Friday, July 2, 2004

Media Mania FEATURED ARTICLES - Carlyle Group purchases Loews Cineplex Theatres, USA Today - Potpourri of links to juicy news pieces about the media, SPJ Press Notes QUOTE OF THE DAY "In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith." - - James William Fulbright KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JULY 2nd 1903 --  Cuba: Guantanamo military base is leased to US for $2,000 per year. 1956 -- Elvis records "Hound Dog" & "Don't Be Cruel." 1964 -- US President Johnson signs Civil Rights Act barring discrimination in public accommodations, employment & voting. 1967 -- US Congress passes Selective Service Act reform: ends grad student deferments & puts them in a pool to be drafted in June 68 so they too can get educated in Vietnam. 1970 -- Vietnam: Exposure of "tiger cages" at Con Son Prison, used by U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government to torture political prisoners. 1976 -- US Supreme Court rules death penalty not inherently cruel or unusual. 1986 -- US Supreme Court upholds affirmative action as a corrective for past discrimination. RHINO HERE: Here's one the Rhino missed last month. Just days before the release of "Farenheit 9/11," the shrub-saudi connected Carlyle ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58968-2004Jun21.html ) Group purchased Loews Cineplex Theatres. Rhino sez, Say What?!  The $2 billion deal is apparently part of a larger effort by Carlyle to buy more telecommunications/media companies. Suspicious  timing considering Carlyle made its name in the defense industry but  just happens to be buying up media enterprises at the same time the pubic begins to grok the Bush-Saudi relationship. And Carlyle's ties to the Bush & Saudi <http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1211-05.htm> royal families are deep: Papa Bush has worked for the company after he left office, as has his former Secretary of State James Baker who not coincidentally represented shrub in the Florida courts during the stolen election of 2000. http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-06-21-loews-cineplex-sold_x.htm On telecommunications & media, todays blog offers a potpourri of juicy media related stories.  Many thanks to the Society of Professional Journalists for their e-newsletter, "Press Notes"  from which the Rhino garners many important stories. You can subscribe by emailing to: pressnotes@spj.org It's all BOTTOM LINE today. 8:32:14 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Potpourri of links to juicy news pieces about the media Potpourri of links to juicy news pieces about the media CAMPAIGN ADS - Group alleges '9/11' ads flout laws Source: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Pro-Republican advocacy group Citizens United filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Thursday alleging that advertisements for Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11" violate the Federal Election Campaign Act. Citizens United, a conservative grassroots advocacy group, says ads for Moore's film depicting President Bush violate federal law because they are "broadcast advertisements" designed to influence the outcome of a federal election. http://www.rcfp.org/news/2004/0625fahren.html BROADCASTING - FCC ordered to reconsider rollback rules Source: New York Times A federal appeals court on Thursday dealt a setback to the nation's largest media companies by ordering the FCC to reconsider the rules it issued last summer, easing the way for them to grow and enter new markets. The 2-to-1 decision by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia means that big broadcasting and publishing companies, which have lobbied and litigated for years in an effort to ease the rules, will have to hold off on any attempts to expand. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/business/media/25MEDI.html MAGAZINE COVERS - 'High Times' offers RNC protest guide Source: The New York Times For those no longer intrigued by magazine covers that promise to reveal "3 Things That All Guys Crave in Bed" or "50 Ways to Lose the Weight," High Times magazine has a new tease: "How to Get Arrested." But High Times, a magazine largely known for its adoring centerfold photo spreads of marijuana, is not talking about getting busted for possession of illegal drugs. The arresting cover line appears on the latest issue, an activist's guide to the Republican National Convention in New York, Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/business/media/28high.html ETHICS - Boston Phoenix identifies CIA officer Source: Editor & Publisher The active U.S. intelligence officer known only as "Anonymous," who has gained world renown this month as author of an upcoming book called"Imperial Hubris," is actually named Michael Scheuer, according to an article in the Boston Phoenix Wednesday by Jason Vest. Speculation about his identity has run rampant since a June 23 article in The New York Times discussed the book and the background of the author. The book, "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror," asserts, among other things, that Osama bin Laden is not on the run and that the invasion of Iraq has not made the United States safer. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000557752 ACCESS - 'AP' sues for Bush's military records Source: Editor & Publisher The Associated Press has sued the Pentagon and Air Force, seeking access to all records of President George W. Bush's military service, but the news agency wonders why it has come to this. "It seems a little curious because the president made a pretty forceful presentation that he had nothing to hide," said AP General Counsel Dave Tomlin, when asked for his reaction to what the AP considers government stonewalling. "But we are not surprised." http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000550641 POLITICS - Ashcroft sued over whistleblower documents Source: Associated Press, via Editor & Publisher A watchdog group sued Attorney General John Ashcroft on Wednesday for classifying previously public documents pertaining to a whistleblower's claims of security lapses in the FBI's translator program. Citing national security, Ashcroft recently classified documents related to the case of Sibel Edmonds, a former linguist at the FBI. The lawsuit charged that reclassifying materials that had previously been in the public domain is illegal and unconstitutional. The suit was filed in federal court by the Washington-based Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit group that has been following the case. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000550606 WAR - Wolfowitz apologizes for 'afraid' remarks Source: Editor & Publisher Under attack for criticizing the courage of U.S. war correspondents in Baghdad this week in testimony before Congress, Paul Wolfowitz, the number two man in the Pentagon, issued an unusual apology late Thursday. Wolfowitz said he felt "deep regret" for not apologizing sooner. In the three-paragraph letter, Wolfowitz revealed he was aware that journalists go out each day "in the most dangerous circumstances" to cover the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that 34 had given their lives in Iraq already. On Tuesday, Wolfowitz had said that reporters were "afraid" to leave their shelter in Baghdad and therefore tended to print "rumors." http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000552378 INTERNATIONAL - Gunmen kill crusading editor in Mexico Source: Associated Press, via New York Times Francisco Ortiz Franco was a tough editor dedicated to investigative journalism in the Mexican border city Tijuana -- a town now dominated by drug gangs, migrant smugglers, and organized crime. When a colleague was killed in 1988 and another nearly slain in 1997, he insisted his crusading weekly newspaper, Zeta, would not back down. That defiance apparently cost him his life Tuesday, when an unidentified assailant shot him dead in broad daylight. The attack on Ortiz sparked an outcry from President Vicente Fox, international press groups and the publication's editorial board, which demanded a thorough investigation. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Mexico-Editor-Killed.html RELATED ARTICLES: Hundreds of thousands march in Mexico Source: New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/international/americas/28mexi.html Mexico's journalists remember editor Source: Associated Press, via Editor & Publisher http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000552226 "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:16:43 AM    comment

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