liveblogging the FCC ownership hearing
I’ve never tried any liveblogging before, but since Don unofficially made me EFF-Austin’s official FCC hearing blogger, I thought I would blog it in real time. Here goes nothing..
6:19: As I walk in, a graying hippie dude is trying to explain wikis to another graying hippie dude. “It’s like a website, but you don’t have to maintain it,” he says, “and it can grow.”
6:24: I thought this place would be packed, and I would be fighting for a seat, but there are maybe a hundred people here. The auditorium seems largely empty. I recognize two other grad students, and one is from American studies.
6:27: Maybe this won’t go on for hours, like I thought it would. I wonder if I can get home in time to watch the season premiere of David Mamet’s weird military drama “The Unit.”
6:30: LiveJournal’s post-by-Jabber interface is really nice. I wish I had something like that set up for WordPress. It would make this much easier.
6:35: The hearing hasn’t started yet. At least under fascism the FCC hearings start on time. People are filtering in, but the auditorium is largely empty. I don’t recognize that attractive young woman waving at me.
6:37:Sweet sassy molassy, where did all these people come from? Were they bussed in from San Antonio? A middle-aged woman keeps chirping, “if you would like to provide public comment, please sign in.” The crowd noise is up to a dull roar.
6:38: Jonathan Adelstein makes his first appearance. Wi-Fi is getting spotty: I don’t know if I can keep this up if my connection keeps going out.
6:45: One of my students is here passing about 9/11 conspiracy literature. I also got a “Don’t Mess with Tejano Music” handbill. I don’t think this will actually start until 7.
6:51: A hispanic man in his sixties tell us that we’re waiting on a second table and a microphone for citizens providing public comment. I don’t think I’ll make it home in time to watch “The Unit.”
6:55: The man in his sixties appears to be in charge. He tells us Adelstein will talk first, followed by a string of other speakers. It will be some time before the people have their say.
6:57: The hearing has finally started. The guy in charge tells us he hopes this won’t go too late.
7:04: Blah, blah, blah… introductions. Adelstein finally speaks. He says “It’s a breath of fresh air to be out of Washington, and not just because it’s a swamp.”
7:06:Adelstein says that our views are “really important” to the FCC. Makes a crowd-pleasing remark about Ann Richards. “We don’t serve the large media corporations who profit by using the public airwaves… We’re like a paper tiger.” OK, I guess this guy is furreal.
7:10: “I’m here to find out what’s happening here in Austin… I was disappointed to learn that you can’t hear Tejano music here in Austin.” He says he thought Austin radio would be a little more “picante.” Compared to other cities, I actually think Austin’s radio is really pretty good.
7:14: Adelstein is coming out strong against media consolidation. I’m surprised he’s advocating a point of view at this hearing. I agree with him, but isn’t he here to consider viewpoints. The FCC is considering further relaxing ownership rules, he says, “The public has the right to the specific details before its finalized, not after.”
7:15: We’re supposed to support localism, diversity, and minority ownership, and we’ve failed on all three fronts.
7:16: Adelstein’s mic battery goes bad. He jokes, “This is the Federal Communications Commission, and we’re not communicating.”
7:21: “This is about the free marketplace of ideas.” He argues Motown would not have emerged without local radio programming in Detroit. I’m not sure I agree; Berry Gordy deliberately targeted a white, suburban audience. I suspect he could have found a national audience with his approach.
7:23: Adelstein: “Now I’m going to shut up and listen.”
7:25:There’s a panel of pre-selected speakers. Each only has five minutes to speak, but it will take at least a half-hour to get through each of them. I’m feeling hungry. I’ve heard most of this in my education and research.
7:32: I think I’m going to pack it in and head home. I’m not really hearing anything new. Plus, I’m hungry and “The Unit” is on.
Update 9:33: I want to apologize for the tone and overall lameness of this post. I frankly thought the prepared speakers were in the educational session at 5:30, and the public comment began at 6:30. I arrived at 5:30 at what was an organizing session, and, of course, the hearing began a half-hour late at 7:00. So I thought I could catch the panel and an hour’s worth of testimony and be home by eight. Waiting made me a little snarky, but I really am skeptical of how effective these hearings are.
As Adelstein himself pointed out, public comment was almost completely disregarded by the FCC in the last review of ownership rules. Under the current Bush adminstration and a Republican-dominated FCC, I think we’ll only see more catering to industry. Tonight’s hearing just seemed like a dog-and-pony show that allows people to feel like they’re doing something. But, I’m not sure a Democratic adminstration would do much better. Remember, Clinton signed the Communication Act of 1996, which created the radio land rush that put Clear Channel where it is today, and a Democratic FCC created the crappy low-power FM service that pretty much eliminated the possibility of any new community radio in urban areas. Unfortunately, I’m not able to offer any alternatives tonight, but perhaps the vagaries of the Bush adminstration will have ordinary citizens more suspicious of corporate power in the elections this year and 2008.
No Comments
policy goals and legal obligations
The FCC is holding a public hearing in Austin tomorrow night to gather public input about media ownership policy. The FCC is reviewing its limits on how many media outlets a given corporation can own in a particular market city. Both of my readers will remember that the 1996 Communications Act loosened radio ownership rules and allowed organizations like Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS) to dominate the airwaves. Further relaxation has only accelerated the ability of major corporations to shift away from serving local interests toward homogenized national programming.
The commissioner attending the hearing, Jonathan Adelstein, is one of the more liberal commissioners in a body that often rubber-stamps the desires of the major telco and media players, so speakers concerned about localism and corporate control will have a sympathetic audience. I’m not sure I’ll make any comments in person, but I’ll certainly attend out of scholarly and personal interest. If you’re interested in testifying, there are tips here.
The hearing will take place in Jester Auditorium on the UT-Austin campus. (Jester is the big, honkin’ dorm at 21st and Speedway; just take the bus to 21st and Guadalupe, rather than worry about parking.) There will be an “educational” presentation at 5:30, followed by the hearing at 6:30. I imagine it will go on for hours.
No Comments
across all platforms
I noticed something odd this afternoon watching my Oklahoma Sooners struggle and eventually triumph over the U-Dub Huskies. During the half-time show, the announcers kept referring to “ESPN on ABC.” I knew both ESPN and ABC are owned by the nice folks at Disney, but it seemed like a strange turn of phrase. Could this be the new branding for sports programming on ABC? Indeed it is. Even the graphics indicating the scores are marked as “ESPN,” rather than ABC.
This press-release-like AP story does little to explain the change in branding, except that it gives Disney to consolidate its sports programming and Web properties under a single brand. Considering the conglomeration has shuffled ABC’s venerable “Monday Night Football” to ESPN, I suppose this makes sense, but, at the same time, ABC has started running college games on Saturday nights, which was once the sole province of cable content providers like ESPN and TBS.
Further complicating the “ESPN on ABC” branding is the way that ABC is promoting its high-definition programming. When plugging next week’s showdown between OU and U of O, the announcer said it was on “HD on ABC.” Is the game on ESPN, ESPN on ABC, or HD on ABC? More importantly, is the game on channel 3, 52, or 53? I imagine in the age of interactive program guides, prestige viewers (unlike me) just scroll through channels until they find they game they want, while extended-basic losers like me flip through channels looking for the OU game.
1 Comment
welcome to wikivision
Well, not quite. Now that Katie Couric has taken the helm of “The CBS Evening News,” the network is encouraging viewers to suggest a sign-off for the new anchor. I’m not sure if teh Internets can come up with something as clever as “Good night and good luck,” or “that’s the way it is.” I’m sure fellow Viacom Stephen Colbert will offer a suggestion. It’s interesting to see the Tiffany Network embrace the web like this: perhaps they’ll also ask viewers to do their own Photochop jobs on Couric.
No Comments
inappropriate material
Green Cine has a long interview with one of my favorite filmmakers, Craig Baldwin. I’d put his Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America in my top five movies to recommend to others except that the film has been unavailable on DVD, until now. The film uses archival footage to tell a non-linear tale of an alien invasion of the U.S. that implicates a variety of groups including the CIA and killer bees. While I first read the film a highly political science-fiction reverie, Baldwin considers Tribulation 99 to be based in reality.
Really, the CIA was way more imaginative than any Hollywood writer. What they were doing for political purposes, not just in Nicaragua but also Cuba, had much more of an imaginative punch than any tame little yuppie in Hollywood who is writing a romantic comedy. What they were doing was taking fantasy and fiction and turning that into political tactics. So, God, just turn it around! I was thinking, just turn it one more time.
Baldwin makes a good point. I think of the revelations that the CIA condoned the Nicaraguan Contras’s fund-raising efforts, which included smuggling cocaine into the US during the 1990s. While killer bee invasions may be a metaphorical device in Tribulation 99, like Alex Cox’s Walker it uses history and magic realism to comment on US intervention in Nicaragua.
Perhaps Baldwin’s best-known film is Sonic Outlaws a 1996 documentary about the band Negativland and intellectual property issues. Much of the film focuses on the Negativland’s cover of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” (which you can download here) and the ensuing legal battles between the band and Island Records. At one point, a Negativland member interviews U2 guitarist The Edge, leading to a confrontation over artistic freedom. It’s a very analog take on issues that we’re now confronted with in the digital age. When asked about the future of copyright, Baldwin’s outlook is dismal.
They’re moving in on us, that’s for sure. They’re closing the public commons. I feel on the defensive. That could be one good sound bite. I feel restricted. I just hope there’s enlightened souls and forces and maybe institutions that could maybe hold them back from totally eating up everything that is due us, or our common cultural legacies, our libraries, our archives.
Like Negativland, Baldwin’s work relies on appropriating from other texts, so the efforts by the content industries to restrict fair use not only threaten the rights of consumers, but the ability for artists to do their work.
No Comments
national intellectual television
Last night I had the TV on, and the TV kindly spoke, “from the director of Scarface!” I was like, “Huh? I thought Howard Hawks was dead.” (He died in 1977.) The TV continued, “…and the writer of L.A. Confidential,” and I thought, “Oh, James Ellroy, this must be that new Brian De Palma flick.” Indeed, it was a commercial for The Black Dahlia, which looks like a pretty cool movie. It seems strange they would use a remake of the Paul Muni vehicle to tease a new De Palma movie, since he’s done much better work than Scarface. (I watched it again not too long ago and found it boring and overly long.) As a heterosexual white man living in Texas, I’m sure my taste in movies is more representative of the real America than any of those clowns in Hollywood. So why not use one of De Palma’s good movies like Carrie, Sisters, or my personal favorite, Hi Mom!? If either of my readers have yet to see this film, run out to your local video store and rent it anon! Oh TV, why couldn’t you have said, “From the director of Hi Mom!“?
The sad thing is that I rented Femme Fatale this weekend after the online magazine Slant had a little feature about De Palma in anticipation of The Black Dahlia. The argument these articles make is that De Palma has an underappreciated style, and my experience with Femme Fatale. It’s definitely a B-movie, but it has little stylistic quirks like a slow-motion shot of the protagonist falling off an interior balcony, through a glass ceiling, and into a pile of rolled textiles and identity play similar to Sisters. Like Hi Mom!, it might have been a better movie to cite than Scarface.
4 Comments
cushioned curves
AJ points to a Details magazine story titled “Why Fat is Back in Hollywood” purporting that the new trend in Hollywood is “actresses who appear to have a healthy relationship with carbohydrates.” Among the examples they cite are Scarlett Johanssen and “Lost siren Evangeline Lilly.” OK, I’ll concede Johanssen is curvier than a typical Hollywood actress, but Evangeline Lilly? Speaking with all my while male heterosexual privilege, I’ll say that she is very, very hot, but she is also very thin! The story also includes a slide show that doesn’t reveal a current trend as much as it reveals shifting beauty ideals in the US. The photos include shots of actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Jayne Mansfield, who I’m sure were beauty ideals in their day, but not thin as today’s actresses. The many contemporary women included in the parade of hotties have bodies on the thin side of normal, if that. The one outlier might be Mae West whose humor often hinged on her lack of conventional beauty. Rather than celebrating realistic representations of women’s bodies, the article expands the body types considered “fat.”
No Comments
read-only and read-write cultures
I think Wikipedia is pretty awesome, but I think Jonathan Zittrain’s suggestion that the Wikiconference “is a Woodstock for the 21st century” is probably going a little too far. Although I’m sure it was made in jest, it really reveals the sort of self-importance that surrounds Wikipedia and citizen media projects to a lesser extent.
Not to belabor a silly aside, the suggestion would imply the second Wikiconference would endure in the popular memory for generations like the first Woodstock music festival. While the gathering certainly draws an emerging subculture and explores new ideas, I don’t think it has much relevance to people outside the tech and media worlds.
No Comments
almost-anonymous consumption
In an earlier post, I praised the FX comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” for doing a decent job of representing life in the city, but one of tonight’s episodes, “The Gang Runs for Office” had an erroneous detail that I thought was worth commenting on. In this episode, the gang convinces Dennis to run for South Philly District 37 Comptroller in an effort to scam his opponent into bribing him. In one scene, Mac walks in on Charlie shooting Dennis with a cheap consumer camcorder and asks what’s going on. Charlie tells Mac, “we’re going to shoot a commercial and get it on public access.” Alarm bells went off in my head because Philadelphia is the largest city in the country without a public access system. If the show were written by people in New York or LA, I might forgive this error, but much of the purported charm of the show is that it was created by people from Philadelphia, a city often off the cultural radar. This mistake strikes me as particularly strange because the show started as an amateur project distributed online. Did the creators never look into producing a public access show?
Despite this lapse, I do enjoy the show for its references to life in the City of Brotherly Shove. The characters often refer to “the Wawa,” and I often wonder if a national audience understands from the context. Wawa is a chain of convenience stores found throughout the Delaware Valley, well, except in black neighborhoods. One thing that distinguishes Wawa from a 7-11 is that in addition to selling soda, cigarettes, and the normal convenience store items, each store has a deli offering hoagies and cold cuts. Although I thought Wawa paled in comparison to the Tulsa-based QuikTrip chain, many Philadelphians seem very fond of Wawa. In this week’s New York Times Magazine Rob Walker writes about customer loyalty to Wawa. According to a recent study by an Ohio State University professor, customers flock to Wawa for the friendly service. I frankly preferred shooting the breeze with Grego at my corner bodega, but Wawa even has a dedicated following online. Walker notes that the We Love Wawa LiveJournal group has about 950 members, and MySpace has a similarly large community. In this context, I suppose it makes sense for “Sunny” to talk about Wawa, but gloss over media access issues.
