.  It’ll be ready in fall, 2015, for about 1,500 USC undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in journalism, advertising, public relations, visual communications and mass communications studies.

CARVILLE READIES FOR FOX CAMERAS.  Veteran Democrat strategist James Carville, formerly with CNN, is joining Fox News as a contributor.  The former Bill Clinton adviser, currently a political science professor at Tulane University, will provide political commentary.

Unnoticed by most media, which usually thrives on anniversaries:  Feb. 6 marked the birthday in 1911 of Ronald Reagan, 40^th U.S. president, in office from 1967 to 1975 and earlier California governor.

Ex-Marine Grimm bellows harsh words, stirs up media

New York Congressman Michael Grimm last week provided the kind of material that makes print and broadcast staffers lick their chops:  dynamic, threatening words by a politician  to a reporter --- who veered off track from the intended discussion on the president’s State of the Union address, points out Grumpy Editor.

Heavy coverage of Grimm extended several days after the irritated congressman, the only Republican representing a significant portion of New York City, told NY1 cable reporter Michael Scotto at the Capitol Rotunda that “I’ll break you in half”…and “I’ll throw you off this f-----g balcony.”

Grimm said for Scotto to ask about a federal investigation into campaign finances --- in which he has not been charged with a crime --- as part of that interview was a “cheap shot.”

Grimm later apologized, saying he had "lost his cool."

Background factors for his actions media overlooked:  Grimm, a businessman and attorney, spent eight years on Marine Corps active duty and as a reservist.  He was involved in the Persian Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.  Among his awards was the combat action ribbon.  He later worked as an FBI agent for nine years.

 

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AP WRITERS (AGAIN) SCRUB BYLINES FOR A DAY.  Other than family members, friends and fellow staffers, most newspaper readers probably didn’t notice that most Associated Press writers, for 24-hours late last week, withheld bylines.  It marks the fourth time in recent years they did this, this time protesting health care and job-transfer proposals.

ARMY OPENS PREVIOUS OFF-LIMITS SPECIALTIES TO WOMEN.  Female soldiers, starting in April, will be eligible to serve in about 33,000 positions in 132 specialties previously off-limits to them following a now-canceled policy designed to keep women out of combat.  Thus, they will be eligible to serve in direct ground combat units below brigade level.

BUT WILL HE WEAR RED SOX IN THE PUBLISHER’S OFFICE?  John Henry, who purchased the Boston Globe from the New York Times Co. last October, named himself publisher of the newspaper.  He is principal owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

SNOWDEN JOINS LIST OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CANDIDATES.  Two Norwegian politicians jointly nominate former National Security Agency contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, now in Russia, for the 2014 Nobel peace prize.  He will be among the many names that the Nobel committee considers for the prestigious award.

WASHINGTON POST GEARS UP TO ADD DOZENS OF JOBS.  Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos, who bought the Washington Post last August, plans to beef up the newspaper by increasing its budget and adding dozens of editorial employees.

UNIVERSITY PLANS ANNUAL REPORTING AWARD.  University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Journalism Ethics is seeking applications for a national Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics.  It’s named after a graduate, winner of two Pulitzer prizes, who died in 2012 while crossing the Syrian border on a reporting assignment for the New York Times.  A $1,000 award goes go to the journalist (or team) whose reporting “best exemplifies four key criteria: accountability, independence, reporting in search of truth and minimization of harm to subjects, sources and the public at large,” says the university.

LOCAL TV NEWS GAINS GROUND LAST YEAR.  A Pew Research Center analysis finds, after a period of declining viewership, audiences for local TV news last year rose 6 percent in the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. period and 3 percent in the 5 to 7 p.m. newscasts.