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Congresspedia Review: Last Week in Congress (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2007)

Over the last week in Congress the effort to dramatically expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program hit another roadblock, several media reports on controversial earmarks were released, two members of Congress announced retirements and minor movement was seen on everything from an overhaul of the tax code to warrantless wiretapping and more Democratic investigations into Bush administration officials.

Following the president's veto of the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the House last week passed a revised version designed to secure more votes from House Republicans. However, bill backers (almost all Democrats and a few dozen Republicans) failed to secure enough votes to override Bush's veto. This week, a bipartisan group of senators had been trying to find a compromise version of the bill with President Bush, but the deal broke apart on Thursday when Republicans forced a vote on the House version of the bill. The bill, while approved, fell 3 votes short of a veto-proof majority, leaving its future uncertain. Funding for SCHIP, which has already been extended past its Sept. 30 expiration, ends on Nov. 16, and the expansion bill's future is uncertain.

How did your senators and representatives vote? This week's featured participatory project is to record their votes in their "permanent record" - their Congresspedia profiles. No special knowledge or expertise is necessary and it only takes a few minutes. Full instructions can be found on the project page.

More details about the week in Congress are after the jump.

Broadcasters' Coalition of the Shilling Objects to Fake News Fines

Do you remember when the Surgeon General's warning appeared on cigarette packs, and everyone stopped smoking? Or when nutritional information was added to food packaging, and everyone stopped eating sugary snacks? Neither do I.

Yet lawyers and lobbyists for the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) insist that mounting pressure to disclose fake news "already has begun to drastically chill speech in newsrooms across the country, inhibiting broadcasters and cablecasters from fully serving their viewers."

That claim is made in RTNDA's new filing (PDF) with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The broadcasters' group is urging the FCC to stop considering fines for undisclosed video news releases (VNRs). The FCC has proposed fines totaling $20,000 against Comcast, for its cable channel CN8 having aired five VNRs — public relations videos designed to look like news reports — without disclosure.

The FCC fines are an important first step in ensuring news viewers' right to know. But rather than roll up its metaphoric sleeves and address the impact of VNRs on television news, RTNDA is lobbying against any FCC action.

AT&T's Wisconsin Network Finds Broad Support for Video "Choice"

phoneIt's no secret that polls are used to shape public opinion at least as much as they're used to measure it. The website of one major U.S. polling firm, the Mellman Group, boasts its "extensive experience developing effective communications strategies that lead people to choose our client's product or service, join their organization, hold their opinion, or vote as we would like."

Polling was used as a perception management tactic in the national debate over the children's health insurance program known as SCHIP. As President Bush prepared to veto an SCHIP reauthorization bill, Republican strategists worried about the impact on their party. Republican pollster David Winston came up with a solution: present the party's opposition as an attempt to "'put poor kids first' rather than expand coverage to adults, illegal immigrants and those already with insurance," reported the Wall Street Journal. "Independents favored that message 47%-38%." The veto went ahead, with the "poor kids first" theme figuring prominently in Republican talking points and briefing materials, such as the White House's "Five Key Myths About President Bush's Support for SCHIP Reauthorization."

Polls are also frequently employed as part of a "bandwagon" strategy: most people support (or oppose) this, so you should support (or oppose) this, too. Last year, a poll purported to show strong opposition to "net neutrality," the principle that networks should provide access to any data, without discrimination. But the poll questions were highly leading, asking participants whether they preferred "new TV and video choice" and "lower prices for cable TV," or "barring high speed internet providers from offering specialized services." The poll was funded by Verizon Communications, which opposes net neutrality.

Another telecom-related poll was unveiled last month at a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin. According to a press release (PDF) put out by the newly-formed Wisconsin Video Choice Coalition, "Wisconsin residents across demographic, geographic and party lines overwhelmingly support a state bill that would encourage competition to cable TV."

By all accounts, the legislation in question is controversial. Why, then, did the poll find such strong support for it?

Preview: Congress This Week (October 29-November 2, 2007)

Looming debates over the 2008 Budget will take center stage this week, as Democrats prepare a $700 billion spending bill package for most of the discretionary budget. The package, containing such priorities as Defense, Veterans Affairs, Labor and HHS, could be hard for President Bush to veto. Several remaining budget bills might be placed in a second package, while others will see individual fights between Congress and the White House.

In other business, the Senate will once again vote on the $35 billion SCHIP expansion. The House passed a revised version of the bill last week, amid Republican complaints that the vote was poorly timed while wildfires raged in California. House lawmakers will turn their attention to an overhaul of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which assists workers whose jobs move oversees.

Here are the committee hearings scheduled for this week in Congress:

Hearings Schedules:

Time To Pay for Payola Pundit Armstrong Williams

Perhaps, in the case of Armstrong Williams, the third time will be the charm.

Armstrong WilliamsThe first two official investigations failed to hold anyone accountable for what can only be described as a textbook case of government propaganda. The results of the third investigation, by the Federal Communications Commission, were announced recently (PDF file). The FCC found Williams and two media companies to be at fault, issuing a citation against Williams and proposing fines of $40,000 against Sonshine Family Television and $36,000 against Sinclair Broadcast Group.

An Ethical Look at Fake News

Jerry Dunklee (photo courtesy of John O'Dwyer)"I love Red Cross, but I don't trust them completely when they're the ones shooting the video," explained journalism professor and Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) ethics committee member Jerry Dunklee.

Dunklee was speaking at SPJ's recent convention, on a panel titled "Paid and Played: The Ethics of Using Video News Releases." His remarks focused on the ethical issues raised by VNRs. Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) executive director John Stauber and Jim Bayse of the firm Wiley Rein, which represents the Radio-Television News Directors Association, were also on the panel.

Much of the VNR debate is currently focused on legal and policy issues: speculation over what the Federal Communications Commission really meant by fining Comcast for five undisclosed VNRs, and what the agency is likely to do next. But it's also important to address the ethical implications of VNRs. Dunklee did so by relating sometimes abstract guidelines to real-world situations he faced as a reporter and news director in cable and broadcast television.

Line rental

An extract from Bob Burton's Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry.

Cover of Inside Spin: The dark underbelly of the PR industry"It's a little bit like my yacht club" is how Mike Nahan, the former veteran activist with the Melbourne-headquartered Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), described the process of hand-picking members for the Australian think tank. "We go out and say 'would you like to become a member' and they do." 1 The IPA, however, is not in the business of organising genteel sailing trips for its 54 members.

Working to Make A Difference (In Their Favor): The Arts Dollars of Philip Morris

Is it Art, or Is It Philip Morris?Cigarette maker Altria/Philip Morris (PM) recently announced that it is moving its New York headquarters to Richmond, Virginia, and that it will end its corporate sponsorship of the arts in New York. Predictably, New York arts organizations are crying over the loss of cigarette dollars. These organizations sadly believe that their acceptance of PM dollars has been benign. In truth, these organizations have helped PM advance its credibility and legitimacy with policymakers, and have done tremendous harm to the country.

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