The Liberal Version of Fox News?

Liberty News Television says it’s not:

AREN’T WE JUST “THE LIBERAL VERSION OF FOX NEWS”?
We think that’s an inaccurate description of Liberty News TV, because unlike FOX, we do not DISTORT the truth to serve our political agenda. We merely present facts that are being willfully ignored or casually overlooked by the corporate media. If that comes off as liberal, so be it, but our intention is not to forward a certain political point of view. It is, rather, to expose Americans to a more accurate picture of American politics, so that they can put a halt to what we see as a national crisis facing our environment, our civil rights, and our future.

They produce a half-hour show, once a month. These are shown on the cable channel, “Free Speech TV.”

The first edition of Liberty News TV was for February 2005.

The August 2005 edition can be watched online now.

Anti-Gay Board Member to Remain on Broward’s Diversity Committee

After affirming its decision to keep the “We Are Family” video out of its classrooms, the Broward County (FL) school board also affirmed its commitment to tolerance and diversity.

Last week, board member Marty Rubinstein vowed to remove right-wing talk show host Steve Kane from the board’s diversity committee. Kane made the most inflammatory comments during the SpongeBob debate, saying “these people are trying to mess with our kids’ minds and introduce all kinds of activities in the name of tolerance.” (It’s unclear whether “these people” refers to the video producers or the homosexual sponge brigade.)

This week, he’s changed his mind.

From the Miami Herald:

At July 26’s School Board meeting, Rubinstein said he would remove Kane, and likened verbal attacks on the gay community to the “Nazi attack on Jews in World War II.'’

‘’I made him look me in the eye, and he told me [Kane] would be removed,'’ said Melissa Fojtik, an activist for gay causes.

But Rubinstein backed away from those comments during a recess at Tuesday’s meeting.

‘’He’s been taken to the woodshed,'’ Rubinstein said. Kane, who hosts a talk show weekday mornings on WWNN-1470 AM, has been a bomb-thrower at times. During a debate in front of students two years ago at Deerfield Beach High School, he repeatedly used an offensive racial slur. During the We Are Family debate earlier this year, he made negative comments about gay activists.

In 2003, after the controversy at Deerfield Beach High, Rubinstein said he would remove Kane, then changed his mind.

‘’This has become a distraction, and that is unfortunate,'’ Kane said Tuesday. He said Rubinstein did not ask him to apologize.

School Board members Tuesday discussed the future of the diversity committee.

Board member Beverly Gallagher suggested the committee be suspended until new appointments are made in the fall. Other board members said the advisory panel should discuss topics only at the board’s or the schools superintendent’s direction.

Meanwhile, the board voted to support again its existing policies on tolerance.

ABC Banned in Russia

The Russian government has revoked the accreditation of all of ABC’s journalists. The move comes after ABC broadcast an interview with a Chechen rebel wanted by the Russians. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been steadily tightening his grip on the Russian media.

More at Radio Netherlands.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Sues Anonymous Chat Room Posters

If this isn’t a landmark internet free speech case, what is?

The Sheriff’s Department in Hillsborough County, FL, has filed a suit against several internet John Does. Messers Doe were participants in a chat room on leoaffairs.com, a forum for law enforcement officers across the country.

According to the suit, participants in the Hillsborough County forum made derogatory comments about women, members of various ethnic groups — and sheriff David Gee himself.

(more…)

China Closing Market to Foreign Broadcasters

The ever censorship-happy Chinese government is limiting foreigners’ access to the Chinese airwaves.

Here’s the story from Science Daily:

People’s Daily, voice of the ruling Communist party, announced rules on “cultural imports,” forbidding “in principle” permission for any more foreign television channels.

The new regulations add weight to Beijing’s recent conservative line on further media opening, the Financial Times said Thursday.

In recent years, China sought to encourage foreign and private investment in the domestic media industry, including joint venture investments for the first time last year.

But, this year Beijing has tightened its limits on such ventures and officials are widely seen as moving more slowly to approve investments.

International media groups such as Viacom and News Corp., working for years to cultivate China’s favor, have only limited operating room.

The renewed caution comes against a backdrop of increased efforts to crack down on political dissidents, rein in Chinese journalists and strengthen censorship of the Internet.

People with Internet at Home Watch Less TV

From the Internet Movie Database:

Consumers who plug into DSL and cable broadband lines watch two fewer hours of television per week than those without Internet services; those with dial-up connections watch 1.5 fewer hours of TV, according to a study by Forrester Research, “The State of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2005,” released Tuesday.

The study also predicted that the number of households with broadband connections to the Internet will increase from 31 million at the end of 2004 to 71.4 million by 2010.

I’m surprised that having a fast connection to the internet doesn’t reduce the number of hours people spend watching TV by more than two hours per week.