Emmy broadcast prompts obscenity complaint

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Parents Television Council filed an FCC complaint over obscenities uttered by two actresses during the Aug. 27 live telecast of the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Ombudsman on PBS's online ads

Viewers aren't complaining much about PBS's online advertising practices, writes PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler, but criticisms leveled by media activist Jeff Chester are healthy. The objections are forcing "an airing about how this very important, and unique, public broadcasting service is gliding into a new source of revenue," Getler writes.

Tavis Smiley's "Covenant"

Writing for The Nation, Amy Alexander examines the impact of Tavis Smiley's The Covenant with Black America. "One doesn't just read The Covenant With Black America," she says. "Rather, to read this nonfiction manifesto-cum-workbook is to become part of a multimedia movement aimed at increasing black political and economic power."