Radio's Role in the Aftermath of Katrina
Houston Astrodome officials blocked an LPFM radio station from setting up shop and broadcasting emergency info to displaced hurricane survivors... then finally changed their minds.
Ham radio geeks around the country provided an essential communication link after Katrina knocked out major TV and radio stations in affected areas.
The FCC responded expediently to the communication crisis post-Katrina, relaxing rules and offering assistance to affected broadcasters (read more here, PDF). Even the EAS (Emergency Alert System), normally a lame-duck, managed to issue an informative message pre-Katrina... However, a lack of multilingual emergency information put many Spanish and Vietnamese-speaking communities out of touch with evacuation notices and disaster-related messages.
WFMU aired a few great New Orleans tribute shows and also lent a hand to WWOZ, a community station in New Orleans that was knocked off the air during the storm. Thanks to WWOZ management and WFMU's own IT squirrels, we launched a temporary web stream for OZ, allowing them to reconnect with fans and donors during this crucial time. Blog entries from WWOZ's manager, Dave Freedman (no relation to Ken Freedman), document the process of regrouping and resurrecting this cultural stronghold from the ruins of a destroyed city. These posts can be read in sequence: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.
GOP proposes cutting CPB funding, again
As Washington digs for spare change in its many
pockets to scrounge up money for Hurricane Katrina relief,
some republicans have proposed a complete elimination of the CPB’s (Corporation
for Public Broadcasting) $400 million budget. CPB distributes funding to the
nation’s public radio and TV stations, many of which were instrumental in
relaying disaster-related information to Katrina victims. Where oh where could we possibly be spending even more money than that?
Another Power Shift at CPB
CPB's chairman, Kenneth Tomlinson, who came under fire for secretly conducting content investigations
of public TV shows he believed were too liberal and adding a number of
conservative shows to the PBS roster, ended his tenure this week. Cheryl Halpern, also a republican, takes Tomlinson's seat, while Newt Gingrich's conservative pal Gay Hart Gaines succeeds democrat Frank Cruz as Vice Chair. Earlier this year, former RNC co-chair Patricia Harrison was appointed CPB President and CEO, which, combined with the latest shift, means that all top-ranking officials at CPB are now republicans. We can expect CPB to become increasingly critical of PBS and NPR programming in the coming months; only 2 democrats remain on the 8-member board.
Liberal Humorist Eaten by Grumpy Geezer with Lawyer
Syndicated public radio host Garrison Keillor sent a cease and desist letter to a blogger for selling t-shirts on his site that read "A Prarie Ho Companion" (a parody of Keillor's "A Prarie Home Companion" program). Parody falls under a little statute called "fair use," which any above-average lawyer might understand.
Intellectual Property for Broadcasters
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) authored a treaty that would allow broadcasters to lay claim over the sound and images they air, restricting the copying or redistribution of their transmissions.This could have dire consequences for artists who license their work under Creative Commons, as broadcasters could potentially claim IP ownership for these works. Read an analysis of the proposed rules from an IP expert (via the Financial Times).
Digital Radio Copy-Protection
Pirate-police (RIAA) are trying to prevent you from recording your radio. Your future, crappy-sounding, digital radio, that is. Still miffed that the common man can tape regular old analog radio broadcasts, the RIAA wants to lay the smack down on digital radio. But they claim they're not trying to prevent "a customer from hitting a record button when a song comes on that they like." Riiight... see next heading:
Satellite Radio Copy-Protection?
The RIAA's certainly been busy this month. They're attacking satellite radio, too: receivers to be rolled out from both XM and Sirius this fall contain a malicious record button, which would allow listeners to save copies of songs they hear over the radio. These satellite radio companies dared to attach the equivalent of a tape recorder to their receivers?! Where would they get an idea like that?
While we're on the subject of the RIAA's desperate attempts to defy the infamous Betamax case, we might mention that their attempts to thwart the ripping of webcasts have fallen miles behind the curve of technology. Software that converts and saves web streams to MP3 format has been readily available for years, and now there are plenty of hardware devices that can digitally record both web radio and broadcast signals.
CBC Lockout Continues
Read more about the ongoing Canadian Broadcasting Corporation labor dispute here.
Indecency Crosses the Pond
Zane Lowe's "Most Punk" radio program on the BBC's Radio 1 drew criticism for airing a string of profanities at 7pm. A disclaimer was played before the show, warning listeners of strong language, and this was followed by the voice of an old lady, who uttered the following:
“Hello ladies, boys and girls, I thought that you might like to know - in the spirit of punk rock – the following show includes, what we often refer to as language. So if, like me, you are offended by such words and phrases as: arse; bollocks; tit, wank; tit-wank; rotter; mother licker; mother sucker; mother fucker; twat; minge juice; bottler and of course bastard – then you might wish to turn over, or fuck off – thank you”.
The UK's Office of Communications received 2 complaints about the broadcast, and would have let the profanity slide if it wasn't for the number of children who were listening at the time (read the official decision here). It's no secret that the UK and Europe are far more lenient on the topics of language and nudity in broadcasts than our own puritan nation. Let's hope they're not becoming more conservative in those areas... Remember what the FCC has been gearing up for?
Complaints Down @ FCC
The FCC has reported a steep decline in the number of indecency complaints received during the second quarter of 2005. Complaints dropped from 157,016 during Q1 2005 to a mere 6,161 for Q2... that's only 2% of the number of complaints they received for the same period last year. Is America finally exhausted from the nipplegate backlash? Or is this because the FCC has kept the issue out of the spotlight since 2005 began? How will the disinterested public react if the FCC decides jump back into the ring of indecency fines (a recent hiring suggests they will), and make an example out of Howard Stern?
A week or two ago the PBS Wall St Journal program on Friday nights had a little segment on that. I posted that on the PHC message board and got a lot of responses.
Check it out here:
http://prairiehome.forum.publicradio.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/17/1655255
Cheers,
John L
Posted by: John L | October 04, 2005 at 12:07 PM
The CBC lockout is actually all but over; the workers totally routed management in a deal announced shortly after midnight Monday morning. They're still picketing, but only until the deal is ratified and the corporation opens the doors again. And, sadly, the site that you point to above, CBC Unlocked, stopped updating yesterday.
Posted by: ralph | October 04, 2005 at 06:17 PM