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From rssfeeds@jmason.org  Mon Sep 30 13:44:18 2002

URL: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/000201.html
Date: 2002-09-29T11:52:44-08:00
I forgot to write this up yesterday and didn't feel like forging the blog entry
date. Anyway, while taking a break from writing the book, I tried to finish up
the work on friends.zawodny.com before I ship it off to...

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What the Press is Reporting and Why (www.mediaunspun.com)
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It may seem like all Iraq, all the time in the Oval Office, but
the president has at least one other thing on his mind this
week: that pesky port lockout. The freight still isn't moving,
factories are running out of parts, produce is rotting, and
retailers are more freaked about Christmas with every passing
On Monday, Bush stepped in and appointed a three-member panel to
see how badly this shutdown is hosing the economy. (We hope this
isn't a difficult question, as the panel's been given all of one
day to report back.) When Bush gets the report on Tuesday, the
next step might be a court order to reopen the ports under the
1947 Taft-Hartley Act. That would send employees back to work
for 80 days while federal mediators duke it out over the
disputed contract and retailers lower their Xanax dosages.
Invoking Taft-Hartley requires a threat to national health or
safety -- not the economy. But Labor Secretary Elaine Chao
covered that base in a statement on Monday, saying the work
stoppage threatens the flow of supplies to the military (we knew
Iraq would be in here somewhere). "Union officials quickly
responded that their members have been unloading military cargo
throughout the 10-day shutdown," said the L.A. Times, but an
anonymous Bush administration official "said that only a portion
of what the Defense Department needs has made it ashore."
Politically, this has been a tricky one. Using Taft-Hartley
would annoy labor right before congressional elections. On the
other hand, "Voter discontent with Bush's handling of the
increasingly fragile economic recovery has begun showing up in
polls, and such concerns may have outweighed the political
danger to the Republican administration," said the San Francisco
Chronicle. Also, Bush stepped in on the same day that a poll
reported two-thirds of Americans wanted him to focus more on the
economy. "Though the administration promised an unbiased
examination of the lockout, Bush appeared to have made up his
mind that it was hurting national security and the economy,
andmerited federal intervention," said the AP.
As for Taft-Hartley, it's not exactly famous for solving labor
disputes. Often the 80-day cooling-off period ends, and workers
simply walk out again (or get locked out again, in this case).
One gets the sense, however, that fixing the dockworkers'
contract isn't the point of this particular 80 days. It's 78
days until Christmas. The race is on. - Jen Muehlbauer
President Acts To Halt Port Lockout for 80 Days (Seattle
President Moves Toward Forcing the Reopening of West Coast
Bush Takes Step Toward Halting Lockout After West Coast Port
White House Intervenes on Docks Dispute (Financial Times)
Cooling-off Period Likely in Port Fight (SF Chronicle)
Charges of Politics Have Dogged Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act No Quick-Fix For Port Dispute (Reuters)
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REVIEW. Get an inside view into the technologies, deals, and
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wo birds want to join forces and the FCC is about to cry "fowl."
We mean "foul." The two dominant direct broadcast satellite
players want to join forces, the better to compete with Big
Cable. Federal regulators, both the FCC and the Justice
Department, are concerned that the resulting conglomerate of
DirecTV with Dish Network would command roughly 95% of satellite
The press could not settle on a price tag for the proposed
merger between EchoStar Communications and Hughes Electronics --
it was described as being worth anywhere from $15 billion and
$25 billion. It was a challenge to keep the players straight, as
some outlets talked of a merger between the corporate parents,
and others referred to the service monikers. Hughes is DirecTV
The two companies sent a letter to the FCC urging them to hold
off ruling on (read, rejecting) the merger until the Justice
Department has spoken. EchoStar and Hughes offered unspecified
"major revisions" to the deal that they want to discuss with
The Wall Street Journal delved deeply into the form those
revisions could take -- specifically, selling some frequencies
to Cablevision. The Journal reported that Cablevision has wanted
to get into the satellite business for 10 years and outlined the
cable company's plans and past spending on such a project.
TheStreet.com turned in an extensive analysis of the deal for
investors in the satellite space. It seems the market for
expanded-service television may be nearing saturation.
TheStreet.com quoted an analyst's report which concluded,
"Consumers should benefit from ... continued rivalry, but
shareholders may realize much smaller returns."
The New York Times and the Journal both mentioned Rupert Murdoch
waiting in the wings. Last year Murdoch's News Corp. bid for
DirecTV, but lost out at the last minute to EchoStar. If the
current deal falls through, he'll be back. - Keith Dawson
EchoStar and Hughes Propose Concessions in Bid to Save Deal
Regulators Set to Block EchoStar's Hughes Purchase
'Last-ditch effort' (Rocky Mountain News)
EchoStar, Hughes ask FCC to defer decision
EchoStar, Hughes offer merger changes (Reuters)
Delay in satellite-TV merger OK requested (AP)
EchoStar pleads to FCC on merger (Denver Post)
SEC Probes AOL-Oxygen Pact For Double-Booking of Revenue
Tivo Raises $25 Million in Stock Offering (AP)
Two Magazines Are Shut and a Third Revamps
Regulators Say They Have CSFB 'Smoking Gun'
Expected Cold Winter Could Increase Natural Gas Prices
New Northwest System for Internet Bookings
Silicon Valley Is Yearning For User-Friendly Microsoft
Do you want to reach the Net's savviest audience?
Contact Erik Vanderkolk for details at erikvanderkolk@yahoo.com
Written by Deborah Asbrand (dasbrand@world.std.com), Keith
(jen@englishmajor.com), and Lori Patel (loripatel@hotmail.com).
Copyedited by Jim Duffy (jimduffy86@yahoo.com).
Editor and publisher: Jimmy Guterman (guterman@vineyard.com).
Media Unspun is produced by The Vineyard Group Inc.
Copyright 2002 Media Unspun, Inc., and The Vineyard Group, Inc.
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