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AMERICANS pride themselves on a sense of fairness. When one side of a controversy gets to articulate a point of view to the public and the other side doesn't because of lack of resources or access to media, we conclude that the "marketplace of ideas" has broken down. On the other hand, we also believe that government should not intervene to control public debate over the issues of the day. This is particularly critical in the realm of elections, both local and national.

This past August, the "Fairness Doctrine" was expunged from the Federal Register. From 1949 to 1987, the Fairness Doctrine required radio and television stations to offer a "range of opinion" on public matters in their broadcasts. Although no station ever lost its license for failing to comply with this regulation, broadcasters perpetually claimed that the doctrine was burdensome and restricted their First Amendment rights.

Television and radio are still the primary sources of news for most Americans, and it is vital that the broadcasters who enjoy the license of this public resource — the radio spectrum — serve the public with news coverage of the critical issues of the day. Because the spectrum is licensed on a geographic basis, more than 1,700 television and 14,000 radio stations serve the U.S. population.

These stations both compete and cooperate with cable- and satellite-television networks, which are required to retransmit local television programming to their local service areas. Most TV viewers don't know that their local ABC station pays a license fee to use the airwaves, while CNN does not, because both pure cable and old-fashioned broadcast stations appear equally on their cable or satellite TV menus.

In the changing media landscape created by the explosion of 24-hour cable networks and millions of websites since the 1990s, the Fairness Doctrine went the way of the dodo bird. With saturation coverage of presidential elections and national issues on the Internet and news networks, it became harder to argue that the public wasn't exposed to a wide range of views.

Yet, the gaping hole in the new media universe is coverage of local controversies, elections and mundane matters such as the activities of city and county governments.

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of daily newspapers declined from 1,800 to 1,600 in the two decades between 1990 and 2010. Pew further reports that this 20-year view shows a steady slide in paid circulation. Daily circulation, which stood at 62.3 million in 1990, fell to 43.4 million in 2010, a decline of 30 percent. Sunday circulation held up slightly better, declining by only 26 percent.

With fewer newspapers serving communities and broadcasters freed of responsibility to cover civic affairs, how will people keep up to speed with salient topics facing their communities? While the cost of local transit projects or waste-treatment plants is not as entertaining as the peccadilloes of presidential candidates, one could argue that local projects, funded by local tax dollars, have a more immediate impact on people's lives than a national candidate's vision for moon colonies. Although a few promising local websites have emerged to cover local matters, they reach only a small fraction of the regular radio or TV audience.

I propose that we bring back the Fairness Doctrine, specifically for local matters defined by the service areas of licensed radio and television stations. Local broadcasters, for example, should be required to devote at least five hours of programming per week to areas such as public education, city and county services and taxes. Citizens deserve to know where their tax dollars are going and how local agencies are managed. Local elections deserve more coverage than 500 word statements printed in voter guides.

While broadcasters will complain about the "unfairness" of this new Fairness Doctrine, it would be a small price to pay for coverage of local issues and elections. Public-affairs programming, as evidenced by first-rate local programs like KIRO's daily radio program, "The Newsmakers," and King 5's "Up Front," can make for engaging programming when addressing topics that impact Seattle and King County. In the age of global communication, it's time to reestablish the primacy of issues that are close to home.

Alex Alben has worked in broadcast journalism and the high-tech industry. He is writing a book about digital culture. His email is alexalben99@yahoo.com

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Media and democracy: It's time for a new Fairness Doctrine

First came the wax cylinder, followed by the LP, eight-track, cassette, CD, MP3, and now the digital stream. While most of the types of media on that list have dedicated players, the last two have sort of floundered when it comes to dedicated "in-home" players. USB DACs and iPod docks have been a stopgap solution, but they added unnecessary steps between your music and your ears.

Digital music players such as the Logitech Squeezebox Touch and now the Pioneer Elite N-30 Network Audio Player aim to make your music accessible, whether it's your own or from one of your favorite streaming-music services. The Squeezebox is not inexpensive at $299, but the Pioneer ups the ante by coming in at $499, and the step-up model, the Pioneer N-50, is even dearer at $699.

It's rarefied air the N-30 breathes, competing with hi-fi players such as the Cambridge Audio NP30 and Marantz NA7004. Does the Pioneer do enough to justify the expense?

Design
When you're listening to an audio device, how much of an issue is industrial design? In most cases, none; it could look like a busted UFO and still work fine. But with the Pioneer N-30, the design of the case actually detracts from its usability in a meaningful way. While the blocky casing is a little on the boring side, the brushed-aluminum finish does add a small touch of class.

It's the screen that's the letdown here, as it's only 2.5 inches across. Anyone remember Microsoft's "social" phone, the Kin? Silly question, no one does. This short-lived phone had a too-small screen that was--you guessed it--2.5 inches, but at least this was meant to be held close to your face. The Pioneer is designed to sit in your home theater about 8 feet away! But help is at hand: if you have a smartphone (not a Kin!) you'll be able to control the N-30 through a dedicated application, though as you'll soon see, not that successfully.

Is a 2.5-inch screen too small?

The N-30 comes with a brushed remote that is reassuringly heavy, as an audiophile might say. However, it's the same model that's used for the N-50, and so buttons such as "DIG IN 1" remain tantalizingly dormant. (The N-50 includes digital inputs, while the N-30 does not.)

Features
The N-30 is a music-focused network streamer with an Internet radio app. Last year, I wrote a manifesto on the 10 "must-have" features of a media player, and the Pioneer is one of the few players that comes close to fulfilling this vision, with six of the boxes ticked. Some of these pluses include simple navigation via the front panel, USB playback of mobile devices, and excellent format support--at least on paper. The N-30 supports most file types, which includes support for most music types up to 24-bit/192KHz, and this includes WAV, FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, and Ogg Vorbis.

I'm also disappointed to note the lack of streaming services, the provision of Net radio notwithstanding, and think that the smart consumer will at least want access to Pandora or Spotify. The days of downloading and keeping your music stored at home are coming to a close, and with recent changes to Spotify, entire swathes of 320Kbps MP3s are available over the Interwebs.

However, the N-30 does include Apple's AirPlay, and as such it streams not only your iTunes library via Wi-Fi but also compatible apps such as Spotify. Internet connection down? Spotify now lets you store Starred songs on your PC or mobile device.

The proprietary Wi-Fi adapter costs $150.

The device also comes with a dedicated iOS and Android controller app you can use to turn the device on and to pick content from the various network sources. It's free to download.

Of course, to use the streaming functions you will need an Internet connection of some sort, and the N-30 uses an Ethernet port. If, like the rest of the modernized world, you use a wireless router then you will need to plump down an extra $150 for the proprietary AS-WL300 wireless adapter. Bluetooth too is optional and costs an additional $99. To put it into perspective, the Wi-Fi adapter alone costs $50 more than the excellent WD TV Live and the BT adaptor and Wi-Fi together cost as much as the Logitech Squeezebox Touch.

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Pioneer N-30

Brent Bozell, the founder and president of the right-leaning Media Research Center, has decided to cancel the contraception coverage currently included in the company's employee health insurance plan after reportedly being "horrified" to discover those benefits were included in the wake of the debate surrounding President Obama's recent healthcare mandate.

In a staff-wide e-mail acquired by the Web site The Jane Dough, Bozell allegedly wrote that the company is working with BlueCross, its insurance provider, so as not to comply with the "disgusting mandate."

"[We] are working to change our insurance policy so as not to have to comply with this administration's disgusting mandate to provide contraceptive, sterilization and abortifacient services," wrote Bozell, who said he would have never approved the insurance policy in question if he had known that coverage was included.

Bozell then encouraged employees to refrain from using their birth control coverage until he is able to sort through the necessary paperwork to institute the policy changes with BlueCross, although he acknowledged he cannot force them to comply with his request. However, he added that not complying with it "is to commit a mortal sin."

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"Do not avail yourselves to these ... services, not through the MRC. They are evil, and I am unequivocal about this," Bozell wrote.

The birth control mandate, a provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, requires all employers to provide contraception coverage as part of their health insurance coverage. Although churches and church-sponsored organizations were exempt from the rule, religiously-affiliated organizations -- such as hospitals, universities and charities -- initially were not.

After an uproar from conservative Republicans and Catholic Church leaders who claimed the mandate violated those organizations' religious liberty, the Obama administration consented to a compromise. Now, employees who work for religious institutions that object to contraception coverage can obtain it, still free of charge, directly from their insurer.

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Media Research Center to Eliminate "Evil" Birth Control Services from Company Health Plan

BEIRUT: After decades of living under state media control, Syrian journalists at home and abroad have established the Syrian Journalists’ Association (SJA).

With this new organization, which released its mission statement February 20, the journalists hope to counter the efforts of the government-run Syrian Journalists’ Union, which they say rather than protecting and supporting members of the press has instead pressured them to tow the government line, ever since the country’s ruling Baath party took power in 1963.

“Sadly, the Syrian Journalists’ Union didn’t act as an independent organization to support journalists. It was for propaganda,” says Ghassan Ibrahim, a founder of the SJA and head of the Arab Global Network, a news service based in London.

“We’re independent journalists who believe in freedom, and we decided to start this organization so that journalists can get access to the country and send a message.”

As for the organization’s first order of business, he says, “We’ll start by looking at where the SJU failed.”

Syrian journalists who founded the new association claim that the government-run union regularly monitors their activities.

“As soon as I registered with the union, police came to my house. I asked myself, ‘Why am I being investigated?’” recalls Ghalia Kabbani, another founding member of the association, who worked as a journalist in Syria between 1990 and 1994, during which time she was repeatedly questioned by the authorities simply for being a registered journalist.

She says she was ordered to write detailed reports on her friends and family, and was also asked to spy on any foreign journalists she knew who entered the country.

Similarly, Kinda Kanbar, publisher for four years of an independent magazine not recognized by the union, says, “I was afraid to knock on their door because the union was known to be part of the secret police department, the mukhabarat.”

Of the new organization, Kabbani emphasizes, “This is for journalists who are with the revolution. We want to say we’re not part of that [government-run] union.”

Indeed, as the bloodshed in Syria continues unabated, and with no clear resolution to the political conflict in sight, activists say it is important to develop institutions that would enable a transition to civil society. Similar associations have been set up by members of other professions, including one in December for artists and another in January for writers.

“When the regime falls, we’ll need established institutions,” Kabbani points out. And Ibrahim, of the Arab Global Network, predicts that “when the regime falls, the official union will have the same fate.”

Ibrahim also notes that no Syrian journalist will be required or pressured to join the association. Instead, he says that the group will defend media freedom and protect the rights of journalists.

It will be open to all Syrian and Syrian-born Palestinian journalists working in print, broadcast and online media whether they live inside Syria or abroad. Those interested in joining must provide a letter from their media outlet or obtain the approval of three founding members of the SJA.

As their manifesto reads, “The Syrian Journalists Association is a democratic and independent association. It is committed to the Syrian revolution’s goals and its calls for the freedom and dignity of the Syrian people, and moving towards building a democratic state that guarantees justice and equality to all Syrian citizens.”

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Syrian journalists look to promote media freedom with new association

23-02-2012 10:57 Learn more: goo.gl Correcting color can have you seeing red—literally—when working with a keyboard and mouse alone. With Artist Color, you get the precision and hands-on control you need to fix and enhance color to perfection. And you can keep your eyes on the picture instead of monitoring the interface. Get an in-depth walkthrough of the surface in this video and see how it can speed up your color work. Learn more: http://www.avid.com

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Product Designer Series: Media Composer® and Artist Color - Video