Free Republic

WASHINGTON, December 16, 2009 – The U.S. is committed to an inter-agency process for combating piracy of American intellectual property, Vice President Joseph Biden said Tuesday during a press availability with top law enforcement officials. Appearing at the White House complex with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the directors of the FBI, Customs and Border Protection, and the United States Secret Service, as well as the chief executives of the nation’s largest entertainment companies.The meeting was followed by a closed-door, roundtable discussion on international intellectual property theft.That second meeting...

Chet Baker was a leading jazz musician in the 1950s, playing trumpet and providing vocals. Baker died in 1988, yet he is about to add a new claim to fame as the lead plaintiff in possibly the largest copyright infringement case in Canadian history. His estate, which still owns the copyright in more than 50 of his works, is part of a massive class-action lawsuit that has been underway for the past year. The infringer has effectively already admitted owing at least $50 million and the full claim could exceed $6 billion. If the dollars don't shock, the target of...

"NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The plunge in U.S. newspaper circulation is accelerating, according to the latest figures released on Monday, as more people cancel their subscriptions and publishers cut distribution and sales of discounted copies."

The Federal Communications Commission has unveiled the topics it is looking to discuss as it considers revising its media ownership rules, and one area it is looking to explore could have ramifications for future mergers between broadcast and cable companies and newspaper companies. Specifically, the FCC said it will probe whether it could continue to enforce regulations regarding media concentration by industry or should it find an "alternative structure to determine an ownership limit for all media within a relevant market." Cutting through the bureaucratic speak, what the FCC is saying is that currently it regulates broadcast, radio and cable...

There was a time, not so long ago, when the term "Internet Freedom" actually meant what it implied: a cyberspace free from over-zealous legislators and bureaucrats.... Those days are now gone; the presumption of online liberty is giving way to a presumption of regulation. A massive assault on real Internet freedom has been gathering steam for years and has finally come to a head. Ironically, victory for those who carry the banner of "Internet Freedom" would mean nothing less than the death of that freedom.... Here is the reality: Because of the steps being taken in Washington right now, real...

If the New York Times were, indeed, still the Gray Lady, she would be in therapy these days. The Times website was forced on Tuesday to link to a story by their competition, the New York Post. A story that was two weeks old. In a report on Republicans' response to Democrat efforts to humiliate South Carolina representative Joe Wilson, the Times provided numerous links to their, and other Big Media, articles piling onto Wilson. When forced to report on Republican charges of wrong-doing by Charles Rangel, a congressman from their own home market, the Times apparently went through their...

The Democrats' Big Media comrades are circling around South Carolina's representative Joe Wilson like vultures over fresh road kill. When Barack Obama claimed during his Wednesday night set piece that his health industry power grab would not cover illegal aliens, Wilson shouted, "You lie!" In doing so, Wilson showed unusual common sense in noticing that the emperor's clothes seemed somewhat lacking, but he also showed....

BURBANK, Calif. - Spider-Man and Iron Man have a new boss: The Walt Disney Co. Disney announced this morning that it is buying Marvel Entertainment -- and the more than 5,000 Marvel characters. They include X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor. "This is a great fit for us," Disney boss Bob Iger told CNBC this morning. He said the acquisition was a way to attract more boys. Disney said the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share -- or about $4 billion. Iger said the acquisition will grow both Disney and Marvel.

"...The artists deserve it, ...With things the way they are today, everybody needs every little penny they can get." ...Radio personalities such as Tom Joyner, whose "Tom Joyner Morning Show" is owned by Radio One Inc., a black-owned conglomerate, oppose the bill, generating support from their vast listening audiences.... There is also a division within the civil rights community. The NAACP recently passed a resolution supporting the bill, while activists Al Sharpton, whose radio show is syndicated by Radio One, and Jesse Jackson, whose show is syndicated by a subsidiary of Clear Channel Corp., oppose it... The bill's sponsor, Rep....

Liberal groups are failing to heed the White House's call to end their attack ads on Democrats over their opposition to health care reform. From the Politico White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned liberal groups this week to stop running ads against Democratic members of Congress. The powerful top aide to President Obama made his feelings known at the weekly closed-door strategy session of an array of progressive organizations, according to two sources who were there.

CNN political analyst Bill Schneider has joined the slef proclaimed moderate think tank Third Way as its first Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar. From TV Newser Longtime CNN political analyst Bill SchneiderThird Way, a think tank that bills itself as advancing "the next generation of moderate policy ideas." Schneider, who will continue his on-air political analysis at CNN, will be the organization's first Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar. TVNewser asked CNN if this is in keeping with their standards. An insider tells us that because Schneider is a contributor, and not an employee, outside political affiliations are acceptable....

WTOP political analyst Mark Plotkin calls for a media rebellion in the White House press corps. From Fishbowl DC Yesterday morning, on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, WTOP's Mark Plotkin ripped the President and press secretary Robert Gibbs for calling on their "front row favorites," saying that "all the press people sit there as mannequins" to ask "questions of the day and never ask any surprising questions."

The New York Times public editor conducted a self examination after seven errors appeared in a single article recently. From the New York Times THE TIMES published an especially embarrassing correction on July 22, fixing seven errors in a single article — an appraisal of Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman famed for his meticulous reporting. The newspaper had wrong dates for historic events; gave incorrect information about Cronkite’s work, his colleagues and his program’s ratings; misstated the name of a news agency, and misspelled the name of a satellite. “Wow,” said Arthur Cooper, a reader from Manhattan. “How did this...

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Local news is now avialble on YouTube from various sources. From the New York Times With its ability to collect articles and sell advertisements against them, Google has already become a huge force in the news business — and the scourge of many newspapers. Now its subsidiary YouTube wants to do the same thing to local television.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has got the networks just where he wants them when it comes to carrying the president's press conferences in prime time. From the Washington Post In the days before President Obama's last news conference, as the networks weighed whether to give up a chunk of their precious prime time, Rahm Emanuel went straight to the top.

President Obama is on track to be the most covered president in history by the media. From Forbes.com President Barack Obama appears to be breaking every record kept on U.S. presidential press coverage. Over the first six months of this year, he was cited in a staggering 1.1 million stories across mainstream, Internet and social media--an average of 6,100 references a day. That's more than triple what Obama's last two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, got in the mainstream press during their first six months.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is quietly exploring the possibility of hosting her own talk radio show. From Inside Radio Alaska’s now former Governor is coy about her future political plans, but radio is at least one option she’s leaving on the table. While not exactly shopping the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate, sources say Palin representatives have been quietly testing the waters to see how much interest radio syndicators have for her.

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute. “I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said. Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep news organizations alive. “A truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom,” Rather said in an interview yesterday afternoon. “This is...

NBC aired a highly unusual show on July 20 called The Wanted, which has provoked a storm of controversy over its style, methods and content. Is it journalism, entertainment, infotainment, or To Catch a (Terrorist) Predator? It is, perhaps, a bit of all of the above. But most importantly, and the reasons for all the condemnation, is that it has given rare exposure to the terrorist mentality, it has shown positive benefits stemming from the war in Iraq, and it has highlighted media hypocrisy. The premise of the show is that a team of individuals goes around the globe to...

Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather issued a call for the government to intervene to save the media. From the Aspen Times Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather told an Aspen audience Tuesday that journalism has declined to such a point that it is time for the government to intervene. Appearing at the Greenwald Pavilion as part of the Aspen Institute's McCloskey Speaker Series, Rather said “traditional journalism is under siege” and called for media reform to become an “immediate national priority.”

The Obama administration has added anoother journalist to its payroll. From the American Spectator Daren Briscoe, a Newsweek correspondent who was embedded with Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, has taken a job with the Obama administration, according to an email sent to a listserv of his classmates at the Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. The email, written by Time reporter and fellow Columbia grad Jay Newton-Small, said Briscoe would be serving as deputy associate director of public affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy as of Monday.

President Obama held a special press conference last night to try and convince the nation why his national health care plan will solve the perceived health care crisis. I say perceived because while there are problems with health care in this country, overall it works well for the majority of the population. There is access to care virtually anywhere in the country and hospitals provide emergency care regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. While waiting times in the ER here are not great they are far better than in Canada where health care is nationalized and the wait for...

I have not found one person in the major media-and that includes on the "conservative" Fox News Channel-who has dared to tell the ugly truth about Walter Cronkite's disastrous record in favor of defeat in Vietnam, unilateral disarmament in the face of the Soviet threat, and one-world government. His press has been as good as that of Barack Obama. However, many people are aware of Cronkite's real record, primarily because of the work of AIM founder and long-time AIM Report editor Reed Irvine. Here are just a few of the messages I received in response to my column, "The Terrible...

In an interview last week with Julie Menin CNN anchor Campbell Brown said that the network is the only one doing journalism when compared to Fox and MSNBC. From TVNewser CNN's Campbell Brown sat down late last week with Julie Menin. And right out of the gate, Brown explained what sets CNN apart from its competitors. "CNN is the only one who's still doing journalism," said Brown, anchor of CNN's 8pmET program. "I don't mean that as a criticism of what the other guys are doing, it's just...we're comparing apples and oranges. Fox has made a choice to go in...

The struggling New York Times is exploring the possibility of asking foundations to help the paper cover some news gathering costs. From PoynterOnline The New York Times has begun considering foundation funding to help cover some of its news-gathering costs. Craig Whitney, an assistant managing editor at the Times who serves as the paper's standards editor, said in a telephone interview Friday, "We've begun to ask ourselves whether it would be possible to get the kind of support that NPR does from foundations for its journalism." He said Times editors "haven't reached any conclusions and we haven't gone to any...

It is wrong to speak ill of the dead. On the other hand, it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people to pretend that Walter Cronkite was the "voice of God" and "universally credible," as Mara Liasson put it on Fox News Sunday. The terrible truth is that Walter Cronkite symbolized liberal media bias and used that bias with disastrous consequences for our nation and the world. His latest cause was world government and the destruction of American sovereignty. We found out after his retirement that he was not only a liberal, which was evident from his...

In an era when slides and negatives are no longer the coin of the realm, the case of Usher v. Corbis-Sygma may seem to have lost much timeliness. Except for this: one member of the three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals that most recently heard the case was Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The portfolio included photographs Mr. Usher had taken during the 2000 presidential campaign. “The value of these images is certainly more than $7 each,” Mr. Usher, 47, said in a telephone interview Tuesday from Alexandria, Va., where he lives. “But I’d so much rather have the...

The long-rumored sale of radio station WQXR by the New York Times Co. was announced yesterday to public radio station WNYC. From the New York Times The New York Times Company will sell WQXR-FM to WNYC Radio and Univision, the companies announced on Tuesday, in a complex deal that preserves WQXR as the only station devoted solely to classical music in New York City, but that could alter its character. WQXR would move to a weaker signal near the high end of the FM band, and would become a listener-supported station, owned by WNYC, the nation’s largest public radio station....

When I began examining the political affiliation of faculty at the University of Oregon, the lone conservative professor I spoke with cautioned that I would "make a lot of people unhappy." Though I mostly brushed off his warning – assuming that academia would be interested in such discourse – I was careful to frame my research for a column for the school newspaper diplomatically. The University of Oregon (UO), where I study journalism, invested millions annually in a diversity program that explicitly included "political affiliation" as a component. Yet, out of the 111 registered Oregon voters in the departments of...

Beleaguered Washington Post Publisher Katherine Weymouth received some support from a fellow publisher over her attempt to increase revenue by providing access to the Obama administration. From Fishbowl DC On her Facebook profile, Washingtonian President and Publisher Cathy Merrill Williams has posted a letter applauding WaPo's Weymouth for her attempt to find new revenue streams and for trying something new re: the "salon" scandals. Her post below or visit it on Facebook here. New Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth has been taking a lot of flak from journalists and press junkies. Weymouth and her team at the Washington Post proposed...

Washington Post Ombudsman Andrew Alexander called the paper's sponsorship of 'salons' a huge ethical lapse. From the Washington Post The Washington Post's ill-fated plan to sell sponsorships of off-the-record "salons" was an ethical lapse of monumental proportions. Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli have now taken full responsibility for what was envisioned as a series of 11 intimate dinners to discuss public policy issues. For a fee of up to $25,000, underwriters were guaranteed a seat at the table with lawmakers, administration officials, think tank experts, business leaders and the heads of associations. Promotional materials said Weymouth, Brauchli...

Even with the Marxist influence in President Obama's background-and even with the reluctance to raise his voice against bloodthirsty tyrants such as Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-even with all of that, trust Helen Thomas to find Obama too hard-line with America's enemies and too easy-going with America's friends. The occasion of revisiting the antics of Ms. Thomas-the woman who epitomizes why so many Americans distrust the mainstream media-is that California Rep. Barbara Lee is seeking to bestow upon her an official honor in the name of the Congress of the United States. Rep. Lee's resolution-H.R. 533-is, as we go to press-before the...

The New York Times has removed photos from its website that appear to have been digitally altered. From Fishbowl NY Editor & Publisher noticed that the New York Times had taken down a slideshow of photos by Portuguese photographer Edgar Martins that had appeared in this Sunday's magazine depicting abandoned house construction projects in the wake of the financial crisis. Now, instead of the gallery online, there is a short statement from the paper: "The pictures in this feature were removed after questions were raised about whether they had been digitally altered." It's unclear who made the original allegations of...

Much has been made of how much the mainstream media is "in the tank" for Obama, but it also has to do with a need to boost ratings. From the Washington Post Even President Barack Obama, a gleam in his eye as he talked at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner two weeks ago, seemed to recognize the special relationship he's forged with TV networks in the opening months of his administration. "A few nights ago I was up tossing and turning and trying to figure out exactly what to say," he said. "Finally, when I couldn't get back...

The Washington Post has taken a page from politicians by offering access to Obama officials and its own reporters for a fee. From the Politico For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors. The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier...

Employees of the New York Times Co. received more bad news with the announcement of their retirement fund investment losses. From the Boston Business Journal The 401(k) retirement plan for New York Times Co. employees, including workers at The Boston Globe and Worcester Telegram and Gazette, suffered $154 million in investment losses in 2008, according to a regulatory filing. Net assets of the plan for the Times, which owns the Globe and T&G, fell to $417.7 million. The plan was particularly hard hit by some $171.5 million in losses within several mutual funds. For example, the plan’s largest holding, the...

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank took issue with HuffPo blogger Nico Pitney over his question at last weeks presidential presser. From the Politico On CNN’s “Reliable Sources” today, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank and Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney squared off over the latter’s controversial question to President Obama at Tuesdays’ press conference. During their debate, Pitney described Milbank’s reporting as “pathetic” for once asking Obama how he looked in a bathing suit, while the Post’s “Washington Sketch” columnist continued to take issue with recent coordination between HuffPo and the White House.

Yes, the rumors are true. After decades of cowering in the deep-blue (as in Blue State) shadows, Hollywood conservatives are beginning to openly express their political beliefs despite the price they’ve paid—both socially and professionally—for doing so in the past. Some are calling this newfound courage the Breitbart Effect, named for the affable New Media titan who exposed the amoral Superfund toxic waste site of Tinsel Town by subjecting it to the standards of traditional, conservative (read: normal) American values. Through his pioneering work on news aggregation Web sites such as the Drudge Report and the Huffington Post, Breitbart led...

Doug Bates doesn't know it yet, but with the help of his daughter, the associate editor of The Oregonian has coined the perfect descriptor for journalism in the Age of Obama: "gerbilism." Bates explained the genesis of the term Sunday in a commencement address to future journalists from the University of Oregon. As a child, his young daughter confused Bates' profession with the name of her favorite rodent in a school report about what her parents did for a living. "My dad Doug works at the newspaper," she wrote. "First he went to college to learn about gerbilism." The punch...

At a liberal event on Friday a White House official expressed personal regret at language in a recent Justice Department brief on DOMA that has angered the gay lobby. From ABC News' Jake Tapper In a panel discussion at the liberal American Constitution Society Friday, President Obama's staff secretary, Lisa Brown, expressed personal reservations about some of the language in the Justice Department brief against same-sex marriage that cited the ability of states to refuse to recognize incestuous marriages as a comparison with same-sex ones. "It was an awful lot better that the brief that was written in the Bush...

A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each — a total of $1.9 million — for 24 songs. Jammie Thomas-Rasset’s case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said. Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents...

The MPAA apparently said that the “enemies of copyright have really done a good job at creating the false premise that the interest of copyright holders and the interest of society as a whole are antagonistic” during the World Copyright Summit. The worry is that their pro-copyright advocacy perspective is fading away in the public conscious. In an interesting report from IP-Watch where there were a few choice words levelled against those that disagreed with the view-points of the copyright industry. Apparently, Fritz Attaway suggested that it's false to assume that the rights of the industry and the interest of...

Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, the guy who thinks President Obama is "sort of God" and writes articles that reveal his infatuation, wants people to think he doesn't use Twitter because they hear enough of his nonsense already. Here's what Meacham said on C-SPAN: I'm not. I feel that if anyone wants to call me, I'm available. I don't. We have it on the Web site. And I think it's a fascinating phenomenon. But I figure that the people who know me certainly have to listen to me too much anyway, at least that's their view. That's one theory. Here's another:...

AIM media analyst Roger Aronoff was on CNN's Newsroom this afternoon, debating Eric Boehlert of Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog. CNN host Rick Sanchez said he'd serve as "referee." Did he cross a line and pitch for the home team? You be the judge: Here's a great analysis of the exchange from Matthew Balan at NewsBusters: Anchor Rick Sanchez used another crazed gunman’s rampage to blast conservative media during CNN’s Newsroom program on Thursday, and brought on Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert as his aide to bash talk radio and Fox News. He hinted that the white supremacist who killed...

CNN's Headline News has hired The View co-host Joy Behar to head her own 9 p.m. talk show. From the New York Times Joy Behar, a longtime co-host of “The View,” is bumping Lou Dobbs from his repeat slot on HLN to host a 9 p.m. talk show. HLN, the opinionated sister channel of CNN, hopes to raise its prime time ratings with the addition of Ms. Behar, who is well known for her comedic and sometimes controversial sensibility. The network, a unit of Turner Broadcasting, is expected to announce the hiring on Thursday. Ms. Behar will work a TV...

The New York Times Co. has hired Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for the money losing Boston Globe. From Boston.com The New York Times Co. has hired an investment bank to manage the possible sale of The Boston Globe, and the company plans to request bids for Boston's major daily in the next couple of weeks, according to two people who say they may make offers on the newspaper. The Times Co., which has declined to comment in recent months on whether it is selling the Globe, has hired Goldman Sachs, the same Wall Street investment bank the Times...

Striking a less than conciliatory tone Boston Guild president Dan Totten issued a letter to members before a key vote that may decided the fate of the Boston Globe. From E & P Less than a week before Newspaper Guild members at The Boston Globe are due to vote on a controversial contract agreement, Guild President Dan Totten has issued a letter to members that is less praise for the deal and more an attack on The New York Times Co.

<p>The National Association of Broadcasters said Wednesday that a majority of U.S. House members are now opposed to imposing new fees on radio stations to pay performance artists.</p> <p>Such a bill passed the House Judiciary Committee last month, but the NAB hopes the show of opposition will prevent it from being brought to the House floor for a debate and vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office is monitoring support for the issue but officials there said the speaker has no immediate plan to take action.</p>

From the Department of Lousy Timing: New Playboy magazine CEO Scott Flanders told the Chicago Tribune, "I don't think Playboy is broken in any respect." His interview was published on the very day that the Playboy empire, which made a fortune exploiting women for decades, finally crossed an ethical line -- and then retreated. It all started when Playboy.com decided to publish a hate piece by rape-fantasist Guy Cimbalo that envisioned sexual attacks on leading conservative women, including Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and bloggers Amanda Carpenter, Pamela Geller, Mary Katharine Ham and Michelle Malkin. The writing and the entire...

CNN's strategy of playing to the middle to distinguish itself from Fox and MSNBC appears to have fallen flat. From the Politico On day one, CNN ruled cable news. But while viewers may flock to the network for election day or the Inauguration, day 130 is a different story. CNN, which just took home a Peabody Award for its 2008 election coverage, and dominated cable-news ratings on days when politics took center stage, is having trouble getting those viewers back on other nights.