CBS, Infinity issue annual social responsibility reports
For the second year in a row, CBS has cataloged efforts by its television network, programming arms and local television stations in a 94-page Social Responsibility Report. The second edition spans the previous calendar year, encompassing activities of all divisions of CBS, including CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CBS Sports, the Viacom Television Stations Group and UPN.
Additionally, for the first time, Infinity Broadcasting has issued a Social Responsibility Report highlighting its efforts in community outreach, programming and commitment to local artists.
Included in the reports are activities in such areas as:
* Diversity Initiatives, including the recently-formed CBS Diversity Institute, its talent showcases and industry-partners, as well as the programs offered through CBS News and the Viacom Television Stations;
* Local public-interest programming like food and clothing drives, disaster preparedness, tax help and health seminars;
* On-air programs and events sponsored by Infinity stations highlighting music and performances by local musicians in their markets;
* Accessible Media programs like closed-captioning and Second Audio Programming;
* National and local broadcast of public service announcements for causes like responsible drinking, child abuse prevention, HIV awareness, racial tolerance, alcohol and substance abuse, parenting, violence prevention and hunger/ disaster relief;
* "Infinity Radio Connect," a series of national interviews and call-in specials with government leaders like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which were made available to many Infinity stations throughout the year;
* Local broadcasts of community parades, festivals and fund-raisers, as well as the sponsorship of hundreds of local community events like food and clothing drives and telethons;
* CBS News' coverage of the war in Iraq, including its "embedded" soldiers. Also highlighted are many of the hundreds of stories produced by CBS News that have affected - and in many cases benefited - the lives of viewers.
Belling backers rally to get him back on air
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, more than two dozen supporters of WISN-AM talker Mark Belling gathered at the station's offices Saturday to protest Belling's suspension for using an ethnic slur (11/9 RBR Daily Epaper #219).
In addition to carrying signs that urged Belling's return, several of the protesters signed a petition asking WISN to reinstate Belling.
They briefly chanted, "Bring Mark back!"
Station management has not said when or if Belling will return, nor did they meet with the protesters. Greenfield police took a call from the station's security asking that police move protesters off company property. Protesters obliged without incident.
Organizers sold T-shirts for 10 dollars each, which read "Free Belling." Organizer Tom Fries said the money would be donated to Belling's favorite charity. In addition to his suspension from WISN, Belling's Sunday morning television show on WDJT-TV has been taken off the air indefinitely.
WBIX-AM Boston owner confessed on tape before attempting suicide
The suicide attempt of investment manager and WBIX-AM Boston owner Bradford Bleidt last week has taken a twist. The SEC says he sent them a tape on which he confessed that he had purchased the station with embezzled funds.
The Boston Globe says Bleidt, who remains in critical condition, admitted on the tape (which was sent to the SEC before his suicide attempt) that he had stolen tens of millions of dollars in client funds over the last 20 years and had used money from a church, which was now looking for its money, to buy the station.
The suicide attempt came after Bleidt attended a 11/10 evening party to celebrate the station's new 24-hour format and new ownership (Christopher Egan). Bleidt was selling the station in a 13.2 million deal that had been expected to close this month.
NYT promotes Private Ryan
The New York Times invested some of its Editorial Page ink on the "Saving Private Ryan" incident, essentially scolding the FCC for leaving broadcasters scratching their heads wondering if context really does matter in questions of indecency, after the Commissions "...blue nose was bent out of shape by the flash of Janet Jackson's breast during the last Super Bowl, and later, by Bono's casual airing of an obscenity assuredly in use among soldiers in Iraq." [Ed. note: The Bono incident actually took place almost a year before the Jackson incident.]
"Pressure groups and organized campaigns complaining in the name of public morality have been a constant in the nation's political culture since the witch trials of Salem," wrote NYT. "Government officials should resist the temptation of joining the fray on either side. Some stations asked the FCC to formally approve the airing of 'Saving Private Ryan,' and the agency properly resisted becoming an overt censor. Now the FCC should move the standard back to where it was - - a position of common sense."
RBR observation:
NYT's advice notwithstanding, it must be noted that common sense is a commodity which is often in short supply in Washington. Now if you're looking for some hot air.....
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
