September 22, 2008

BET

BET's "Cousin Jeff" returns to EMU Sprt. 24 to speak to students

Johnson, who also is known as ‘Cousin Jeff,’ has served as the National Youth Director of the NAACP and gave congressional testimony about Hurricane Katrina recovery. As a correspondent for BET, Johnson has covered the Darfur region of Sudan and was one of only two correspondents to interview Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir.

CBS

CBS Kicks Off Auction of Radio Stations
The U.S. radio market's vibrancy will be tested with the kickoff of the auction for 50 stations owned by CBS. First-rounds bids are due today. "We don't know what the marketplace is," admits CEO Les Moonves. "If we don't get the right pricing for it, we're not going to sell."

FOX

MySpace Music Faces Antitrust Challenge
News Corp. and the major record labels are facing antitrust questions about the MySpace Music retail venture before the site even launches. Independent music labels claim they are being frozen out of the "Internet's MTV" are blocked from uploading their music.

News Corp's Murdoch: 'I'm Very Worried'
The U.S. local television station market is "performing very badly," says News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch, during an interview on Fox Business Network. The newspaper industry "is in real crisis." He adds that he isn't interested in buying NBC: "We like startups."

MTV

Fat Man Scoop Gets In Bed W/ MTV for New Sex Talk Show

“Its called ‘Man and Wife,’” Scoop told SOHH. “It’s coming on September 29th at 11 o’clock on MTV. “We answer email, voicemail and video submission and all of it’s done from our bed,” his wife Shanda added. “It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen on television which I’m proudest of.”

MTV And Dr. Drew Bring Families Together With New Series "Sex...With Mom And Dad"

"This is a unique and compelling format from overseas that we redeveloped and adapted for the MTV audience about getting families to talk openly about a taboo topic," said Tony DiSanto, EVP, MTV Programming and Series Development. "'The talk' is a personal choice for every family, but what Dr. Drew uncovers in this show is that by talking openly and honestly about sex, families can re-program their way of thinking, break down walls, reinforce trust and create deeper bonds."

MTV names VP for music brands

MTV International has named current managing director for Europe South, Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, as its executive vice president for music brands. Dall’Orto will retain his current responsibilities and will also drive collaboration among the company’s global content and creative talent, with the aim of developing a more integrated creative direction for MTVNI’s music brands

MTV Networks Buys The Rest Of DIY Social Networking Platform Flux

MTV Networks was a minority investor in Social Project, which is behind the Flux social-networking platform powering many of its sites, including MTV.com, TheDailyShow.com, and ColbertNation.com. Social Project, which competes with Ning and KickApps, had previously raised $47.5 million, mostly from MTV's parent company Viacom.

MTV's Spike.com Airs 'PG' Adult Content
Spike.com, the MTV Networks service aimed at young men, is launching a short-form series that will bring together primetime television stars and actresses from adult films for comic -- and platonic -- vignettes. The online series aims to spoof the adult-film genre.

VIACOM

Viacom to Lose Spielberg, DreamWorks
Film director Steven Spielberg is raising $1.2 billion from Indian entertainment conglomerate Reliance to reestablish DreamWorks as an independent film studio and break away from Viacom's Paramount Pictures. The new deal comes in the wake of a financial drought in Hollywood.

AFRICA

Eastern Region overcoming HIV/AIDS stigmatization

The Eastern Region is gradually coming out of self stigmatization as more and more People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWH) are coming out openly to join programmes to fight the spread of the pandemic in the Region.

Govt starts door-to-door HIV/Aids testing

The government has started a campaign to test willing Ugandans of HIV/Aids from their homes. The Minister of Health, Dr Stephen Mallinga, told the Parliamentary Committee on HIV/Aids yesterday that the campaign will target people who are reluctant to go for testing at the health centers.

Kenya: HIV Tests Launch Wider Health Campaign

A week-long campaign launched in Lurambi division in western Kenya this week aims to test 80 percent of the population for HIV/Aids, and to supply those tested with a package of items which will help them combat multiple health problems, including malaria, HIV/Aids and diarrheal disease.

South Africa: Afro-Pop Group Star Inspires Students to Get Tested

Tshidi Moholo, of the sensational afro-pop group Malaika, was tested for HIV in front of students from the University of the Witwatersrand on Thursday to help inspire the youth to do the same. The pop star volunteered to be tested for HIV at the Levi's Red for Life Campaign at the institution's main campus in Johannesburg.

UN Meetings Highlight African Needs

U.N. member states and international organizations adopted the eight Millennium Development Goals in 2000 to provide a framework for reducing extreme poverty, hunger, disease and child mortality. The goals, which include improving education, maternal health and promoting gender equality, are supposed to be reached by the year 2015.

Youth group embarks on intensive HIV/AIDS campaign

The Universal United Youth Organisation (UUY), a non-governmental group at Akim Oda in the Birim South District has embarked on an intensive campaign to educate the youth on the dangers of HIV/AIDS. This followed reports that most of the youth in the municipality were not perturbed about the disease due to the high illiteracy rate in the area.

Zimbabwe AIDS Activists Say Food Now More Critical Than Drugs

Zimbabwe's National Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS has asked the central bank and government to provide its 120,000 members with food under the government's so-called Basic Commodity Supply Side Intervention program, known as Bacossi.

ASIA

INDIA Court order against ‘obscene’ condom packaging suspended

On Ravikuamr’s plea, the high court, erroneously presuming that the Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) was a government body, had directed it to ensure that no Indian condom manufacturer would market its product in obscene packs or promote them through advertisements with obscene pictures.

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA

AIDS Victim Speaks Out

With 88 new AIDS cases recorded in the Bahamas as of March of this year, one victim of the incurable disease candidly spoke to the Journal on Sunday, expressing hope that other sexually active individuals, especially teens, would either abstain from sex or adopt safe sex practices.

Relationships Sexual myths explored

There are several untruths about sex which influence the way persons engage in sexual activities. Over time, loose talk about sex becomes accepted as reality. As such, persons may find that they may not derive the full benefits from sexual intimacy because of the myths they have come to believe.

EUROPE

Russia: Intravenous Drug Use Leading Cause of HIV/AIDS

Many HIV/AIDS experts have also expressed concerns that Russia, as well as other former Soviet Union states, are facing widespread HIV/AIDS epidemics. But unlike many other parts of the world, the majority of HIV cases in Russia are due to intravenous drug use.

ADVERTISING NEWS

Ad Spending Woes Forecast to Worsen
Madison Avenue is bracing for the worst advertising slump since 2001, as a drop-off in consumer spending is likely to lead marketers to rein in their budgets. Both traditional and Internet media are expected to be impacted. The news comes as the Advertising Week festival kicks off in New York.

Four A's makes first installment on $5 million partnership with Howard University

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) presented Howard University with a $250,000 check on September 15 to establish The Center for Excellence in Advertising.

HIV/AIDS AND SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS

Greater Awareness Of HIV/AIDS, Other Global Health Issues Attributed To The Growth In Public Health Students,

The Washington Post on Friday examined the "record numbers" of undergraduate college students who are taking classes in epidemiology, global health and public health, driven in part by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and a motivation to contribute to the field.

HIV Victims Tell Their Story

New Life Christian Center in Turlock is hosting the "AIDS -- Step into Africa" exhibit. It includes a replica of an African village and tells the stories of four real children who have been affected by the AIDS pandemic there. Various photographs of AIDS-affected families and children can be seen throughout the tour. Turlock Christian HS student Caniel Wright uses headphones to listen to the stories.

New HIV Infections Increasing in Gay and African-American Communities

Last month, RealJock.com reported that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had radically increased its estimate of annual HIV infections in the U.S., to roughly 55,000 from a prior estimate of 40,000. Following that study, the CDC conducted further analysis of its statistics. The results, released last week, have given a more complete picture of HIV infection at the current moment—and indicate that there are increasing infections in the gay and African-American communities.

Recent Evaluations of the Peer-Led Approach in Adolescent Sexual Health Education: A Systematic Review

Peer-led interventions have become a popular method of providing sexual health education to adolescents, but the efficacy of this approach and the methodological quality of recent trials have not been systematically reviewed. METHODS: Electronic and hand searches were conducted to identify quasi-randomized and randomized controlled trials of peer-led adolescent sexual health education published from 1998 to 2005.

Study Examines Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Monitoring Strategy

In a computer-based model evaluating the benefits and costs of three types of HIV disease monitoring strategies, early initiation of antiretroviral therapy and monitoring using the CD4 count, a measure of immune system function, instead of based on symptoms appear to provide health benefits in low- and middle-income countries, according to a report in the September 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

MULTI CULTURAL NEWS

Target Market News to host African-American Internet Summit in October

Plans for the First Annual African-American Internet Summit were announced today by Target Market News. The all-day conference -- the first such gathering of its kind in the nation -- will take place in Chicago, IL on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 in downtown Chicago. The event is expected to attract 200 professionals from marketing, advertising, media and research.

Ya Es Hora Campaign Launches Historic Mobilization Drive Targeting a Million Potential Latino Voters

After helping to mobilize nearly 1.4 million legal permanent residents to apply for citizenship, the leaders of the Ya Es Hora Campaign will brief reporters on Thursday, September 25 at 12:00 EDT on a historic registration drive targeting a million potential Latino voters.

OTHER NEWS

Barbershops become urban community health centers

African-American communities in the shadows of the University of Pittsburgh's buildings are getting sick and dying sooner than their white counterparts, of preventable diseases -- and Dr. Stephen Thomas wants to change it. An outreach initiative involving local barbershops and beauty salons is a step in that direction.

Comcast Details Changes for Web Traffic
Comcast is providing U.S. regulators details of how it plans to change the way it manages Web traffic over its high speed Internet network without blocking applications or content. High-volume user traffic will be identified and throttled during periods of network congestion.

MASTER P - RAPPER MILLER PLANS TEEN TV VIEWPOINT SHOW

Rapper PERCY MILLER is hitting the road to get viewpoints from America's troubled teens about modern issues and concerns, for a new TV show.
The hitmaker-turned-Better Black Television chairman, formerly Master P, is set to visit teens in detention centres and those from some of America's poorest neighbourhoods for his new show Teens Real Talk.

Media: Little Hope for Quick Turnaround
Despite a rally on Friday, analysts aren't optimistic about the near-term prospects of media and entertainment stocks. Even after the economy recovers, industry stocks will still be out of favor, they say, because changing consumer habits make the media biz a "difficult proposition."

McCain and Obama camps latch onto new media

A recent study by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism finds that Obama was first to use the Web as a campaign tool; the think tank says McCain's crew has finally gotten on board, recently adding a social networking component and other new features. (more findings from the study)

NBC Flagship Station May See Cutbacks
Morale is plummeting at WNBC, the New York flagship station of NBC, as the channel switches to a 24-hour news format. Longtime writers and producers are being told to apply for new jobs as "content producers," with no guarantee that they will be hired or paid their current salaries.

People.com Surpasses TMZ for First Time
Breaking financial news and exclusive baby photos are paying off for Web sites owned by Time Inc. Last month, People.com passed TMZ for the first time with 11.5 million unique visitors, thanks to its multimillion-dollar photos of actor Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's twin newborns.

Unigo Student-Content Site to Eye Ads
The new site Unigo.com, a free student-generated guide to North American colleges, allows students to create and share content about their lives. The advertising-supported site, founded by 26-year-old Jordan Goldman, has an advisory board that includes TiVo CEO Tom Rogers.

Washington Post Starts Aggregating News
The Washington Post is adding a section to its Web site that links readers to the best of political coverage -- even scoops by rival newspapers. The idea behind the new Political Browser feature is to brief political junkies on the top "must reads" of the day.

Yahoo's New Board to Meet This Week
Yahoo's revamped board will meet for the first time Tuesday, giving activist investor Carl Icahn his first chance to push his agenda from the inside. In addition to Icahn, the new board includes two directors he supported: ex-Viacom exec Frank Biondi and ex-Nextel exec John Chapple.