Radio Liberty Journalist found dead in Ukraine

A reporter for US-funded Radio Liberty, was found dead in his hotel room early Saturday, the fourth journalist to die in questionalbe circumstances in three years. The body of Serhiy Naboka, 47, was found by a colleague near the city of Vinnytsia, according to Interfax. Preliminary reports indicated Naboka died of a blood clot. Lala Kemularya of the Institute for Mass Information, which represents the international media rights group "Reporters without Borders" in Ukraine, told the AP there were some doubts whether foul play was involved in Naboka's death.

The veteran journalist was known for tough reporting on political issues. He was in Vinnytsia with a group of journalists to prepare a series of reports on the living conditions of prisoners. Police called Kolomiyets' death a suicide, but relatives and colleagues called for a criminal probe, fearing his death could be related to his agency's independent reporting. Prosecutors have launched an investigation, as well The League of Independent Journalists.

More leaflets dropped urging Iraqis to listen to US radio messages

The US Air Force dropped another drop mass leaflet campaign (180,000) in southern Iraq 1/18, encouraging locals to listen to radio broadcasts transmitted from U.S. aircraft in the area. It was the fourth time this year and 15th since last Fall that a drop was made over no-fly zone that British and American planes monitor. The Arabic-language leaflets informed Iraqis of radio frequencies where they can hear programs being aired daily from EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft. They were dropped over Al Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.

The broadcasts criticize Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and talk about the UN's efforts to disarm him.

Mariah Carey spots may have tricked BDS measurement

The LA Times reports that the Island Def Jam Music Group label, which bought radio spots that aired :53 seconds of Mariah Carey's "Through the Rain" in six markets, may have fooled Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) monitoring computers because they contained the regular airplay fingerprint. The allegations are that the singer's label tried to revive her career by inflating airplay figures. The ads made it appear that the song from the singer's album "Charmbracelet" had picked up a healthy 163 more airings than during the previous week. However, BDS discovered during a routine check that the record hadn't gained at all. In fact, the paper said, when Def Jam's ads were removed from the equation, the song had dropped by seven spins from a week earlier.

For example, BDS originally registered KJYO-FM Oklahoma City as playing Carey's song more than 50 times last week. Programmers at the station said they played it only 27 times.

Def Jam execs told the paper they didn't attempt to scam BDS or distort the charts, but they bought the ads simply to get listeners into record stores.

Island Def Jam, owned by Vivendi Universal, has been under pressure to turn Carey's latest album into a hit after it signed her to a $20M, three-album contract last year. Her last album, "Glitter," didn't do very well. Charmbracelet is hanging in there, but isn't topping the charts by any means so far.

Although BDS representatives wouldn't comment on whether Carey's label had tried to beat the system, they said any label that tries will be eventually discovered. "We have safeguards in place so that we can discern the difference between commercials and full airplay," Mark Tindle, West Coast BDS GM told the Times. "Anyone trying to manipulate our service gets caught in the end."

Arbitron Measurecast Index up 31%

MusicMatch once again held on to the top spot amongst webcast networks with 947,720 hours of Total Time Spent Listening. StreamAudio has moved into the number two position in the network ratings race with 686,939 hours of TTSL, according to Arbitron's (N:ARB) MeasureCast Ratings. Clear Channel Worldwide was ranked number three with 667,172 hours of TTSL.

MUSICMATCH Artist Match also maintained its position as the number one individual web channel with 226,698 hours of TTSL or Aggregate Tuning Hours. Virgin Radio was ranked number two with 198,141 hours of TTSL. Internet-only web channel, RADIOIO Eclectic, came in at number three with 184,238 TTSL.

Arbitron's MeasureCast Internet Radio Listening Index for the week of December 30 increased 31% versus the prior week.

RIAA thinks ISPs should be liable for music piracy

The UK Inquirer reports RIAA CEO Hilary Rosen is now looking at the Internet Service providers (ISPs) for a shakedown. She's gone on record saying they should be held accountable for the actions of their users and charged a fee for giving their customer's access to "illegal" file-sharing services such as Kazaa or Morpheus. She says because ISPs are held accountable for removing illegal materials when detected, they should pay to offer customers access to the site.

Maybe the Inquirer said it best: "The result of holding ISPs liable for the ways their customers use them would be catastrophic. Should ISPs be held accountable for the actions of pedophiles? How about members of racist groups? How about groups that are legal but we wish weren't, like the KKK, Aryan Nation, and the American Polka Dancing Society?"

AURN celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King with special

American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) aired a powerful one-hour special, "King...Redeeming The Dream," as part of AURN's celebration of Black history.

The "King...Redeeming The Dream" special is a tribute to the legendary Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr., chronicling the life of this Baptist minister and freedom fighter and exploring how society continues to carry on his enduring legacy. Guest speakers in the one-hour tribute included Julian Bond, Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, Dr. Dorothy Height, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Hollywood celebrities Will Smith, Sinbad, Queen Latifah and more.