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Fox News may be the undisputed ratings champion in cable news, but not among black viewers.

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter tweeted that, according to Nielsen Media Research, Fox News has averaged just 29,000 black viewers in primetime so far this television season (9/09-7/10). That represents just 1.38% of its 2.102 million total viewer audience.

CNN and MSNBC, meanwhile, both have far more black viewers, both in absolute terms and as a proportion of their overall audiences.

MSNBC has averaged 145,000 black viewers, representing 19.3% of its 751,000 total viewer audience.

CNN has averaged 134,000 black viewers, representing 20.7% of its 648,000 total viewer audience.

Stelter noted that he pulled the Nielsen numbers after working on his story in Monday’s New York Times on race and cable news.

His piece, “When Race Is the Issue, Misleading Coverage Sets Off an Uproar,” examines the recent media firestorm over comments made by USDA official Shirley Sherrod as an example of “warfare” waged by conservative media.

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Fox News Audience Just 1.38% Black

HOUSTON — Faced with hundreds of lawsuits and a deep need for experts, BP has been offering some Gulf Coast scientists lucrative consulting contracts that bar them from releasing their findings on the company’s massive oil spill for three years.

Some scientists say the contracts constrain academic freedom. A few signed the agreements, then changed their minds.

And others argue BP’s contract is standard, and with little federal funding available to study the spill’s impact, Gulf Coast researchers have few other options.

“I personally wouldn’t care to have my research limited, but if I wanted to do work on the spill and this was the only way I could get out there and get working on it, I don’t think there’s a lot of alternatives,” said Chris D’Elia, dean of the Louisiana State University School of the Coast and Environment.

BP confirms hiring more than a dozen scientists who have Gulf Coast expertise to assist with hundreds of lawsuits and assess the environmental damage caused by the spill.

“What we have asked is that they treat information from BP’s lawyers as confidential, as is customary,” said David Nicholas, a BP spokesman in London. “But we do not take the position that environmental data is confidential and we do not place restrictions on academics speaking about scientific data.”

Still, American Association of University Professors President Cary Nelson said the three-year limitation could suppress information key to restoring the environment.

“Many scientists are turning down these contracts because they feel this research needs to be shared with the public, it needs to be shared with the government,” said Nelson, whose group represents about 48,000 academics.

Researchers are asked to sign similar contracts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency charged with tracking the oil and assessing the damage.

Also in the mix is a hesitance to be associated with the company that’s responsible for around 184 million gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

“Setting aside any good intentions, the idea of being affiliated with BP was not a good thing,” said Joe Griffitt, a scientist at the Gulf Coast Research Marine Lab at the University of Southern Mississippi, who initially signed a deal with BP, then changed his mind.

In the end, each side will try to get as many experts on their team as possible, removing knowledge from the public domain, said Mark Davis, director of the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy at Tulane Law School in New Orleans.

“That’s not wrong. Those are the rules of the game,” he said. “It’s the survival of a company, the survival of a crucial industry is at stake in a vital market area. This is serious business.”

___

Schwartz reported from Los Angeles.

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Gulf Oil Spill: BP Tries To Limit Release Of Oil Spill Research

If President Obama fears Elizabeth Warren won’t be confirmed by the Senate to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he should just appoint her while the Senate is on one of its many vacations, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank said Friday.

Referring to her as “far and away the best candidate,” Frank said Warren, a noted consumer advocate and bailout watchdog who conceived the agency in a 2007 article, not only cares about protecting consumers but also has the political chops to get things done for them in Washington.

“If [Warren] can’t be confirmed she should be a recess [appointment],” Frank, who helped shepherd the recently-enacted financial reform bill into law, told the Huffington Post on Friday.

“Given the way [the Senate has] misused the filibuster… given it’s anti-Democratic, I think the President did exactly the right thing with Donald Berwick,” the 15-term Massachusetts Congressman added, referring to an earlier Obama recess appointment to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services.

Warren, a popular pick to lead the new consumer agency she envisioned, has seen her chances threatened by other candidates for the job. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prefers Michael Barr, his assistant secretary for financial institutions and a veteran of the Clinton-era Treasury, according to people familiar with Geithner’s views.

White House officials say the shortlist also includes Eugene Kimmelman, a former top official at consumer advocacy groups Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America and Public Citizen who now works in the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

Warren’s critics cite as black marks her perceived lack of management experience, her distaste for Washington politics and, curiously, her vigorous advocacy on behalf of consumers.

But Frank pushed back against those arguments, particularly on the question of Warren’s political savvy.

“I think, frankly — and I’ve said this to [administration officials] — she’s the ‘advocate’, supposedly, and Michael Barr is the ‘inside guy’. But, frankly, Michael Barr’s initial proposal for the consumer agency had some problems in it politically that Elizabeth understood and helped us work around,” Frank said. “So I think she’s better even on the political side of it. She’s the better choice.”

Warren is a noted defender of the middle class, widely respected for her research on debt-strapped Americans, bankruptcy and the working poor. White House senior adviser David Axelrod lauded her efforts last week during a conference call with reporters — though he stopped short of endorsing her for the CFPB, noting “there are other candidates.”

“Elizabeth Warren is a great, great champion for consumers and middle-class families across the country,” Axelrod said. “She has helped inform this effort greatly and what has been done here in many ways reflects something she’s been advocating for years and years and years.”

Earlier this week, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd expressed reservations about Warren’s odds of being confirmed by the Senate. White House officials quickly shot back, assuring reporters that Warren is “confirmable.”

Frank said he doesn’t really care.

“There is some concern that she would be hard to confirm,” he allowed. “My answer is, in the first place, I’m not sure I’d want anybody who’s easy to confirm given the way the Senate is.”

Frank resisted efforts to water down the financial reform bill’s consumer protection provisions. In fact, when asked what he thought of placing the consumer agency inside the Federal Reserve — a place it will soon occupy thanks to a series of compromises — Frank reportedly asked if it was a “joke.”

“Secondly, I don’t think you give in to the threat of a filibuster,” Frank continued. “I think you make them do it. There would be such strong support for her that she would get confirmed.

“I think she has a strong populist appeal,” he added.

The New Republic reported Friday that Charles Fried, a former solicitor general under Ronald Reagan who supported the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, supported Warren for the consumer position.

“I support capitalism, and I don’t like thieves. And the people who got us into this mess are thieves, or there are a lot of thieves among them,” Fried, one of Warren’s colleagues at Harvard Law School, told TNR.

“She’s far and away the best candidate,” Frank said. “And… though there’s some concern, I guess, over whether she could be confirmed, that’s no reason not to go ahead and make the fight.”

Shahien Nasiripour is the business reporter for the Huffington Post. You can send him an e-mail; bookmark his page; subscribe to his RSS feed; follow him on Twitter; friend him on Facebook; become a fan; and/or get e-mail alerts when he reports the latest news. He can be reached at 646-274-2455.

More on Financial Crisis

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Barney Frank: Elizabeth Warren Should Head CFPB, By Recess Appointment If Necessary

If President Obama fears Elizabeth Warren won’t be confirmed by the Senate to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he should just appoint her while the Senate is on one of its many vacations, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank said Friday.

Referring to her as “far and away the best candidate,” Frank said Warren, a noted consumer advocate and bailout watchdog who conceived the agency in a 2007 article, not only cares about protecting consumers but also has the political chops to get things done for them in Washington.

“If [Warren] can’t be confirmed she should be a recess [appointment],” Frank, who helped shepherd the recently-enacted financial reform bill into law, told the Huffington Post on Friday.

“Given the way [the Senate has] misused the filibuster… given it’s anti-Democratic, I think the President did exactly the right thing with Donald Berwick,” the 15-term Massachusetts Congressman added, referring to an earlier Obama recess appointment to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services.

Warren, a popular pick to lead the new consumer agency she envisioned, has seen her chances threatened by other candidates for the job. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner prefers Michael Barr, his assistant secretary for financial institutions and a veteran of the Clinton-era Treasury, according to people familiar with Geithner’s views.

White House officials say the shortlist also includes Eugene Kimmelman, a former top official at consumer advocacy groups Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America and Public Citizen who now works in the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

Warren’s critics cite as black marks her perceived lack of management experience, her distaste for Washington politics and, curiously, her vigorous advocacy on behalf of consumers.

But Frank pushed back against those arguments, particularly on the question of Warren’s political savvy.

“I think, frankly — and I’ve said this to [administration officials] — she’s the ‘advocate’, supposedly, and Michael Barr is the ‘inside guy’. But, frankly, Michael Barr’s initial proposal for the consumer agency had some problems in it politically that Elizabeth understood and helped us work around,” Frank said. “So I think she’s better even on the political side of it. She’s the better choice.”

Warren is a noted defender of the middle class, widely respected for her research on debt-strapped Americans, bankruptcy and the working poor. White House senior adviser David Axelrod lauded her efforts last week during a conference call with reporters — though he stopped short of endorsing her for the CFPB, noting “there are other candidates.”

“Elizabeth Warren is a great, great champion for consumers and middle-class families across the country,” Axelrod said. “She has helped inform this effort greatly and what has been done here in many ways reflects something she’s been advocating for years and years and years.”

Earlier this week, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd expressed reservations about Warren’s odds of being confirmed by the Senate. White House officials quickly shot back, assuring reporters that Warren is “confirmable.”

Frank said he doesn’t really care.

“There is some concern that she would be hard to confirm,” he allowed. “My answer is, in the first place, I’m not sure I’d want anybody who’s easy to confirm given the way the Senate is.”

Frank resisted efforts to water down the financial reform bill’s consumer protection provisions. In fact, when asked what he thought of placing the consumer agency inside the Federal Reserve — a place it will soon occupy thanks to a series of compromises — Frank reportedly asked if it was a “joke.”

“Secondly, I don’t think you give in to the threat of a filibuster,” Frank continued. “I think you make them do it. There would be such strong support for her that she would get confirmed.

“I think she has a strong populist appeal,” he added.

The New Republic reported Friday that Charles Fried, a former solicitor general under Ronald Reagan who supported the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, supported Warren for the consumer position.

“I support capitalism, and I don’t like thieves. And the people who got us into this mess are thieves, or there are a lot of thieves among them,” Fried, one of Warren’s colleagues at Harvard Law School, told TNR.

“She’s far and away the best candidate,” Frank said. “And… though there’s some concern, I guess, over whether she could be confirmed, that’s no reason not to go ahead and make the fight.”

Shahien Nasiripour is the business reporter for the Huffington Post. You can send him an e-mail; bookmark his page; subscribe to his RSS feed; follow him on Twitter; friend him on Facebook; become a fan; and/or get e-mail alerts when he reports the latest news. He can be reached at 646-274-2455.

More on Financial Crisis

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Barney Frank: Elizabeth Warren Should Head CFPB, By Recess Appointment If Necessary

COLUMBIA, Mo. — From gimlet-swilling adulterers on TV’s “Mad Men” to seven-figure fines for deceptive ads touting cold remedies and credit scores, the ad industry sure could use an image makeover of its own.

Industry leaders are teaming up with the nation’s oldest journalism school to launch the Institute for Advertising Ethics. Among the research center’s goals is to improve the public image of a business that spent $125 billion last year but isn’t exactly known for its bedrock principles and unwavering scruples.

Whether it’s the duplicitous exploits of fictional television character Don Draper or the latest penalties levied by the Federal Trade Commission, the ad industry struggles to put its best face forward. A 2007 Gallup survey ranked advertisers among the least trustworthy professionals – barely beating out lobbyists and car salesmen.

“Because it is persuasion, advertising is viewed in a questionable way by a lot of people,” said Margaret Duffy, a former ad executive who now teaches at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and is helping to organize the ethics institute.

But even though the industry’s fundamental purpose is to convince shoppers to buy a product they may not actually need, such persuasion can be done in an “ethical and tasteful” way, she added.

The research center’s leader is visiting professor Wally Snyder, a former FTC lawyer and American Advertising Federation president. While acknowledging the need to improve the industry’s reputation, he emphasized that the institute will also benefit the people who view ads.

Snyder pointed to research that suggests consumers are more likely to do business with companies they consider ethical, ones that don’t use deceptive ads.

“This is what consumers want, and expect,” he said.

The ethics institute is just part of a broader PR campaign envisioned by the industry.

The Washington-based trade group once led by Snyder is shopping a reality TV show featuring young ad reps – a “Mad Men” for the modern age. The federation also wants to shift its industry Hall of Fame, an online entity, to a physical location in New York City.

According to the oft-cited 2007 survey, the industry can use the help. Just 6 percent of respondents ranked advertisers’ ethics as “high” or “very high,” with 42 percent ranking their ethics as “low” or “very low.”

Nursing, the top-ranked of the 22 professions listed, received an 83 percent trustworthy ranking. Even nursing home operators (21 percent), lawyers (15 percent) and members of Congress (9 percent) scored higher.

The research center will be affiliated with Missouri’s Reynolds Journalism Institute, a nonprofit think tank and futures lab intended to help the struggling industry figure out new ways to make money while embracing technology and re-engaging a skeptical and time-pressed citizenry.

Its priorities include developing a voluntary code of ethics, honoring businesses for ethical behavior and examining the effects of social media and digital technology on the ad world.

The first principle of the ethics code, as envisioned by Snyder, outlines advertising’s purpose as “to provide commercial information that will assist consumers in their purchase decisions in a truthful, fair and cost-effective manner.”

A group of the industry’s heaviest hitters will serve on the institute’s advisory board, including executives from Procter & Gamble, Omnicom Group, Interpublic and Ketchum.

Both Duffy and Snyder acknowledge that the effort must overcome initial skepticism – much of it from within the ad industry itself.

Mark Fleisher, owner of a small advertising agency in central Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, says the industry doesn’t need to be reminded of the importance of ethical behavior. It just needs to increase the honesty quotient.

“The industry has become more ethical because the clients have become smarter,” he said. “Agencies are still going to pull whatever they need to (clinch a deal). And those agencies will run roughshod over the honest ones. That’s been going on for years.”

Business journalist Jim Edwards, a former Adweek managing editor who still writes about the industry, is also dubious about the latest effort. He notes there have been no fewer than four other attempts to codify industry ethics, including one generated by the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1924.

“History does not suggest that these things catch on very well,” he said. “There’s a structural problem in the advertising business. The entire industry is engaged in a race to the bottom. Whoever can do it the cheapest and the fastest wins.”

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Ad Industry Teams Up With University Of Missouri For New Ethics Institute

Christian Science MonitorUnemployment extension? Pooh. North Dakota hits jobs record.Christian Science MonitorOn the same day that the Senate pushed to pass an unemployment extension, the Labor Department released data showing that North Dakota is employing more …
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Research desk explains: How effective would deficit-neutral stimulus be?Washington Post (blog)The defecit-neutral unemployment extension was by taking from [...]

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did congress pass unemployment extension 2010

Read full The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is asking for proposals for a flying Humvee that it calls, predictably, “The Transformer.” Please visit Pentagon looking for flying Humvee , DARPA for more content.

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Pentagon looking for flying Humvee : DARPA

Research scientists at the MIT are singing a new tune with a new type of interactive fiber that has the ability to detect and create sound. For associate professor Yoel Fink and his team at MIT’s Research Lab of Electronics, the threads used in textiles and even optical fibers are too passive to be truly useful.

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MIT Creates Fibers That Can Hear, Sing, Generate Electricity

Paris The enigmatic smile remains a mystery, but French scientists say they have cracked a few secrets of the “Mona Lisa.” Skip to next paragraph French researchers studied seven of the Louvre Museum’s Leonardo da Vinci paintings, including the “Mona Lisa,” to analyze the master’s use of successive ultrathin layers of paint and glaze — a technique that gave his works their dreamy quality. Specialists from the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France found that da Vinci painted up to 30 layers of paint on his works to meet his standards of subtlety

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Mona Lisa examination reveals layers of paint for dreamy quality

Australian scientists have discovered bizarre prehistoric sea life hundreds of kilometres below the Great Barrier Reef , in an unprecedented mission to document species under threat from ocean warming.