A bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives are now cosponsoring the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution opposing "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA), which signals members of Congress's opposition to any potential legislation that imposes new performance royalties on broadcast radio stations for music airplay, now has 222 cosponsors in the House and 28 in the Senate.
Adding their support for the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House are Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL-4), Shontel Brown (D-OH-11), Troy Carter (D-LA-2), Andrew Clyde (R-GA-9), Byron Donalds (R-FL-19), Brad Finstad (R-MN-1), Mike Flood (R-NE-1), Mayra Flores (R-TX-34), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL-26), Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23), Jody Hice (R-GA-10), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8), Burgess Owens (R-UT-4), Stacey Plaskett (D-VI-DL), Matt Rosendale (R-MT-AL), John Rutherford (R-FL-4), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-7), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-1) and Daniel Webster (R-FL-11). Adding their support for a companion resolution in the House are Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jim Risch (R-ID, Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
"America's radio broadcasters are deeply thankful to the nearly 250 bipartisan House and Senate cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act," said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt (right). "Local radio stations' irreplaceable service to their communities and our decades-long relationship with recording artists would be greatly damaged by a burdensome performance royalty. The support for broadcast radio from a majority of the House helps ensure that local stations can continue playing an indispensable role to our tens of millions of listeners without harming the historic partnership between broadcasters and the record industry."
Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Steve Womack (R-AR-3) are the principal cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House of Representatives. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and John Barrasso (R-WY) are the lead cosponsors of a companion resolution in the Senate.
"Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station broadcast over the air," reads the Local Radio Freedom Act.
InsideRadio reports it is still possible the House Judiciary Committee will advance the proposed American Music Fairness Act (H.R. 4130) out of the committee, where Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has been as strong advocate for a radio royalty. The bill was introduced last June by Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Darrell Issa (R-CA), and would require radio stations that fall under $1.5 million in annual revenue and whose parent companies make less than $10 million in annual revenue to pay $500 per year in performance royalties, or less than two dollars per day. Smaller stations – those with less than $100,000 per year in revenue – would pay ten dollars a year.
Russia and Ukraine each accused the other Sunday of carrying out rocket and artillery strikes at or near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Fears are continuing to grow that the attacks could cause a disastrous massive radiation leak from the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia claimed Sunday that Ukrainian forces attacked the plant twice over the past day and that shells fell near buildings storing reactor fuel and radioactive waste. Meanwhile, the regional governor said heavy fighting overnight left parts of Ukrainian-controlled Nikopol nearby without electricity. AP said neither side's claims could be independently verified. Russia took control of the plant soon after its invasion of Ukraine, and they also hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the Dnieper River. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets. The U.N.’s atomic energy agency has tried to negotiate an agreement with Ukraine and Russia to send a team to inspect and secure the plant.
WATCH: #Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located, the chief of staff of Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said late on Sunday, while reports of shelling around the facility fueled fears of a radiation disaster. pic.twitter.com/9rP8rR96tN
➤U.S. SAILS WARSHIPS THROUGH TAIWAN STRAIT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE PELOSI'S VISIT: The U.S. sailed two Navy warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday in what was called a routine transit, the first publicly known time that U.S. warships have done so since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own, was furious about Pelosi's visit, and conducted many military exercises in the strait afterward in response. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on CNN yesterday that sending the ships sent a, quote, "very clear message, very consistent message . . . that the United States Navy, the United States military will sail, fly and operate wherever international law permits us to do so." The U.S. regularly sends Navy ships through the strait.
UPDATE: 3 people are dead, including the suspected shooter, after an attack at a grocery store in Bend, Oregon https://t.co/6DqF7aL462
➤FOUR SHOT RANDOMLY, THREE FATALLY, BY DETROIT SHOOTER: Detroit police were looking for a suspect Sunday after four people were shot, three of them fatally, by someone who appeared to be firing at people at random over two-and-a-half hours Sunday morning. All four shootings were traced to one weapon and police believe there was just one shooter. Among the victims, one was walking a dog and another was waiting for a bus. The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were aiding in the search.
Gunman kills three people after setting fire to lure out victims from Houston rental property, authorities say. https://t.co/3Sarws6AzI
➤EVICTED TEXAS MAN KILLS THREE TENANTS, WOUNDS TWO OTHERS: A Houston man who was evicted from an apartment building killed three tenants and wounded two others early Sunday morning after he set fire to the house to lure them out. The gunman shot at the tenants as they ran out around 1 a.m., and then opened fire on the firefighters battling the blaze. The firefighters had to take cover until police fatally shot the gunman. No firefighters or police were wounded. The gunman's identity has yet to be released, but neighbor Robin Ahrens told the Houston Chronicle that the man was unemployed and had colon cancer, and was recently told he was being evicted because he was behind on his rent.
➤8:40 AM UPDATE...NASA POSTPONES ARTEMIS 1 LAUNCH AFTER ISSUES EMERGE DURING COUNTDOWN: NASA delayed the debut of its towering moon rocket Monday after issues emerged during countdown, postponing the launch from the Kennedy Space Center. The agency was slated to launch its Artemis I mission during a two hour-long launch window that opened at 8:33 a.m. ET, sending the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule on a more than month-long journey around the moon. But with under two hours to go in the countdown, NASA was troubleshooting issues identified with the SLS rocket.
➤FACEBOOK PARENT META SETTLES CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LAWSUIT: Facebook's parent company Meta has reached a tentative settlement of a lawsuit alleging that Facebook allowed the personal information of millions of its users to be given to Cambridge Analytica, which used the data in support of Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign. Terms weren't disclosed in the court documents filed late Friday. The settlement was reached less than a month before a September 20th deadline for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and long-time chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, to submit to depositions. It was revealed in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users, which was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 election. The lawsuit had been seeking to be certified as a class action representing Facebook users.
➤CHRISTIE'S TO AUCTION $1 BILLION-PLUS ART COLLECTION OF MICROSOFT CO-FOUNDER PAUL ALLEN: Auction house Christie's and the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen announced Friday that Christie's will auction some 150 artworks from Allen's collection this fall that are expected to bring in more than $1 billion in all. All the proceeds will go to philanthropic causes. Highlights in the collection, which Christie's said ranges from Old Masters to the giants of modern art, including Paul Cézanne’s "La Montagne Sainte-Victoire," estimated to sell for more than $100 million, and Jasper Johns’ "Small False Start," estimated at $50 million. Allen died from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2018.
✞ROLAND MESNIER, WHITE HOUSE PASTRY CHEF FOR FIVE PRESIDENTS, DEAD AT 78: Roland Mesnier, who was the White House executive pastry chef for five presidents, died on Friday, the White House Historical Association confirmed. He was 78. Mesnier was one of the longest-serving White House chefs hired originally in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter's wife, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and serving under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before retiring under the latter Bush's administration. The French-born Mesnier said in 2004 when asked about working at the White House, "You don’t think about free time, spare time, etc. . . . Any time you are needed you have to be there. It could be Christmas day, Easter, your birthday, your mother’s birthday, your child’s birthday . . . The White House always comes first."
‘THE INVITATION’ TAKES NO. 1 SPOT AT THE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE: The horror film The Invitation took the top spot at the domestic box office over the weekend, with just $7 million. Deadline reports that this was the lowest-grossing weekend yet this summer, with $54 million for all movies—explaining how a movie with a 'C' CinemaScore is leading the chart.
Box Office Numbers from Friday thru Sunday:
1. The Invitation, $7 million 2. Bullet Train, $5.6 million 3. Beast, $4.9 million 4. Top Gun: Maverick, $4.75 million 5. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, $4.544 million 6. DC League of Super-Pets, $4.225 million 7. 3,000 Years of Longing, $2.876 million 8. Minions: Rise of Gru, $2.74 million 9. Thor: Love and Thunder, $2.7 million 10. Where the Crawdads Sing, $2.32 million
➤NYC MAN ASKS FIRST DATES TO FILL OUT EXIT SURVEY ON HIM, THE DATE: After one 27-year-old New York City man goes on first dates, he asks the women to fill out an online exit survey to rate him and their date. Google program manager Devon Loucks, who moved to New York a little over a year ago from San Francisco, wasn't having any luck dating, getting ghosted or having dates fail to show up. So he decided to try something different. The survey says, "I’ve created this survey to help reflect on our dating experience and allow you the chance to pinpoint highlights and lowlights throughout our time together." Among the questions, he asks them to rate the date overall, and then weigh in on more specific things, such as whether they enjoyed the conversation, or if they like the "vibe" at his house, or why they didn't go back to his apartment. He told the New York Post, "Some girls didn’t like the idea of a survey at all. Ohers were like, 'Oh, my God, this is iconic.'" Loucks has regularly been seeing a woman for the past few weeks who filled out one of his surveys. She said about it, "It just made me realize you cared enough about the date to want feedback about it."
🏌MCILROY WINS FEDEX CUP: Rory McIlroy won the Tour Championship yesterday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta to take the Fedex Cup for the third time. McIlroy rallied from being six shots behind, and Scottie Scheffler, who'd been in the lead, ended up tied with Sungjae Im in second place one shot back.
🏈COMMANDERS ROOKIE ROBINSON SHOT IN WASHINGTON: Washington Commanders rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. was shot during an attempted robbery or carjacking yesterday evening, according to the NFL team. The Commanders said the 23-year-old was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and head coach Ron Rivera tweeted, "He is in good spirits and wanted me to thank everyone for their kind words, prayers & support." Washington, D.C., police said they were looking for two possible suspects.
⚾HAWAII TEAM WINS LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES: The team from Honolulu, Hawaii, won the Little League World Series on Sunday in Williamsport, PA, beating the Curacao team 13-3. The win came in just four innings, as under Little League rules, a team wins if it is leading by 10 runs or more after four innings. Hawaii starter Jaron Lancaster pitched all four innings, allowing three runs, three hits and striking out 10. Hawaii's scoring was sparked by back-to-back home runs from Kekoa Payanal and Kama Angell in the first inning. The championship was Hawaii's fourth.
🏈BILLS RELEASE ROOKIE PUNTER ARAIZA AFTER GANG RAPE ALLEGATION: The Buffalo Bills released rookie punter Matt Araiza on Saturday, two days after he and two of his former San Diego State teammates were accused in a civil lawsuit of gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party last October. Bills general manager Brandon Beane said Saturday night, "With the serious nature and allegations, and we just can't, we don't have the means to put all the facts together." Araiza said in a statement Friday, "The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press." Araiza's attorney, Kerry Armstrong, told ESPN that his client spoke with the girl at the party, but that the rape allegations are "just untrue." A criminal investigation into the allegations is ongoing. Araiza was chosen by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft in April.
⚾ASTROS ACE VERLANDER LEAVES GAME WITH CALF DISCOMFORT: Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, a leading candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, left Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles after three scoreless innings due to discomfort in his right calf. The Astros went on to win 3-1. Houston manager Dusty Baker said after the game, "He's going in for some imaging [Monday]. He felt that -- when he was covering first base -- that it was his calf. And that is the best of bad news. We were really glad that it wasn't anything to do with his arm or elbow or anything like that."
🎾SERENA, VENUS WILLIAMS TO FACE CZECH TEAM IN FIRST ROUND OF U.S. OPEN DOUBLES: If the U.S. Open that begins today really will be the last tournament of Serena Williams' career, she's going out playing both singles and doubles, teaming up with sister Venus Williams. The double brackets announced yesterday (August 28th) show that the Williams' sisters will face the Czech team of Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round. This will be the first doubles event together for the Williams sisters since the 2018 French Open. They have won 14 Grand Slam championships as a doubles team.
Prince Harry arrives in electric car to board private jet for one-day polo match https://t.co/NFY8MazeZl
⚾MICKEY MANTLE CARD SELLS FOR $12.6M, NEW SPORTS MEMORABILIA RECORD: A mint condition 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million yesterday via Heritage Auctions, setting a new record for sports memorabilia. The previous record, set just a few months ago, was $9.3 million for the jersey worn by soccer star Diego Maradona when he scored the "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup. The rare Mantle card was sold by Anthony Giordano of New Jersey, who bought it for just $50,000 at a New York City show in 1991.
Los Angeles is bracing for a heat wave this week as severe weather impacts much of the country including wildfires and potential floods that have prompted evacuations. https://t.co/wfTaqjjiitpic.twitter.com/MGlHVDh8BT
Taylor Swift landed the coveted award for Video of the Year at the 2022 VMAs — and she took the opportunity to announce her next album drop.
Swift, who nabbed the night’s top honor for “All Too Well” (10-minute Taylor’s Version),” cradled her Moon Person trophy as she paused to let fans know her next record will be available on Oct. 21, with more details to be announced at midnight Sunday.
“I’m so heartened by the fact that for the first time in VMA history that four of the directors nominated in this video of the year category are women,” the 32-year-old singer said to cheers from the crowd gathered at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
"I’m just so proud of what we made,” she said before alluding to her previous management drama regarding her master recordings. “We wouldn’t have been able to make this short film if it weren’t for you, the fans, because I wouldn’t be able to re-record my albums if it weren’t for you. You emboldened me to do that."
A big highlight of the night was a “first of its kind” joint performance by Eminem and Snoop Dogg, who showcased their gamer-friendly collaboration “From the D 2 The LBC” with a digital infusion featuring the Metaverse Monkey in his natural habitat — the metaverse.
From a more down-to-Earth venue, Artist of the Year winner Bad Bunny beamed in a mid-concert set — featuring the song “Tití Me Preguntó” — from Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, the latest stop on his “World’s Hottest Tour.” With his latest honor, Bad Bunny became the first-ever non-English language artist to nab a Moon Person in the huge category.
And the Red Hot Chili Peppers accepted this year’s Global Icon Award after a rollicking performance — introduced by stoner film legends Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong — that underscored why they’re the wild boys of rock (especially shirt-hating Flea). In a sign of mutual admiration, frontman Anthony Kiedis even called Cheech and Chong a pair of “back mothaf–kers.” Chad Smith also dedicated the award to Taylor Hawkins, the late drummer for the Foo Fighters.
The event was hosted by former Grammy emcee LL Cool J, “What’s Poppin” Jack Harlow and red-carpet-ready Nicki Minaj, who also received this year’s Video Vanguard Award.
📹MTV VMAs 2022: The Complete Winners List, Click Here
📹The Best and Worst Moments of the 2022 MTV VMAs, Click Here
While accepting the Moon Person for video of the year at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, the singer-songwriter, 32, announced her ninth original full-length studio album will drop on Oct. 21 via Republic Records.
Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.
Swift made the surprise announcement while accepting her prize for the night's most coveted award, and credited her fans with helping inspire the winning video for "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version)."
"I wouldn't be able to re-record my albums if it weren't for you. You embolden me to do that, and I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out Oct. 21," she told the crowd.
A new poll brings good news to local TV stations as the U.S. mid-term elections head into the fall, reports TV Technology.
According to a new Spectrum News/Morning Consult poll on sentiments about and trust of local news, nearly 50% cited TV as their most important source of local news, more than any other outlet. In addition, the vast majority of Americans (87%) are satisfied with the coverage of local news in their community, and 83% find local news coverage on television and radio to be most trustworthy. Spectrum News is the brand for a slate of cable news television channels owned by Charter Communications.
More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents think that local news provides viewers with important information about their community, as well as critical national news. And 72% of respondents agreed that local news helps enact positive change in their local community, while 63% feel local news holds businesses and government accountable.
Additionally, the poll found Americans overwhelmingly cited television (48%) as the most important source for local news, and more than half (62%) watch local news on television daily. News apps were second at 40% and social media was far behind, with only 17% of Americans ranking it as the most important news source. Among respondents, 9% rank newspapers as the most important source for local news, with 20% considering it the least important (what was left out of the results is the fact that many of the most popular news apps are from newspapers).
Not surprisingly, social media scored low marks for trustworthiness, with only 46% citing it as a trusted source; television and radio are the most trusted at 83%. In general, people feel more satisfied with their local news coverage because they are more familiar with local anchors in their community—77% of respondents said they feel reporters who live in their local community are more connected to relevant local news and information, and 82% feel local news reporters are trusted.
More than half of Americans (62%) watch local news on television daily, while 55% typically watch national news. Only 19% typically look to their printed local newspaper for news on a daily basis, while 15% seek printed national newspapers.
Shares of respondents who said they have never heard of the following news outlets:
That trust for local television news is seen from both sides of the political aisle with 91% of Democrats and 79% Republicans citing local TV news as their most trusted source, while trust in social media among Democrats drops to 50%, and among Republicans to 44%.
The poll was conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Spectrum Networks from June 17 to July 11, 2022.
When Spotify executives were negotiating with Joe Rogan in 2020 to make his podcast exclusive to its service, it ran into an issue: what to do about YouTube.
Business Insider reports Rogan had been posting full episodes of his show to his YouTube channel and making big money on the platform from his share of the ad revenue. As the sides tussled over the size of the deal, a major reason it reached such an eye-poppingly large sum — over $200 million for around three years of exclusivity, according to The New York Times — was because Spotify had to compensate the podcaster for the YouTube money and audience he'd be losing, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The Rogan deal also led to Spotify scrambling to create a video player on the app, so Rogan had a place to post videos of his show and keep his former YouTube audience happy, these people said.
The details of YouTube's role in the podcast deal, which haven't been previously reported, illustrate a surprising development in the podcasting world over the past few years: YouTube has become a juggernaut. Two recent surveys, one by Cumulus Media and one by Voices, showed that YouTube was the most frequently used podcasting platform, edging out Spotify and Apple's podcasting apps.
Even more surprising, the video service has done next to nothing to make it happen.
The story of YouTube and podcasting is another example of how the site's gravitational field among creators and users has unintentionally pulled parts of the media world into its orbit. Its appeal to Gen Z and its features to help creators reach broad audiences and generate ad revenue — along with the added tailwind of the pandemic — helped YouTube accelerate its growth in podcasting.
It's similar to the way YouTube organically became the world's largest music platform simply from users uploading music onto it. Now the podcasting world is wondering how hands-on YouTube will be with its growing status as a platform, how it will impact competitors, and whether it views the podcasting business as meaningful enough to make substantial investments.
Last year the entire podcasting industry made $1.4 billion in ad revenue and is set to surpass $2 billion this year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. It's a quickly growing industry but still a drop in the bucket compared to the $29 billion that YouTube made in ad revenue in 2021, or the $209 billion that Google ads made.
Inside Spotify, employees view YouTube as its biggest threat, according to two people familiar with the matter. And the heat has intensified as YouTube takes more steps to be active in podcasting. Last Wednesday, it rolled out a podcasting home page on its website and announced a deal with NPR to post shows like "Fresh Air" and "Up First" on the platform.
The company appointed YouTube veteran Kai Chuk as its first head of podcasting just last year. This spring, a report in Podnews published a leaked slide deck showing YouTube's podcasting plans to give users enhanced metrics, a path to uploading content through an RSS feed, and more audio-only ads.
YouTube podcasts attract Gen Z
There's also a generational aspect to the trend. Millennials and older generations have been consuming podcasts for years, but Gen Z listeners see queuing up an episode through an audio app like Apple or Spotify as a thing old people do, according to podcast executives.
Meanwhile, YouTube and TikTok remain the most popular social-media apps among young people, so Gen Z comes to podcasting as a video-first medium. It explains why already famous Gen Z stars like Logan Paul launched highly popular podcasts in the past few years.
Former president Donald Trump’s Truth Social website is facing financial challenges as its traffic remains puny and the company that is scheduled to acquire it expresses fear that his legal troubles could lead to a decline in his popularity.
According to The Washington Post, six months after its high-profile launch, the site — a clone of Twitter, which banned Trump after Jan. 6, 2021 — still has no guaranteed source of revenue and a questionable path to growth, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Digital World Acquisition, the company planning to take Trump’s start-up, the Trump Media & Technology Group, public.
The company warned last week that its business could be damaged if Trump “becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility.” The company has seen its stock price plunge nearly 75 percent since its March peak and reported in a filing last week that it had lost $6.5 million in the first half of the year.
There are signs that the company’s financial base has begun to erode. The Trump company stopped paying RightForge, a conservative web-hosting service, in March and now owes it more than $1 million, according to Fox Business, which first reported the dispute.
The company also has struggled with some basics of corporate operation. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this month denied its application to trademark “Truth Social,” citing the “likelihood of confusion” to other similarly named companies, including an app, “VERO — True Social,” first released in 2015.
RightForge has advertised itself as a pillar of the conservative push to build a parallel internet protected from “Big Tech censorship.” Its chief executive Martin Avila declined to comment and said, “We fully stand behind the president and his endeavors.”
But two people familiar with the dispute, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private details, said the lack of payment had fueled anger that Trump could shortchange a champion of his “free speech” mission.
Truth Social has become a common sounding board for pro-Trump discussion and outrage. An armed man who was killed after failing to storm an FBI office in Cincinnati had been a frequent user of Truth Social, urging followers in posts to “kill” FBI agents “on sight,” according to a profile that matched the suspect’s name, location and photograph.
NPR became the latest mainstream outlet to attack Republican governors for the growing migrant crisis in liberal cities, reports Fox News Digital.
On Friday, NPR promoted their coverage of New York City and Washington, D.C., struggling to handle increasing numbers of illegal immigrants being dropped off in their cities by Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona. The title of their article read "GOP governors sent buses of migrants to D.C. and NYC — with no plan for what's next."
"Texas and Arizona governors continue to send buses full of migrants and refugees to Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, just a few blocks from the Capitol building. Upon arrival no government officials are there to meet them," NPR’s Twitter account wrote.
Abbott has sent buses of illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C., since April in protest of the Biden administration’s refusal to act on the border crisis plaguing Texas. Ducey later began sending his state’s illegal immigrants as well.
Abbott has since vowed to continue to send more buses as both D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and NYC Mayor Eric Adams report emergency situations in handling migrants.
Multiple media outlets have blamed Abbott and Ducey primarily for the migrant crisis plaguing more liberal cities away from the border. The New York Times accused them of "causing havoc" while Vanity Fair suggested that the Republicans "successfully created a migrant crisis" through Abbott’s busing strategy. The Washington Post called it "a cruel, political stunt" that has devolved into "relentless, inhumane cruelty."
🧵Texas and Arizona governors continue to send buses full of migrants and refugees to Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, just a few blocks from the Capitol building.
These comments echoed accusations from the Biden administration that Abbott and Ducey’s actions are using migrants as "political tools."
"There is a process in place for managing migrants at the border; this is not it — what they’re doing currently," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters late last month. "That includes expelling migrants as required by court order under Title 42, transferring them to ICE custody, or placing them in the care of local NGOs as they await further processing…Again, so what Republicans are doing, the way that they’re meddling in the process and using migrants as a political pawn, is just wrong."
With the days dwindling down to a precious few to get legislation passed this year, the National Association of Broadcasters was looking to provide some positive reinforcement this week of one particular effort, applauding revisions to the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, a bill that would strengthen their hand in negotiating compensation for online aggregation of their original content.
NAB president Curtis LeGeyt praised the work of bill backers Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and and John Kennedy (R-La.), as well as Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.).
According to nexttv.com, the bill would give "news content creators" -- print, broadcast, or digital -- an antitrust safe harbor to negotiate collectively with digital platforms like Facebook and Google for carriage of their original content.
Specifically, the bill grants publishers immunity from federal and state antitrust laws for a 48-month period while they bargain collectively with digital platforms.
The coordination among bidders has to be "directly related to and reasonably necessary for negotiations with an online content distributor" and [cannot] involve any person that is not a news content creator or online content distributor.
News content creators are defined as ones with 1) a dedicated professional editorial staff that creates and distributes original news and related content concerning local, national, or international matters of public interest on at least a weekly basis; 2) are marketed via subscriptions, advertising, or sponsorship.
The Senate Judiciary Committee had scheduled a markup of the bill for earlier this month, but as NAB anticipated it has been held over until after the August recess.
Among the bill's biggest draws for NAB are that it would require Big Tech platforms like Google and Facebook to negotiate in good faith, much as the FCC requires broadcasters and cable operators to do when negotiating retransmission consent.
A fired radio personality who worked at Portland radio stations for 38 years claims in a lawsuit she was fired illegally after she refused to return to working in the stations’ office during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports The Bangor Daily News.
Randi Kirshbaum, 68, sought an accommodation to work from home on her doctor’s advice rather than in the office in the early months of the pandemic due to her age and family history of pulmonary disease, the complaint said.
Kirshbaum, who was a disc jockey and program manager at WPOR and WCLZ, was fired in May 2020 after she sought to continue working from home, according to the complaint. Because of her age and a family history of pulmonary fibrosis that occurs when the lungs become damaged or scarred, Kirshbaum sought to continue working remotely as she had since mid-March, when Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency and, in essence, shut down the state.
She is asking to be reinstated and is seeking unspecified damages including back pay and benefits and future lost earnings. The stations, part of the Portland Radio Group, are owned by Saga Communications Inc. of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Kirshbaum’s case is part of a growing number of labor lawsuits nationwide alleging coronavirus-related labor and employment violations.
Her attorney, David Webbert of Augusta, said Friday that a complaint Kirshbaum filed against Saga with the Maine Human Rights Commission in late 2020 is pending. Once the commission’s investigator has filed a report, discrimination claims will be added to the complaint, he said.Saga, through its attorney, Shiloh Theberge of Portland, denied Kirshbaum’s allegations.
The COVID-19 outbreak and its aftermath have made remote work an alternative to having employees perform their duties in an office in many professions.
Before the pandemic, courts often viewed skeptically requests to work from home as a reasonable accommodation under the American with Disabilities Act, finding that in-office work was an essential function of employees’ jobs, Webbert said.
Kirshbaum currently works remotely from her home on Mount Desert Island as a music director and on-air personality for radio stations in Baltimore and Vermont.
Mable John, who recorded for Motown and Stax and later worked with Ray Charles, died Aug. 25 at her home in Los Angeles. Her nephew, Kevin John, confirmed the death, but did not give a cause.
“We loved her and she was a kind person,” Kevin John said of his aunt, the older sister of R&B star Little Willie John.
John had a rich career in music. She was the first solo female artist signed to Motown (then Tamla Records) by Berry Gordy Jr. and recorded the songs “Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That,” “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,” “No Love,” “Looking for a Man,” and “Take Me,” the latter with background harmonies by The Temptations.
John left Motown in the mid-1960s to join Memphis label Stax Records. There she teamed with the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter for her 1966 hit “Your Good Thing (Is About to End),” which reached No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot R&B chart and No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later covered by Lou Rawls, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, and others.
After Stax, John became the musical director and a singer in Ray Charles’ Raelettes backing band. There she collaborated on dozens of songs during her decade-long stay.
Following her stint with Charles, John left the music business and became a minister, founding Los Angeles’ Joy Community Outreach, which assists with feeding and clothing the homeless.
John was born on Nov. 3, 1930 in Bastrop, Louisiana. The oldest of nine children, she moved to Detroit in the early 1940s and took a job with the Friendship Mutual Insurance Company, founded by Bertha Gordy, the mother of a young music producer, Berry Gordy Jr..
John made her professional musical debut at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar, where she opened for Billie Holiday in 1959. A year before that, she had signed with Gordy’s Tamla Records, the label that became Motown.
➦In 1892...Broadcast Pioneer Harry Read was born in Seattle, WA.. He was a co-founder of KXL Portland OR. Read was Secretary-Treasurer of KXL Broadcasters and, General Manager & Chief Technician KXL Radio. Today KXL is known as KXTG 750 AM and airs a sports talk format. It's sister-FM station uses the KXL calls and airs news/talk. Both are now owned by Alpha Media Group.
➦In1914...Radio actor Willard Waterman (right) was born in Madison Wisconsin (Died at age 80 - February 2, 1995). He was versatile supporting actor. He replaced Harold Peary, on "The Great Gildersleeve," radio program after Peary was unable to convince sponsor and show owner Kraft Cheese to allow him an ownership stake in the show.
He began his radio career at WIBA in Madison, singing in a quartet that performed "musical interludes between programs." and moved to NBC in Chicago in early 1936.
➦In 1936...ABC news anchor Peter Jennings was born in Toronto (Died was age 68 - August 7, 2005). The son of a CBC newsman/exec he had his own half-hour Saturday radio program at age 9. Before his 30th birthday he anchored briefly for CTV and ABC TV, but was considered too young with insufficient gravitas. After much reporting from world hot spots he became sole anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight in 1983, an assignment he continued until just before his death from lung cancer.
➦In 1943...summertime replacement show 'Paul Whiteman Presents' was heard on NBC radio for the last time. The hostess was Dinah Shore, and Whiteman led a 35-piece orchestra. His well-known theme song was Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
➦In 1946...Bwana Johnny (left) was born in Oregon (Died at age 59 in 2005). Bwana, whose real name was Richard Johnson, had been a popular disc jockey at the old 1260/KYA back in the late 1960s. Most recently, he had worked in production with Jones Radio Networks in Seattle before his illness forced him into a care facility.
Before coming to the Bay Area in 1969, "Beautiful Bwana" worked at KLOG/Kelso, Wash., WUBE/Cincinnati and KJR/Seattle.
He moved on to WWDJ/New York as music director and afternoon-drive jock (1971-1973) and spun records for a year at WFUN/Miami before returning to his hometown, Portland, Ore., as "Crazy Dick Simms" on the Rose City's legendary KISN in 1975.
➦In 1957...The ABC radio network purchased KQV 1410 AM in August 29, 1957 for $700,000. ABC hired two executives from Storz Broadcasting to launch the top 40 format in Pittsburgh They hired Dale Maudy who had been an executive engineer for the Stroz group and Ralph Beaudin, who had been a KOWH sales executive, as the KQV general manager.
The station was one of the oldest in the U-S and went silent on December 31, 2017 For more on KQV: Click Here.
➦In 1966...The Beatles played what would prove to be their last concert before a paying audience at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, to a sold-out crowd of 25,000. John and Paul, knowing what the fans do not (that this will be the last concert ever) brought cameras on stage and took pictures between songs. (Their lone remaining public performance was the 1969 rooftop appearance in London).
➦In 1972..Even back then...Guess who was #1 in Knoxville, TN?
➦In 1979...Sheridan Broadcasting Corp purchased the Mutual Black Network
The Mutual Black Network or MBN was founded by the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1972, as the first national full-service radio network aimed at African Americans. It broadcast an hourly 5 minute newscast at 50 minutes past the hour. It also aired sports and feature programs, and for one year beginning in the spring of 1974, a 15-minute daily soap opera called Sounds Of The City. Some of its special programing focused on African American history, much of which was researched, written and narrated by MBN news anchor Ben Frazier.
Programming is what separated the Mutual Black Network from the rest of the pack. But its highest mark was made in the coverage of hard news and it’s savvy advocacy style of journalism. This was the genre of journalism, practiced by news anchors Ben Frazier, Glen Ford, John Askew and others. They would interview black news-makers who had previously been ignored by the traditional mass media outlets.
The Mutual Black Network was later sold to Sheridan Broadcasting which was a minority stockholder in MBN, becoming the Sheridan Broadcasting Network. By 1991, it would merge with the National Black Network, forming the present-day American Urban Radio Networks.
➦In 1981...Lowell Jackson Thomas died at age 89 (Born - April 6, 1892). He was a writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicizing T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system.
In 1930, he became a broadcaster with the CBS Radio network, delivering a nightly news and commentary program. After two years, he switched to the NBC Radio network but returned to CBS in 1947.
Lowell Thomas
In contrast to today's practices, Thomas was not an employee of either NBC News or CBS News. Prior to 1947, he was employed by the broadcast's sponsor Sunoco. He returned to CBS to take advantage of lower capital-gains tax rates, establishing an independent company to produce the broadcast which he sold to CBS.
He hosted the first-ever television news broadcast in 1939 and the first regularly scheduled television news broadcast (even though it was just a camera simulcast of his radio broadcast) beginning on February 21, 1940 over local station W2XBS (now WNBC) New York. The television news simulcast was a short-lived venture for him, and he favored radio.
Indeed, it was over radio that he presented and commented upon the news for four decades until his retirement in 1976, the longest radio career of anyone in his day (a record later surpassed by Paul Harvey).
Thomas is also known for two television programs: 'High Adventure', a series of travelogue specials filmed in the late 1950s for CBS; and 'Lowell Thomas Remembers', a 1970s PBS series that reviewed major news events from 1919 through 1975 on a year-by-year basis using newsreel footage, including some that Thomas originally narrated for Movietone.
Later in his career, Thomas formed a group of broadcast stations that would become known as Capital Cities. The company expanded through the years, and bought ABC in 1985. ABC is now owned by Disney.
Thomas was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.
Lea Michele is 35
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Movie director William Friedkin is 87.
Actor Elliott Gould is 84.
Actor Deborah Van Valkenburgh (“Too Close For Comfort”) is 70.
Deborah Van Valkenburgh is 70
Keyboardist Dan Truman of Diamond Rio is 66.
Actor Rebecca DeMornay is 63.
Bassist-singer Me’Shell NdegeOcello is 54.
Singer Carl Martin of Shai is 52.
Actor Carla Gugino is 51.
Guitarist Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty is 47.
Actor John Hensley (“Nip/Tuck”) is 45.
Actor Kate Simses (“Dr. Ken”) is 43.
Bassist David Desrosiers of Simple Plan is 42.
Actor Jennifer Landon (“As The World Turns”) is 39.
Actor Lea Michele (“Glee”) is 36.
Actor Charlotte Ritchie (“Call the Midwife”) is 33.
Singer Liam Payne formerly of One Direction is 29.
✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES:
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant actor Ed Asner died on this day in 2021. He was 91.
Actor and comedian Gene Wilder died on this day in 2016. He was 83.
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