"Ghettoization" of Latin American News?

Obama Really Meant It With "Rhymes With Bucket"

"President Obama's performance at the White House [Correspondents'] Association dinner on Saturday seemed carefully calibrated to deliver one overarching message: the president no longer cares what his critics (read: white people) think," Nick Chiles wrote Monday for atlantablackstar.com.

"During much of his six years in office the White House appeared to go out of its way to avoid giving Republicans fodder to use in attacking him. But that no longer is the case. Many publications noticed, with headlines that sent out the message: President Obama doesn’t have any more f**ks to give.

"Jokes aside, the question now is whether this attitude will carry over into the politics in his last 20 months in office. Will he use every option in his toolbox to get around the Republican Congress and try to shape the country in his image — including going out of his way to help his people, the Black community? Perhaps he will follow up the nomination of new Attorney General Loretta Lynch with a string of Black appointees. Maybe he’ll start signing executive orders to really dig down to the obstacles blocking Black progress in areas like economics, housing, education and criminal justice.

"Or maybe he won't. But he's no longer afraid to talk about it. . . ."

• 2015 WHCA scholarship recipients

• C-SPAN: 2015 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner(video)
  
  
• foxnews.com: Reporter at White House Correspondents' Dinner ignores national anthem to text
  
  
• Politico Magazine: The Truth About Covering Obama
  
  
• James Warren, Poynter Institute: White House Correspondents' Association president: Obama's now 'a heck of a lot harder to get on the phone' 
  
  
• White House Correspondents' Association Announces 2015 Award Winners (March 31)

Consolidation to Continue, Despite Failure of Cable Merger

"Even if Comcast's $45.2 billion bid for Time Warner Cable is dead, consolidation among the companies that pipe in our TV, phone and Internet will carry on,"Tali Arbel reported Friday for the Associated Press.

"Combining the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. cable companies would have put nearly 30 percent of TV and about 55 percent of broadband subscribers under one roof, along with NBCUniversal. That appeared to be too much concentration for regulators.

"Bloomberg News and The New York Times both said Thursday that Comcast is planning to drop its bid, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. Comcast and Time Warner Cable declined to comment on the reports.

"But cable companies are likely to keep merging as online video options proliferate, the number of cable and satellite TV subscribers slips and costs rise for the shows, sports and movies piped to subscribers.

"At the same time, there will be more competition for young customers seeking stand-alone Internet and mobile video offerings and cheaper TV channel packages.

"This is already happening. Verizon's FiOS is trying smaller, customizable TV bundles, while HBO has launched an online version of its content, HBO Now, that doesn't require a cable TV subscription. . . ."

• Mary Alice Crim, freepress.net: Comcast Folds
  
  
• David Gelles, New York Times: Comcast Withdraws Purchase Bid, but It Isn't Going Anywhere
  
  
• Harry A. Jessell, TVNewsCheck: No Reason To Cheer Comcast-TWC Collapse
  
  
• Jonathan Mahler, New York Times: Once Comcast's Deal Shifted to a Focus on Broadband, Its Ambitions Were Sunk
  
  
• Hilary Stout, New York Times: Comcast-Time Warner Cable Deal's Collapse Leaves Frustrated Customers Out in the Cold