Media Report #3
Guest Perspective/Bob Bittner
There's a nationwide organization called the "Future of Music Coalition", whose energy is directed against conglomeration in the radio biz, and for diversity in radio formats, and encouraging the airing and exposure of new and varied artists. They recently issued a study saying that 75 percent of all commercial radio stations in America air only 15 different formats. Another one of their findings is that local-ownership of stations has dropped by about a third, in the past 30 years.
Responding to that was the National Association of Broadcasters who said in a press release: "The Future of Music Coalition's long history of producing questionable research and dubious data to fulfill its agenda-driven mission is apparent for all to see." Is the pot calling the kettle black here? The National Association of Broadcasters has issued annual reports in recent years touting that broadcasting stations have dramatically increased public service time year after year. Most listeners might be scratching their heads on that statement.

Other conclusions from the Future of Music Coalition are:
* The top four radio station corporate owners have almost half of all the listeners in the United States, and the top 10 corporate owners have almost 2/3rds of all listeners.
* Niche music formats are usually provided by smaller radio groups or individual owners. Such niche formats mentioned are: classical, jazz, bluegrass, Americana. Folk, New Rock and even Adult-Standards fits into the orphan-format category.
* In 155 markets, radio listenership has declined by 22 percent in the past 18 years. They suggest that corporate consolidation is possibly to blame. That's a very valid point, but we all know that there is a another contributor to this, and that is new technology such as ipods and computer music downloads/and/sharing which makes radio sometimes irrelevant to many young people.

Another study says that white males own 87 percent of all radio stations. And women represent only 1 percent of people at the head of corporate radio groups. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps says of minorities and women: "It's not that they're riding in the back of the bus, they're not even ON the bus."
The Federal Communications Commission has reached a settlement of the recent-years' "pay-for-play" investigations. Four companies are ponying up significant cash as a penalty. Clear Channel had to pay $3.5 million, CBS $3 million, Entercom $4 million, and Citadel $2 million. All companies have promised "reforms." On May 14, the Chairman of the FCC said the investigation is not over. They're currently looking at other large radio broadcasting companies.
How's radio been doing billing-wise? Here in America, its been flat in the past 18 months, with some sub-categories dropping. All of this after a continual rise in revenues over the past 10 years. However, in Canada, radio station revenues are up almost 6 percent in 2006 at the same time ours went flat.
Radio hobbyists have put together a list of unlicensed radio stations in the Boston area. A list of 26 AM stations and 25 FM stations; not all of which are presently on the air, and some who broadcast only at night, or weekends.
For an unlicensed station to be legal, its signal should not go more than several city blocks, a small distance which is an unfamiliar trait of many of their signals.
Those so-called infomercials heard on radio in half-hour blocks, disguised as radio talk-shows, peddling diet pills to get-rich-quick schemes... Ten years ago, they were only on the smallest stations in America. Well, they're big in New York City.... even on most of the 50,000-watt AM radio stations, late at night. Those things started out and are still aired on the smaller stations in New York at any time of the day, and of course, in Boston too (but not HERE on this station). I wonder why the Federal Trade Commission is asleep on this.... Seems like they're in the latter-middle part of an ordered 8-year-long nap.
A group called the "AM Daytimers Association" has submitted their approval for a proposal for rule-making to the FCC - to allow some low-power-at-night and no-power-at-night AM stations, to have a moderately-low-powered FM repeater station. This means, stations like WJIB and WJTO might be able to have their signals repeated on the FM dial. This is one of the very few efforts to assist smaller AM stations. But there ARE restrictions to this idea, and it is quite possible that the whole intent of the idea may be corrupted by Wall-Street broadcasters to somehow use it to their advantage thereby squeezing out the stations which really need it the most. See info on this on-line:
AMDaytimers.org

Radio formats in 2006.... the count is in.... how MANY stations are airing which formats... Number 1 is country music with over 2,000 stations doing it. A distant second is News/Talk with about 1,350 stations. Third is rock & pop oldies (late-60s to mid-80s) with 730 stations. Fourth are all the different kinds of Spanish language stations, with 715 stations, and fifth is adult-contemporary music stations usually heard on FM, with over 650 stations. Adult-STANDARDS stations, like this station, well we didn't make the list, but I'm sure we're near the bottom of the pile. But we probably beat the number of all-Farm-news stations.

Last November and December, 412 stations went to an all holiday/Christmas music format; a record number. Remember, 10-or-more years ago, a seacoast New Hampshire FM station did that, and we all laughed?

You've all heard about the Dom Imus debacle. Well another New York City on-air duo made some similar remarks about an Asian ethnic group LONG BEFORE Don's comments, and those previous anti-Asian comments were virtually ignored by ethnic advocacy groups. But when that same program aired again AFTER the Imus episode (as a radio taped re-run), then they protested, demanding that the on-air duo be fired. Just an interesting tidbit of how "it worked once for someone else (with Imus), now its our turn." This is not to say that I condone ANY of the on-air comments made in New York City.

A talk-master on another New York City big station said that in HIS contract, there's a provision that says he can be terminated for offending any significant part of the community, but if he's not offending someone every day, then he's not doing the job that his wink-wink-nod-nod employer wants him to do.
This is a situation that plagues most talk-show hosts these days, which keeps them tensely on the edge of their seats every time they sit in the studio.

In early-June, an appellate court ruled that the FCC's laws against indecency in broadcasting, were invalid; which essentially negates restrictions on indecency. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, is preparing legislation for Congress to step in, to give them control over the court decision, and even over the FCC, in an effort to keep obscenity OFF the air. Right now, technically, broadcast stations may broadcast most obscenities, but there's no rush by stations to test this out, at least not right away.
Congress is also looking to ban most pharmaceutical products on radio, TV, and print advertising, at least for a three year period, so the situation can be studied. The drug companies spent a whopping $5.5 BILLION dollars in the media last year. Imagine what it would be like the see the 6:30 p.m. network news without those ads. Anyway, this started out as a proposed three year moratorium on just NEW drugs, in an effort to see how they work before mass-marketing of them.

Satellite radio
Satellite radio's subscriptions have slowed down significantly in 2006 and even more-so in this year so far. Some of it has to do with Internet listening, which is free, and another aspect of this is hesitation ... hesitation by consumers who know about the desire of both satellite providers to merge into one.
And that's another story in itself. Citing believed-future financial difficulties, Sirius and XM want to merge. Over 10 years ago, the FCC purposely granted the two separate licenses, in the public interest to allow competition.
Now that they want to merge, they must get government approval which might be quite difficult. Hindering such are two happenings. First, the fact that some of the satellite DJ's have been making racist remarks and skits; and it has been confirmed that land-repeater transmitters have been running way authorized power AND there are land-repeater transmitters that aren't even authorized! Such of the legal transmitters ARE needed to repeat the satellite signal into the abysses of large city streets, between tall buildings, since the satellite is not "straight up" in the sky.

Music & the Internet
Ever wonder who the money goes to when you download a song for 99-cents? Here's how it breaks down: 5-cents goes to the credit card company, 7-cents goes to the singers/or/band who recorded the song; 13-cents goes to Apple for hosting, billing and bandwidth; and a whopping 73-cents goes to the record company.
The major record companies, through their common organization, the RIAA, has been brutal to Webcasters - people or companies who stream music programming on the Internet. Recently, they WON their suit against Webcasters, resulting in new sky-high royalties (almost three times what they are now, and in some cases, as much as 12 times) which are said will put most Webcasters out of business. Actually, its not "business" that most of them are doing - its more of a hobby with artistic attributes. These new fees that have been approved by the Copyright Royalty Board (which are retro-active to 18 months ago, and all due July 15), are being challenged in court right now. But it still doesn't look good for Webcasters. The appeal has been filed by RealNetworks, Yahoo, Live365, and Pandora, who say in letters to every member of Congress, that "the new royalty rate will cause immediate bankruptcy of the majority of the Internet radio industry and will actually reduce royalties to record companies and artists as services go dark and royalties are never paid by them." If this court-approved rate hike stays in place, then starting July 15, the only entities that will be Webcasting would be the largest corporations and some scattered people who would not worry about being sued because they have little or no assets.
This may very well be "the plan" by the major record companies - to be able to control all Webcasting, and additionally all recorded music performed publicly in the USA. While presently, Webcasting of radio station signals is exempt from this court action of extremely higher rates, the record companies are now gearing up to attack the Webcasting radio stations too, to get them to pay more than they are now. AND, there's talk about the RIAA going after all music-formatted radio stations for just broadcasting on their over-the-air signals, too! ... Stations like THIS ONE. This is not to be confused with the current royalties paid by traditional stations to the WRITERS of the songs.
This however is an effort by record companies (the RIAA) to get Webcasters AND stations to pay the record companies, where then those record companies would dole out a minority percentage to the actual performers that play the music, and I really mean, a MINORITY of it going to the artists, the players and singers of the music.
Right now, non-Webcasting stations (like this one), enjoy paying NO royalties to the record companies, but we do pay to the song-WRITERS. Those are the fees I told you about in March, where WJIB's royalties went from $5k-plus to $33k-plus. Over the past 80 years, there has been an uneasy agreement between all radio stations and record companies that stations, while not having to pay the royalties to the record companies, is in trade for radio stations creating sales for the record companies. After all, without stations' airplay over the past 80 years, record companies would not have sold many records/CD's at all, excepting for recent developments on the Internet.
If all of this seems confusing, IT IS. All due to American 21st Century greed, with different industry groups always trying to extract as much money as they can from other industry groups. And all of this greed regarding music got a jump-start from one thing: The invention of the digital transmission of music, where it was stated by record companies 15 years ago that it was so easy to copy music instead of buying it. But now, the record companies are going after EVERYONE involved in music, even if music is not easily copyable such as off traditional radio stations (By the way, if you want to use your cassette recorder to record music off this station, it's OK, as long as its for your own use and not re-distributed as a sale).
And now, it gets even worse. On the international stage, many Webcasters are finding ways to curtail their music streaming to be only within U.S. borders, due to the fact that the same thing happening here, is happening "there." Scores of different countries are wrestling with this same legal problem, and results, when and if they occur, will likely be all different from each other. This is important, as many acts aired in America are from other countries. This is a good time to be a copyright lawyer and/or lobbyist.
In addition to the record companies trying to change the laws in order for them to collect as much money as possible, the Performing Rights Organizations are trying to do the same. ASCAP and BMI, who represent their own interests and the WRITERS of the songs, filed suit in order to classify every individual song download as a "public performance," therefore they too, would get royalties for each download. On April 25, a federal judge saw through that and denied such, much to the glee of AOL and Yahoo who fought the suit.

Television
While digital radio is suffering a very slow start, digital TV is rolling right along. Also known as HDTV, many stations are broadcasting now on two channels; the first one being the ones we're familiar with, and the second one, not so familiar. The real news in TV-land here is that every non-digital TV in America will no longer be able to receive local TV stations come February 2009. That is the month that the FCC is requiring TV stations to turn off their traditional signals, which has been in use since the 1940's. So no more NewsCenter5 on Channel 5, no more WBZ-TV on Channel 4. And "7, the News Station" will be "something-else, the news station."
For those of you who have traditional TV's, which is most of us; all is not lost, since there will be converter boxes available for you to install to make your TV's still functional.
Retail stores are still selling traditional TV's and the FCC is quite irritated with them ... Not so much for selling them, but for the stores not informing would-be purchasers that these TV's have a limited time-span use in the future.
The V-Chip, so far, is useless, says the Parents Television Council, who lobbied hard for it. Or at least they say that the $550-million that the TV industry spent on educating parents about it, didn't work at all. They blame parents' indifference and even more-so, the networks for presenting shows that the organization says is not suitable for children.
Cable TV is now at a 16-year-low. In just one month, November 2006, cable television saw a loss of over 2.5 million subscribers, mostly due to increased penetration of satellite-delivered services.

Cellphones
For about $4 a month, you can now get a service that enables a mono-lingual person to speak in French by hearing bits of it so you can parrot it, as if to let others near you to hear you. It gives you snappy one-liners to impress people at parties, and even shows little pictures of women that a guy could claim are "his." The company is appropriately called "Mobile Faker," and its on the west coast.

Movies
It just well may be that in the near future, if a newly-released movie show someone smoking IN that movie, it might get an "R" rating by the Motion Picture Association of America. Such is being considered right now.
But even more interesting is that one large cable company has had discussions with some Hollywood studios on the topic of allowing that cable company to air their newly-released movies on "opening day" at theaters. The two largest theater companies responded by saying they'd refuse to show movies that debut on cable on the same day.

In closing ...
Despite all the messes going on in today's broadcasting industry, some of which I've talked about here, it's worse in Venezuela, where broadcasters had free speech rights, at least on South American standards. But now, its different. The most-watched TV network in Venezuela has just been shut down by Presidente Hugo Chavez. The network and its stations had been airing opposition to Chavez's speeches and policies.But Chavez said they were becoming a threat to the country, so he personally stepped in to prevent its licenses from being renewed. Now, they are no longer broadcasting. The stations are now, according to Chavez, going to be "public service channels." Critics there say they'll really be "servicing Chavez channels."

That's it for this Media Report....

Written by myself, Bob Bittner, and aired exclusively on 740-WJIB Cambridge, Massachusetts...and...730-WJTO, Bath, Maine.

Catching up on things, the mid-June edition

Alright, it is the middle of the month and I'm pretty behind on my blogging. In fact, I know I am behind on it because I've seen my visit numbers drop from 50-plus to 30-plus in less than two weeks. My new job has been taking up a lot of my time, as I get settled in to an old routine and learn some new tricks, too. Somehow, I think I'm on top of it, and then, I don't seem as organized as I thought I was right around deadline time. Granted, it has only been about a month. So, it will take a bit of time. But I'm so loving being back in the newspaper business.
I painted my new office last week, this funky off-green color. I realized after putting on two coats that there were holes which needed to be filled and the trim wasn't going on correctly. So, I filled the holes with spackle and will put up some tape for trim and then, will put on one last coat in the spots sometime over the next few weeks.
One of the things I love about my new office is that I'm right in historic Lexington center, literally a block from the green. It is so cool to see the kids taking the tour of the historic green as I ride into the office each day. And Lexington has free wi-fi in the center, so I'm so loving being able to get faster Internet than my company has, right outside the window of my office on my new Vista machine. Yeah baby!
Also last week, I finished up my Leadership Greater Concord 2007 classes with a graduation ceremony at the Chamber's annual Pinnacle luncheon. Here is a picture of me, below, getting a certificate and pin of appreciation:



Twenty-two of us from the greater Concord area spent 10 months together learning about the community, its intricacies, history, and culture, as well as leadership and how to apply it. Organizers noted that our class really bonded together well compared to previous classes. Most attribute it to the time we spent carpooling together to the first weekend retreat in the White Mountains. At the last class, we were all asked to contribute to next year's program, which I will probably do. It's a great program and I would advise any local residents interested in participating to sign up for it.

Webcasting
As I mentioned a few months back, Webcasting is probably going the way of the dodo, because of the new fees being placed on the broadcasters. Quite by accident, while Googling for Internet radio stations, I found this really cool station, 3WK: ["3WK"]. The station offers two options, indie rock and classic rock. I'm not a huge fan of classic rock but I like indie stuff, so I clicked on it and Wow. It is truly amazing and, frankly, it reminds me of my old Taste the Floor show on WMFO. I've learned about a lot of very cool bands that I wouldn't have found out about otherwise. Very cool indeed. Here's hoping they stay on the air a good long time so I can continue to listen to them.

Former astronaut launches Senate campaign
Jay Buckey, a former Air Force reservist and astronaut from Hanover, announced recently that he will be running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. John Sununu: ["Buckey08"]. While there isn't a lot of meat on his site, I'm intrigued by his campaign, since he hasn't run for office before and is a total novice. It kinda reminds me of some of the other campaigns launched in 2006, like Jim Webb, who unseated Republican and potential presidential candidate Sen. George Allen of Virginia.
I would be remiss not pointing out that there are two other Dems running against Sununu next year.
Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand is running for the seat: ["Steve Marchand"]. Both Buckey and Marchand are considered long-shots in this race but who knows these days. Marchand has been mayor for a little less than two years and also served a term in the city council, so he has some elective experience. One of the things I like about this guy is that one of his five main planks is "Personal Freedoms."
Katrina Swett, the wife of former Rep. Dick Swett, is also running: ["Swett for Senate"]. She too has a bit more meat on her Web site than Buckey, but most of us will remember that she originally supported the Iraq invasion [probably advice from her dad, Rep. Tom Lantos]. As well, Swett was previously a rabid gun control fanatic - in a state where there are liberals who own guns. This position helped contribute to her loss to then-Rep. Charlie Bass in 2002, despite having hundred of thousands of dollars more in funding. She was also the national co-chair of Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign in 2004. All three of these reasons are enough to question her validity to be a Senator representing our state.
Of course, the big question, is what the Shaheens do: ["Ex-head of N.H. Dem party pushes Shaheen for Senate"].

Gravel to be banned from future debates?
If the almighty Kos has his way, yeah: ["Gravel"]. It is interesting all the "all inclusive" Democratic bloggers are even thinking about keeping Gravel out. And Kos, jeesh. This is the guy spouting off about "crashing the gate" and "people-powered politics," and you can't get much more gate crashing or people-powered than Gravel. This is what happens when people get too powerful. They start wanting to limit things and keep their own. That's what's happening over at Kos. Big shocker.

Tell that to the Nader-haters
What if Al Gore didn't have his 2000 victory usurped but died while in office and Vice President Joe Lieberman became president. Would he be as bad is Bush?: ["President Lieberman: A Cautionary Tale"]. Would we now be at war with Iran? Who would pay for that war? How would we fight a three-pronged war, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran, and possibly even Gaza or who knows where? Leave it to Robert Scheer. I never would have thought of this angle.

Trent Lott thinks rightwing talk radio is too dangerous!
Wow, what a wake up call: ["Senate Leaders Agree to Revive Immigration Bill"]. The key line is this:

Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”

Umm, gee, you think? Pot, meet the kettle. Lott is correct about talk radio. It's one-sided and it has been destroying political discourse in this country for a long time. But on this issue, talk radio and the callers calling in, are correct. And Lott should be listening to the people out here who clearly don't want this bill and don't want amnesty. They want the wall built along the Mexican border and they want the millions of illegals rounded up and deported.

Thanks, Southwest
A big thanks to Southwest Airlines for great service and safe flights over the past six months to a number of destinations my family and I have had to fly to.

Short cuts
* This blog tracks the new free daily newspaper movement: ["Free-Daily.com"].
* This guy has some things to say to the newspaper business: ["10 obvious things about the future of newspapers you need to get through your head"]. I don't completely agree with him but his comments created quite a debate over here at Media Nation: ["What Craig hath wrought"].
* More evidence of Gulf War Syndrome: ["Gas May Have Harmed Troops, Scientists Say"]. Umm, yeah, you're a decade too late. I was doing radio shows about this in the mid-1990s. I guess it is better late than never.
* So much for enjoying the fizzy drinks: ["Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health"]. The culprit? Sodium benzoate, which is in almost everything.
* Semi-liberal columnist Sean Gonsalves pitches for Rep. Ron Paul here: ["Ron Paul for President?"].
* I want one of these: ["Consumers Can Now Monitor Energy Consumption"].

I won't be blogging much, if at all, on Father's Day but here is a message for all the fathers out there, from my column this week:

This Sunday is Father’s Day, a day to recognize Dads everywhere for their contribution to the family and society.
You would, however, never know it if you saw what has become of Father’s Day. Not unlike other holidays, Father’s Day seems to be less about Dad and more about being manipulated into buying some big-ticket item for Dad. I like big-tickets as much as the next guy. But I think it would be nice if we could start a new tradition of thanking Dad without all the consumerism. As a dad myself, I know the most precious thing right now is time with my family - not a big screen television or a power tool. I can buy those on my own dime, on my own time. A simple Thank You, tons of hugs, and a few cold ones, will do just fine.
So, Thanks, Dad. And to the other Dads everywhere, Salute.

Hayfever
Oh man, has anyone else gotten nailed with this hayfever in the last week or two? I'm ending my fifth day of it and it just won't break. It is worse than any cold or flu I had this year and a lot worse than last year's hayfever. The pollen is coating everything up here in New Hampshire with this thick, green dust. It is easily the worst it has ever been. Ugh.

The new WBUR ad campaign
In many editions of GateHouse New England's suburban weeklies this week, WBUR 90.9, Boston's NPR affiliate, has half page ads called "Putting a face on the issues." The ad has a picture of about 15 black children holding empty saucer plates [wide bowls], in their hands, while staring at you. The picture is placed in the window panes of a fancy suburban kitchen. So, if you were standing in the kitchen doing the dishes, the kids would be staring at you through the window. The text states:

"Some problems seem like they're worlds away. Through the incisive analysis and intelligent discussion, WBUR helps you to understand the gravity of global issues. From the threat of tsunamis. To the tragedy of world hunger. Discover what it's like to be truly informed."

Then, it gives listener information. The ad, which was donated by RDW Group, Inc., a Boston/Worcester/Providence public relations firm, is a very effective one, nailing the point home that public radio can bring you the world.
I used to love listening to WBUR when Christopher Lydon hosted "The Connection" back in the 1990s. I switched from WRKO after Gene Burns and Jerry Williams left the airwaves and it was a fresh change from all the conservative political yelling and hot talk fluffery which was broadcast on the AM dial. I found the public radio shows to be informative and they often challenged me to think, even if they were overly chummy to big business or sucking up to just about everything then-President Bill Clinton wanted done.
Personally, I don't listen to public radio much anymore. While it may bring you the world, I don't think they do a very good job of bringing listeners the nation, state, or community, despite what they might think. Why anyone would waste money rebroadcasting The Diane Rehm Show is beyond me, especially when that money could be spent beefing up the local news. She is unlistenable. I also find public radio too one-sided and often too sedate. Some of their employees act as if they are higher than thou. Which is too bad, because it should be a great resource. Sigh.

Why I love reading the WSJ, reason number, whatever

This island, Leaf Cay, in the Bahamas, will be sold on June 28 at an auction in Ft. Lauderdale. The auctioneer, Fisher Auctions, had a display ad in the Wall Street Journal last week.
This is something the Internet just doesn't give you - the display ad. Sure, there are tons of Web display ads. But it just is not the same as physically holding the newspaper in your hand, flipping through the text and ads, seeing all kinds of different things. Right next to all kinds of locales you will never visit, fast cars you will never own [Maserati: $99k], and fancy suits you can never afford, are these kinda of ads. Imagine for a second: Your own island in the Bahamas, fully developed, diesel tanks, airstrip, communications building, guest houses ... you could be your own Dr. No in the middle of nowhere! But ... then what?
The only bad thing about the WSJ is that it is sometimes too thorough. It isn't a newspaper a reader can just skim through. You have to read the articles in order to learn anything. And that is why they often pile up on me.

2008 NH Canvassing, Part 1
Volunteers for the Obama 2008 campaign hit my neighborhood with leaflets today as part of its Walk for Change campaign. Here is text from the campaign's press release:

More than 10,000 Obama Supporters Take Part in more than 1,000

“Walk for Change” Events Across the Country

Approximately 350,000 doors knocked

Chicago, IL- Today, more than 10,000 Obama supporters took to the streets in all 50 states for a nationwide neighborhood walk. "Walk for Change" is the Obama campaign’s second nationwide grassroots day of action where participants reached out to members of their communities to recruit volunteers and began to build a local organization to elect Barack Obama.

Obama supporters from all different backgrounds participated in more than 1000 events including “Walk for Change” events in Utah, Alaska and Hawaii. Some of the highlights include Kim Mack’s “Walk for Change” Event in Sacramento where more than 300 people joined the mother of a soldier in Iraq to door-knock in their community. In Iowa, more than 1500 people took to the streets in communities across the state and New Hampshire volunteers completed their second statewide day of door-knocking in just one month, knocking on more than 5000 doors in that time. In South Carolina, more than 300 people braved 95 degree heat to “Walk for Change” in 11 cities and towns. Three hundred door-knockers covered communities in Reno and Las Vegas.

Reading update
I have finally finished "The Brothers Bulger," Howie Carr's book. It was pretty good and made all the easier to read because it was not much different from reading his columns.

A blonde moment ...

Alterman's side
Nader-hater and The Nation brat Eric Alterman is interviewed here, about his arrest: ["Alterman's Arrest"].

Other debate stuff
More about the June 3 Democratic debate. CNN is reporting that Nader-hater and The Nation brat Eric Alterman was arrested at the debate tonight for refusing to leave the WMUR private room: ["Columnist/author arrested in spin room"].

James Carville: Don't get me wrong, I like James Carville. He's funny and I love it when he and his wife go at it on "Meet the Press." But why is Carville on CNN right now discussing the results of this debate? He is an advisor to Sen. Hillary Clinton. He should not be talking about this race, or, at the very least, without a disclaimer stating that he is advising her.
And why, now, is David Gergen up there? He worked for Bill Clinton and then just said, "I think she won the debate." This is a disgrace.
In addition, CNN only interviewed the insider candidates: Elizabeth Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, and Biden, all received extra time. Other candidates didn't.


This graph was produced by the Chris Dodd campaign about who received the most time on the debate. I don't know if it is accurate or not, but I'm glad it is out there.

Polls: Here are some of the online polls of what people think. DailyKos has two polls now - one put up before the debate ended and one put up after the debate ended. Let's look at the post debate poll: Edwards 27, Obama 22, Clinton 17, More than one of the above 8, Biden and None of the Above received 5, Kucinich 3, with Gravel and Dodd at 2.
Drudge still has his poll up, with more than 18,800 voting: Obama 36, Richardson 15, Clinton 12, Kucinich 10, Gravel 9, Biden 7, Edwards 6, and Dodd 5.

Dem Debate, Part 2: The aftermath
The June 3 Democratic debate is over and, well, I have a slew of different things to say and no cohesively way to put the ideas together into a competent manner. So, I will just ramble.
First, after all these years of citizen participation in debates, it was nice to see someone I actually know be able to ask a question. My former lawn guy, for lack of a better term, Brian Sealander, got to ask a question, about taxes and the difficulty of saving money for retirement and college education. Sealander seeds and fertilizes lawns with natural, non-chemical-based products, although I've forgotten the name of the company. Nice job though!
Second, I want to talk about format for a minute. Personally, I liked the sit-down-in-the-chairs bit but I don't want them to talk about the war in Iraq anymore. Or, if they are going to talk about the war, there needs to be a 15 minute segment on that, and then, they need to move on.
We all know where these people stand on the war even though most are flip-floppers, now. And, as Sen. Joe Biden said, this is George Bush's war and when a Democratic president is elected, the war will end. So, enough already.
Enough about foreign policy, too. We have been distracted by foreign policy for far too long and it is harming our nation. We have serious domestic issues which need to be addressed and those issues are not being addressed because we are blowing hundreds of billions of dollars all over the world and have been for 50 years. Enough already.
There are a slew of other issues which we need to hear about.
For example, I would like to hear former Sen. Mike Gravel talk about his national sales tax idea or how he helped lead our nation through the last energy crisis by getting the Alaskan pipeline built [he did get to get out the line about raiding Social Security, which is true]. I would like to hear Rep. Dennis Kucinich talk about his Dept. of Peace idea and maybe even his vegan diet or preventative care. I would like to have a moderator who would call some of these guys on their votes, beyond just the Iraq one. Something like this: "Sen. Biden, you voted for the 1996 Telecom Bill which allowed a handful of major corporations to gobble up all the radio and television stations in the country. Many Americans believe this bill has eliminated local news and information to the public, and eliminated voices on the air. Do you regret that vote and what would you do to fix the problem of media consolidation?" A questioner or moderator could do the same for Sen. Chris Dodd on the Telecom Bill or NAFTA [Or, ask him about getting drunk with Ted Kennedy and the "waitress sandwich" incident at the La Brasserie restaurant back in the day]. Gov. Bill Richardson should be allowed to talk about his gubernatorial experience a bit and, I have to admit, I like the fact that he has been talking about managing a state as governor, not raising taxes, and the right to keep and bear arms.
I also think they should all get about 5 minutes each to talk about health care, maybe as a segment [Sen. Biden suggested separate debates on the major issues in a short post debate interview with Larry King CNN. I agree with him]. At least this way, it would allow the candidates the opportunity to talk about their plans in more depth.
I would also like to see the same questions asked of both the Democratic and Republican candidates. This would keep FoxNews, for example, from asking easy and leading questions of Republicans, and difficult questions of Democrats, which they've been proven to do in the past. As well, during the last Republican debate, viewers heard virtually nothing about domestic issues, with almost the entire debate tied up in foreign policy issues and the Iraq debacle. After asking the Republican candidates about their plans for health care, and hearing most of them tell the voters that everything is just fine or that market forces should be used to assist the tens of millions who can't afford insurance, never mind care itself, a follow up should be asked: So, Candidate X, you're basically telling the American people that they are sh*t out of luck on the health care issue, correct? The market works in some ways but it also goes in the wrong direction. We are all paying more and more for less and less when it comes to health care. Make the statement that market forces work and tell it to the millions and millions of Americans who seek low-skill, decent wage work but are being priced out by illegal aliens who are working for a fraction of what Americans would earn for the same jobs.
Third, I didn't like the questions most of the citizens asked, which is a problem for me. I've never been an advocate of screening questions. For far too long, debates have basically been a set up. But again, to come back to the Iraq issue, it has been discussed more than enough. I personally feel for the two women with family members serving who asked about the issue. And, we thank them, and apologize to them, for allowing our nation to put their families in harms way. But those questions had - and have - already been answered. No disrespect, but ma'am, I heard your question answered before you even asked it. At least we got one domestic issue question from Sealander, a question about Darfur - which Biden hit out of the park, showing passion and concern - and a question about the draft - which both Gravel and Kucinich were able to get singles from.
So, over all, not a bad debate but junkies didn't learn much more. And, clearly, we need better questions and the candidates need to be grilled a bit more, too.

Dem Debate, Part 1
Here is the first story out of the gate on the details of the June 3 Democratic Debate in New Hampshire: ["Democrats Clash on War on Terror, Iraq"]. I missed almost the entire first hour and it wasn't broadcast anywhere on the radio in the region. I like the fact that former Sen. Mike Gravel raised his hand about English being the official language of the nation. Sen. Chris Dodd answered the question about gas well and, surprisingly, Gov. Bill Richardson continues to look presidential. Sen. Barack Obama doesn't seem on top of his game tonight. I'll have more after the debate is finished.

Update: DailyKos has a poll, with more than 3,100 voting [Most of the posters are probably watching the debate instead of arguing about it online]. Edwards is winning with 45 percent, Obama has 27, Richardson and Clinton are virtually tied with 7, Kucinich has 5, Gravel has 4, and Biden and Dodd are in the basement with 2.
Drudge also has an online poll about who won the debate. After the first hour, and almost 7,500 votes, Obama leads with 38 percent, Richardson has 14, Clinton has 12, Kucinich has 10, Gravel has 8, Biden has 7, Edwards has 6, and Dodd has 5.

Missing headlines 2: And other random musings

This is my next attempt to finish up with some of the interesting headlines I've seen over the past few weeks. It will also probably be my last post until the end of the week because I have a lot of things I have to take care over the next couple of days.

"The Brothers Bulger"
I finally started reading Howie Carr's "The Brothers Bulger" last week. I bought it months ago in paperback, because I'm cheap, and it had been sitting on the shelf. So, I decided to bring it into the bathroom, in the hopes that I would actually try to read it. First, it isn't as good as "Black Mass." It does have a ton of juicy underworld tidbits in it and the angle of including Billy Bulger in it, and the flipping back and forth between Whitey and Billy, every other half chapter, really works. Since it is done in chronological order, you get to see what one was doing right after reading about what the other one was doing. And, it is written in Carr's column style. So, it is very snappy, and quick and easy to read. I'm more than halfway through it at this point. There isn't a lot of new stuff in it - especially if you've read "Black Mass" or Howie's columns. But it is still a pretty good read so far.
Beyond reading in the bathroom, I've also had a bit more time to read because I've kept the television off for about three days. It's been nice keeping it off. And there isn't much to watch on it anyway so ...

R.I.P.: Stever Gillard
["The News Blog"]. I didn't agree with him all the time, but he made some really good points on his blog. What a drag. And so young at 41. Yikes!

A changing of the guard at the Concord Monitor
I didn't get a chance to write about this when it initially happened but I would be remiss in not mentioning it. Mike Pride is out as Executive Editor of the Concord Monitor after almost 30 years but has decided to stay on as an editor, to do some writing and work with reporters in the newsroom: ["Taking a new a long-desired role"]. Some of my regular readers will note that when Pride was named the co-director of the Pulitzer Prize, I wondered aloud when he would have the time. Well, now we kinda know.
Felice Belman will be the new Executive Editor: ["A daunting challenge and a great privilege"]. She has big shoes to fill but a lot of talent to work with. Belman has put together some lofty goals, including getting some fresh voices on the opinion pages, opening up news meetings to the public, expanded war photography, more Web stuff, and being a better watchdog over public officials.
I can tell you that I'm not alone in hoping the Monitor will get a bit more serious about its local news coverage, including covering more things in Concord and exposing some of the major problems we have in our city. I could go on a total rant here, but now is not the time for that [Maybe, after she has had some time leading the newspaper, and doesn't address the issue properly enough, I will revisit it at more length].
I would also agree that it would be good to see some fresh faces on the opinion pages. Although I don't necessarily know if getting more teachers, state workers, or "essayists who can write provocatively about natural resources" is something I'd really be interested in reading on a regular basis. That sounds kinda wonky to me. How about some regular folks, like that contributing board series the paper once had? I would personally like to see a gritty city columnist covering things in Concord like Mike Royko or Peter Lukas, or even expanding the Capital Beat column to every day or every other day. I would also like to see city and state representative races being covered with the amount of energy and finesse as the presidential campaigns get covered.
The Monitor Web site also needs to be a bit more user friendly. The content should be posted first thing in the morning and breaking news needs to be posted when it happens and highlighted. It would also be nice to see it a bit more interactive, with blogs and other things more readily accessible on the site, or even the ability for readers to comment on stories like some Web sites are doing these days. The Union Leader has a great feature where you can sign up for email alerts about breaking news which drives people to its Web site on a irregular basis. It might be time for the Monitor to consider such a service.
And more power to Belman about kicking her reporters in gear about the Right-to-Know law and asking the tough questions, both on the state and local level. But readers will have to hold her to it now that she has opened the box. There shouldn't be any excuses - like there have been in the past - for not covering controversial issues which might make people in high places a little uncomfortable. It would also be good to set a goal for reporters of, say, one or two stories per day, in order to make sure that they are utilizing sources and the newspaper is getting the maximum amount out of its staff. Targeted story number goals are not unheard of in the business. But the Monitor regularly looks pretty thin even though it has 13 reporters and 46 editorial employees on the staff.
It will be interesting to see how she comes along and I do wish her the best of luck.

You gotta love this

Hello? Spell check, anyone? Hillarious? [This was spelled incorrectly on purpose].

This video is hilarious:

["My Boobs Are OK"]

More on John Cox
After I wrote about John Cox last night, I noticed that some folks had been tracking posts about him on Technorati, a service which allows you to search blogs for certain topics. Through that, I noticed some sites which are alleging that he is a bit unstable: [John Cox - The Facts] and this post: ["Cox cans campaign manager, again"]. Interesting reading, to say the least. To be fair and balanced, here is Cox's blog: ["Blog for Cox"].

Short cuts
* You say you want a revolution? ["When in the Course of Human events"]
* Stewart Copeland says The Police are "lame": ["Police drummer rips band's 'lame' concert"]
* Ralph Nader backs Mike Gravel's National Initiative idea: ["Let the People Make the Laws"]
* Don't like your local newspaper? Start your own ... like they've done in Dover: ["New weekly newspaper comes to Dover"]
* GM finally, finally considers making a car I might buy: ["GM's 'Maximum Bob' tells of his green epiphany"]
* Clear Channel looks to MySpace for unsigned talent for HD signals: ["TALENTfilter"]

Missing headlines: The Uh-Oh Version
OK, it's been awhile. But, ya know, I've been a tad busy. Too busy to write about anything, never mind the latest headlines. And, because I've been too busy, I've missed the opportunity to talk about a lot of interesting things, like the potential Michael Bloomberg indie candidacy and all the crap about the Bob Shrum book. Oh well. Here's what we got:

First, the biggest uh-oh of the week, dropped in a WSJ alert at 6:34 p.m. on Thursday night: ["Bancrofts Open Door To a Sale of Dow Jones"]. This is only a meeting and, frankly, I don't know if Rupert Murdoch is that bad of a guy. I've never worked for the man and I blame FoxNews' nonsense more on Roger Ailes than Murdoch. Ailes could easily make the network truly "fair and balanced" by actually making it that way. It was a great antithesis to CNN when it was first created, especially as a watchdog on President Clinton. But its constant cheerleading and fawning over President Bush, and not being a watchdog over the corruption and lies, is downright sickening.
But what I do wonder is this: Is a takeover of Dow Jones the best thing for the WSJ and its employees? After I catch up on the print editions later this weekend, I wil see if the notoriously obnoxious editorial board has had anything to say about this. More than likely, it will be rah-rah, and that means readers have to be a bit skeptical about the deal.

Also on Thursday, the seatbelt law, thankfully, was defeated in the New Hampshire state Senate. Democrats joined Republicans in a 16-8 vote, so at least one nanny state bill has been defeated. Most of us are responsible and we wear our seat belts. But we don't need the cops pulling us over for this and we don't need the fines either.
On the flip, the smoking ban did pass the House and Gov. Lynch is expected to sign it. So now, bartenders and restaurant workers can work in a safe workplace without the risk of being harmed by second-hand smoke. And those of us who don't smoke, won't come out of restaurants and bars smelling like an ashtray! Nice job.

FAIR, the liberal media watchdog group, has a great update here on the fallout from Ron Paul's GOP debate performance a couple of weeks ago: ["Treated Like a Democrat"]. I love that his comments were assumed to be unorthodox when the guy was basically paraphrasing the 9-11 Commission report or the fact that the guy was dead-on correct. Nope, can't have that.
The closing line in the email pretty much sums it up, especially in light of the press conference Paul had discussing his comments, which I didn't even hear about:

The real problem isn't that Ron Paul can't win the White House, or that he might "muck up" a debate; if anything, he started a debate the media don't want to have.

Exactly correct. When are we going to start having a serious conversation about our foreign policy instead of always talking about how tough we are or which and how many foreigners we are going to kill.

While dealing with the truth as spoken by Ron Paul may not be enough, it looks like the GOP faithful are a bit pissed when it comes to their president and his immigration policy: ["Republican revolt over immigration']. If this is true, it is really amazing and it is the writing on the wall.
But imagine, if you will, if one of the stronger Democratic candidates came out against this amnesty package and instead, embraced the closed border policy. If they could get through the primaries, and not be pigeonholed as too liberal, they might actually win the election in a landslide. If you think the rank and file Republicans were mad about Iraq, look at what they are doing about the immigration bill! Their shutting off the spigot. This looks like a prime time opportunity to me.

John Cox, the long-shot Republican presidential candidate, put full-page ads in both the New Hampshire Union Leader and Concord Monitor this week requesting that voters call the UL, WMUR, and CNN, and request that he be allowed into the June 5 debates. He doesn't have the ad on his Web site but he does have a pretty good list of talking points here: ["The Next Republican Debate"]. I especially like this line:

Tell them that candidates like Ron Paul, Jim Gilmore, and Tommy Thompson are not gaining new supporters since they've been in the last 2 televised debates.

Oh come on, John. You know as well as I do that viewers of the FoxNews debate had Paul winning, that is until "Guy Smiley" Romney got all his "followers" to start calling in and bumped Paul down to second place. A solid second place, I might add, 10 points above Rudy Giuliani.
Although, you may have a point: Since MSNBC viewers voted Paul the winner of the first debate, he has slipped to second place. But that is, however, no reason to put you in the debate.
But here is a reason Cox should be allowed in the debate: According to his FEC filings, the guy spent $796k through March 31 of this year, so far, and most of it has been his money. And, if Mike Gravel, the longest of long shots, with Vegas odds of something like 1,000,000 to 1 of getting the nomination, is allowed in, why not Cox?
Note to self: Put $5 bet on Gravel to win the nomination so if he does, I'll get $5M from the bookie.
In the end, Cox will not be allowed in and that's a shame. I interviewed the guy and he is talking about things the other Republican candidates aren't talking about, like a national sales tax. He is also one of the only Republicans admitting that we are in Iraq because of the oil ... Paraphrasing from our interview, since I don't have a copy of it readily available to quote from, Let's get in there and get that oil out of the ground ... And he is correct on this point: He has as much of a shot as the nomination as Jim Gilmore or Tommy Thompson, so why not let him on the stage? They're going to offer a podium to Fred Thompson. That will make 11. When you're at 11, why not 12?
Lastly, it should be noted that WMUR did do a Conversation with the Candidate featuring Cox and that is more than most other long-shot candidates receive: ["Commitment 2008"].

More tomorrow.

Why I'm voting for Irena Goddard on June 5

Note to readers: This is a letter to the editor I sent earlier this week to the Concord Monitor which hasn't been published yet.

Special elections, especially ones held in summer months, tend to be sleepy occasions. The race to replace the late-Marjory Swope as councilor of Ward 5 has been no exception. On Tuesday, June 5, voters will have the choice between two interesting candidates, with appealing and varied backgrounds. However, one candidate has shown the capacity to not only think about issues more deeply but also come up with creative solutions to solve problems. That candidate is Irena Goddard.

The voters of Ward 5 may think they are too busy to vote in this special election but I urge them not to ignore this race. It is the local elections – not the national ones – which have the most bearing on our lives, making sure we have municipal services and guaranteeing that the immediate things around us get done.

And as we all know, our city is facing some pretty difficult times. The budget is a mess. Social service agencies are finding it hard to cover things with less and less money. The police department is understaffed, with patrolmen being taken off their routes at night to do detective work, something I find completely unacceptable. Our first responders, like firefighters and EMTs, are falling behind on training. Heroin is cheap and easily accessible and has become the drug of choice. Some of us who have lived in bigger cities have lost friends to heroin and it is a shock to think that it is so casually being used by our young people in Concord. Anyone with their eyes open can see that while we have a great city, in many ways, it is headed in the wrong direction and someone needs to do something about it. It is clearly time to get resourceful and think about things differently than we are.

Over the last two years, I have gotten to know Irena and her adorable son. She thinks outside the box and will use her diverse business and life experience to thoughtfully tackle problems. As well, I think we can all agree, that the council could use more moms serving on it. If elected, I know Irena will show the leadership our city needs right now, by putting our neighborhoods above politics and doing what is best for everyone.

For almost a century, my family has lived in this community. I was born and raised in Concord myself, living most of that time in Ward 5, and I can tell you that there is no better person to be representing us than Irena Goddard. Please join me in casting a vote for Irena on Tuesday.

Update
The Monitor printed my letter in the Sunday edition, a big plus, along with another letter for Irena and one for her opponent. Tracking the letters to the editor in the Monitor, that makes five for Irena and two for her opponent. Hopefully, that is how Election Day will be.