Comcast Pledges to Add Black, Hispanic Networks
In looking to appeal to legislators to support its planned merger with NBC Universal, “Comcast pledged to add eight independent TV networks – four each controlled by African-American and Hispanic interests http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=131659 – to its cable system, while creating a $20 million fund to assist minority entrepreneurs,” David Goetzl reported Thursday for Media Post.
In a summary of diversity commitments unveiled Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen, who wrote the letter, “said that two networks majority controlled by African-American interests will be added to Comcast’s digital tier in the first two years post-transaction. Overall, Comcast will add 10 independent networks in the first eight years.
“Networks such as TV One or BET J could also receive a distribution bump soon after the venture debuts. Comcast pledged to increase carriage on its systems of networks controlled by, and targeting, African-Americans within six months.
“Comcast also promised to establish a new venture-capital fund with a minimum of $20 million to seed ventures by minority entrepreneurs in the new-media arena. Details about the fund to be managed by Comcast Interactive Capital will be released in the fall.”
- Breitbart.com: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.93a154ebad70266ed4cbde4cfc8dcbb8.3a1&show_article=1 Campaign launched against Comcast-NBC Universal deal
- John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/454576-Jackson_PUSHES_Comcast_For_10_Minority_Basic_Set_Aside.php Jackson PUSHES Comcast For 10% Minority Basic Set-Aside
Deported El Diario Spy Hopes to Keep Column
In a seeming flashback to the cold war, Russian and American officials traded prisoners http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/world/europe/10russia.html?_r=1&hp in the bright sunlight on the tarmac of Vienna‚Äôs international airport on Friday, bringing to a quick end an episode that had threatened to disrupt relations between the countries,” Nicholas Kulish, Peter Baker and Ellen Barry reported Friday for the New York Times.
“Planes carrying 10 convicted Russian sleeper agents and 4 men accused by Moscow of spying for the West swooped into the Austrian capital, once a hub of clandestine East-West maneuvering, and the men and women were transferred, the Justice Department said. The planes soon took off again in a coda fitting of an espionage novel.”
On Thursday, the 10 appeared in a New York courtroom.
“All appeared unruffled except Vicky Pelaez http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/07/09/2010-07-09_deported_russian_secret_agents_including_anna_chapman_land_in_mos cow_after_spy_s.html , an El Diario-La Prensa columnist and the only non-Russian in the group, who was weeping,” Kevin Deutsch and Corky Siemaszko reported for the New York Daily News.
“Her lawyer said she had no idea her husband of 18-years, Juan Lazaro, was a spook named Mikhail Anatonoljevich Vasenkov. And she had never been to Russia.
“Judge Kimba Wood sentenced them all to time served ‚Äî 11 days and sent them packing.”
The Associated Press said Pelaez’s lawyer, John Rodriguez, “said Pelaez plans to go back to Peru, where her family has a ranch, and where she hoped to continue writing for El Diario La Prensa.”
The AP story, by Jocelyn Noveck and Jim Fitzgerald, asked, “Was Pelaez, deported Thursday in a spy swap along with her husband, an enthusiastic secret agent ‚Äî who like him, was willing to put her loyalty to Moscow over that of her children? Or was she a wife betrayed? http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hSb4LG5aujXDzBEeVhX4FgKK8rmAD9GRRJ100
“One thing was clear on Friday, hours after Pelaez, 55, and Vasenkov, 66, arrived in Vienna, en route to Moscow: A family was in tatters.”
A son “acknowledged the family would lose their home, since it was paid for by the Russians,
“He said he didn’t know where he and his brother would end up living, though he said the teenager wanted to stay in the United States.”
Migel Alvaro Sarmiento, managing editor of El Diario, did not return telephone calls from Journal-isms.
More Blacks, Latinos Use Cell Phones for Internet Access
“African Americans and Hispanics continue to be among the most avid users of the Internet over their cellphones http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/07/minorities_low-income_homes_mo.html , according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center,” Cecilia Kang reported Wednesday for the Washington Post.
“And low-income groups are the fastest adopters of the mobile Web, showing an opportunity that wireless technology could play in helping to bridge a digital divide that has brought the Web disproportionately to wealthier communities over the past two decades.”
“Furthermore, 18 percent of African-Americans, 16 percent of English-speaking Hispanics and 10 percent of whites are ‘cell-only wireless users http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/08/mobile.internet.access.pew/index.html ‘ ‚Äî which means their sole access to the internet, e-mail or instant messaging is via their phones,” CNN reported.
“Drilling down, Hispanics were the biggest users of data applications on their cellphones and laptops. About 83 percent of Hispanics send or receive text messages, compared with 79 percent of Americans and 68 percent of whites. And 47 percent of Hispanics said they send or receive an e-mail, compared with 41 percent of blacks and 30 percent of whites surveyed,” Kang wrote.
In a First, U.S. Denies Entry to a Nieman Fellow
“The U.S. government has denied a visa to a prominent Colombian journalist who specializes in conflict and human rights reporting to attend a prestigious fellowship at Harvard University http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00464 ,” Frank Bajak reported Friday for the Associated Press.
“Hollman Morris, who produces an independent TV news program called ‘Contravia,’ has been highly critical of ties between illegal far-right militias and allies of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, Washington’s closest ally in Latin America.
“The curator of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard, which has offering the mid-career fellowships to U.S. and international journalists since 1938, said Thursday that a consular official at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota told him Morris was ruled permanently ineligible for a visa under the ‘Terrorist activities’ section of the USA Patriot Act.
“U.S. Embassy and State Department officials refused to confirm the visa denial, citing privacy laws.
” ‘We were very surprised. This has never happened before,’ said the Nieman curator, Bob Giles. ‘And Hollman has traveled previously in the United States to give speeches and receive awards.’ He said he had written the State Department to ask it to reconsider the decision.”