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JEROME PUGMIRE

Last updated08:41, January 25 2017

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McLaren F1 driver Fernando Alonso has been critical of the Grand Prix format, saying it can put fans to sleep.

When one of your biggest stars says your series sends him to sleep there are serious issues to be addressed, and this is the situation facing Formula One's new owner.

With the autocratic Bernie Ecclestone moving aside after nearly 40 years, the task falls to USsports and entertainment firm Liberty Media to win back dissatisfied fans and make the series much more fairly governed -yet unpredictable and thrilling again.

Liberty Media completed its takeover of F1 on Monday (NZT Tuesday) withEcclestonereplaced by Chase Carey as chief executive.

Here is a look at the key issues as Liberty tries to give F1 its edge back.

READ MORE: * Super Bowl buzz for F1 in mind for Liberty * EcclestoneF1 era over as Liberty takes control

BORING PRACTICE SESSIONS

F1's practice format is far from riveting.

Races have three practice sessions -usually split over two days -before Saturday afternoon qualifying. But sometimes there is little, or even nothing, for fans to see.

It is commonplace for drivers to wait in the team garage for long spells as they conserve tires for the race, thus picking and choosing when to practice. Even out on track there is little competitive driving during practice, such is the heavy emphasis on tire management.

This chronic lack of excitement prompted two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, one of F1's most popular drivers, to make the remarkable statement that F1 should be paying fans to watch.

"Fans want to see fast cars, something where you cannot close your mouth after you see the car passing. I was 30 minutes today outside the circuit and I was sleeping,'' he said after watching a practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"We should pay the people who are in the grandstands to watch the cars passing.''

A year earlier, the Spanish driver used wry humour to express his frustration, posting a picture online of him reclining lazily in a deckchair during qualifying.

Alonso's message was clear: F1 has become too predictable and sedate.

PRESEASON TESTING

One avenue for Liberty to explore could be revamping preseason testing as well.

This is split into two four-day periods, where accumulating the maximum amount of laps is the priority as teams smooth out any reliability issues.

Last year, Mercedes logged a mind-boggling 1294 laps in eight days of testing outside of Barcelona, equivalent to nearly 20 Grand Prix distances.

But fans deserve more than a slow merry-go-round of cars doing countless laps without any competition.

FAIRER WEALTH DISTRIBUTION

In recent years particularly, issues were regularly raised about the top-heavy distribution of wealth benefiting big teams and squeezing out smaller ones.

This is highlighted by the Manor team, which was rescued from administration just in time for the 2015 season.

But at the end of last year's campaign it missed out on 10th place by one point, and a subsequent windfall of nearly US$10 million (NZ$14m), and is once again battling administration.

BETTER DECISIONS

Smaller teams got less say because of the overly strong influence held by Ecclestone and big teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari in the F1 strategy group meetings.

The iron-fisted decision-making, often with Ecclestone having the final word, has often proved erratic and unpopular.

Ecclestone stuck with Pirelli as the tire supplier against the wishes of many teams, particularly after a chaotic 2013 campaign in which tires blew up or disintegrated.

Two other of Ecclestone's inventions -the double points rule on the final day of the 2014 season and confusing changes to qualifying at the start of last season -were both quickly scrapped.

A greater democracy and a wider input from F1 will help soothe the bitter in-fighting that plagues the series.

PROTECTING F1'S IDENTITY

Some track owners must be breathing a sigh of relief.

Faced with rising track costs and a ruthless negotiator in Ecclestone, much-loved races like the Italian GP in Monza and the German GP have been under severe threat.

This year's German GP to be staged at the Hockenheimring was scrapped due to financial problems and dwindling attendances. The British race at Silverstone is also at risk.

Ecclestone has been heavily criticised for overlooking historic popular races to develop new financially attractive ones in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

The growing uncertainty over which tracks would make the calendar turned into a season-long debate, sending out a negative message.

Storied venues are a valuable part of F1's identity.

MORE DRIVER SKILLS

Anyone watching an F1 race these days will regularly hear drivers being told -and sometimes firmly ordered -by their teams to save tires and not race too hard.

This only adds to the predictability as the better drivers are less vulnerable to the unexpected. But fans want more uncertainty.

Dramatically limiting the amount of times engineers can directly communicate with drivers would add to the drama and the spectacle.

Liberty must also resolve the Pirelli issue, and decide whether it wants to move back to harder tires that last longer and limit dull pit-stop strategy.

Gimmicks such as DRS -designed to help drivers overtake at certain times during a race - would no longer be needed if drivers were allowed a purer form of racing without so much team intervention.

THE BRAWN EFFECT

Who better to help revitalse F1 than a widely admired strategist who helped Michael Schumacher win all seven of his F1 titles?

Liberty has appointed Brawn as managing director of motorsports in a highly popular move.

Brawn helped Ferrari win 11 world titles and seven with Williams and Benetton.

Brawn also won the 2009 F1 title against all odds with his own BrawnGP team, and helped Mercedes develop a car that easily won three straight titles from 2014-16.

SPICING UP RACE WEEK

The iconic Monaco GP has no problem attracting fans every day. That is due to its notoriety as a playground for the rich and its spectacular location, with the glitzy circuit designed around the crystal blue waters of Monaco's harbor.

Other races are not so geographically blessed and struggle to keep the appeal going from Thursday until Sunday.

Liberty has a chance to spice up race week with a more glamorous, fun-filled US-style approach to buildup and fan interaction.

GETTING CONNECTED

Digital media was an alien concept to Bernie Ecclestone, who viewed it as futile and flatly refused to engage in it.

For Liberty, improving the series' connection with social media is a top priority.

Liberty sees it as a key way to massively broaden the global audience. This would ideally help to enhance F1's presence in the US, where a new street race is planned, and boost flagging races elsewhere.

-AP

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Key issues for a new era in F1 as Liberty Media take control - Stuff.co.nz

Miller also noted on Saturday that Trump administration officials are discussing the possibility of asking foreign visitors to disclose all websites and social media sites they visit, and to share the contacts in their cell phones. If the foreign visitor declines to share such information, he or she could be denied entry. Sources told CNN that the idea is just in the preliminary discussion level. The social media posts calling for jihad by San Bernardino terrorist Tashfeen Malik -- made under a pseudonym and with strict privacy settings -- are part of this discussion. How such a policy would be implemented remains under discussion.

Miller praised the State Department on Saturday, sources tell CNN, but argued that the government needs to do better job of making sure the people who come into the US embrace American values.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump's executive order bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days.

Trump's unilateral moves, which have drawn the ire of human rights groups and prompted protests at US airports, reflect the President's desire to quickly make good on his campaign promises. But they also encapsulate the pitfalls of an administration largely operated by officials with scant federal experience.

It wasn't until Friday -- the day Trump signed the order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days -- that career homeland security staff were allowed to see the final details of the order, a person familiar with the matter said.

The result was widespread confusion across the country on Saturday as airports struggled to adjust to the new directives. In New York, two Iraqi nationals sued the federal government after they were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and 10 others were detained as well.

Trump on Sunday defended his recent executive order on extreme vetting, saying in a statement: "We will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do while protecting our own citizens and voters."

He added: "This is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion -- this is about terror and keeping our country safe."

He said his first priority "will always be to protect and serve our country, but as President I will find ways to help all of those who are suffering."

CNN's Eric Bradner, Evan Perez, Pamela Brown, Kevin Liptak, Jeremy Diamond and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.

Read more from the original source:
White House discussing asking foreign visitors for social media info and cell phone contacts - CNN

BEIRUT Syrian government forces took back control of an area near Damascus that provides most of the capital's water supplies after reaching a deal for rebel fighters to withdraw, pro-government media and a monitoring group said.

The Syrian army and its allies launched an offensive last month to drive insurgents from the Wadi Barada valley, which they have controlled since 2012, and to recapture a major spring and pumping station.

Syria's mainstream rebel factions are under intense pressure after losing areas they held in the northern city of Aleppo to government forces at the end of last year, and now face a fierce assault by Islamist militants elsewhere.

Wadi Barada, which lies northwest of Damascus, has become one of the fiercest battlefronts in Syria's civil war. Disruption to water supplies, including infrastructure damage, has caused acute shortages in the capital this month.

Government forces entered the village of Ain al-Fija, where the spring and pumping station are located, early on Saturday, a military media unit run by Lebanese group Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus, reported.

"The Syrian army has entered Ain al-Fija ... and raised the Syrian flag over the spring installation," a statement by the unit said, adding that the development was due to a deal reached with insurgents by which the rebels would leave the area.

Teams were preparing to enter Ain al-Fija to fix the pumping station and the army had secured control of the village, it added.

INTENSE FIGHTING

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitoring group, said government forces had begun moving into the spring area as rebel fighters withdrew.

Under the deal reached between the government side and local representatives, rebels hailing from outside the Wadi Barada area would leave for the northwestern province of Idlib, an insurgent stronghold, carrying light weapons, the Observatory said.

Rebels from Wadi Barada would be allowed to leave too, but could also opt to stay and serve with pro-government forces, it added.

The Syrian government has struck similar local ceasefire deals with the opposition in several western parts of the country, usually involving the transfer of rebel fighters and their families to Idlib.

The opposition has said the process amounts to forced population transfer.

Intense fighting raged for weeks in Wadi Barada, and knocked the water spring out of service in late December.

The United Nations has said "infrastructure was deliberately targeted", without saying who was responsible, leaving four million people in Damascus without safe drinking water. It warned the shortages could lead to outbreaks of waterborne disease.

Rebels and activists have said government bombardment damaged the spring. The government said insurgent groups polluted it with diesel, forcing the state to cut supplies.

Rebels in Wadi Barada had been allowing government engineers to maintain and operate the valley's pumping station. Fighters have, however, cut water supplies several times in the past to put pressure on the army not to overrun the area.

(Reporting by John Davison and Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Helen Popper)

GENEVA The United Nations refugee agency and International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on the Trump administration on Saturday to continue offering asylum to people fleeing war and persecution, saying its resettlement program was vital.

BEIRUT Several Syrian Islamist factions including al Qaeda's former branch in the country said on Saturday they were joining forces, as clashes between jihadists and more moderate rebels raged on in northwestern areas.

ANKARA British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday signed a $125 million defense equipment deal with Turkey and promised to push for more trade between the NATO allies, but cautioned Ankara on human rights following last year's failed coup.

Continue reading here:
Syrian army seizes Damascus water source as rebels withdraw - pro-government media, monitor - Reuters

In Donald Trumps first few days in office, American journalists have been surprised at how rapidly the new US presidential administration began to curb their access to government. For Indian journalists, the Trump White Houses efforts to control how members of the media can engage with government sources is eerily familiar. In the weeks after the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was elected in 2014, his administration took similar steps to reduce access to ministers and bureaucrats of various departments for members of the press and centralize communications through the office of the prime minister.

In the early stages, there is a highly centralized color to the Trump administration that echoes, in some respects, the modus operandi of the Modi regime, says Milan Vaishnav, senior associate in the South Asia program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Not only has the White House put several agencies on notice when it comes to issuing public statements without prior approval, it has also tightly managed the transition process.

Like Trump, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is a larger-than-life politician who harnessed social media to speak directly to supporters, tweeting regularly and building a large following. Both leaders were criticized heavily by the media during their campaigns and had a somewhat adversarial relationship with members of the press when they assumed office. In power, both have chosen to bypass traditional media in order to control the message sent to the public.

Donald Trumps relationship with the press has many parallels to Narendra Modis approach to the media in India, says Sumit Galhotra, former senior researcher at Committee to Protect Journalists Asia program. Both leaders have exhibited an uneasiness with the media and are uncomfortable with the press playing the role of watchdog adversary.

As early as Trumps inauguration day (Jan. 20), there were signs that reporters would be given limited access to this administration. Breaking with a long-established precedent, Trump restricted access to the two official inaugural balls to pool press coverage only. Previously, official inaugural balls were open press events, which meant that any reporter could cover them, as long as they were cleared by security. On Monday, the US Environmental Protection Agency staff was told to stop communicating with the press or the public effective immediately. Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Interior Department have also seen directives limiting how they communicate with the public.

In the months following Modis election in 2014, his administration took similar steps. Doordarshan News and All India Radio (AIR), both state-backed broadcasters, were immediately made the administrations favored choice for disseminating information to the public, and journalists from other outlets complained that they were kept out of the loop. AIR and Doordarshans less-combative questioning style allowed Modis government to carefully curate coverage and avoid tough questions.

Reporters in India complained that information on the new administration was hard to come by, and that government staff had stopped responding to phone calls and text messages. Throughout Modis term, journalists have been directed to the prime ministers speeches, press statements, and Twitter feed. Ministers and bureaucrats are told to avoid the media and speak only when Modi offers an official line. Some ministers are even told to refrain from speaking to journalists at all and leave it to their departments official spokesperson. What this means is, to paraphrase an old adage, that those who know do not speak, and those who speak do not know, says Vaishnav.

There has been a lot of communication from the government, but its been very top-down, N Ravi, editor of the Hindu newspaper and president of the Editors Guild of India, told Reuters. Its been a one-way street. Each month Modi records a radio show titled Mann ki Baat (Talking from the Heart) on AIR, often using his address to the nation to promote some government policy. While Indias previous prime minister was accompanied by 30 or more journalists when he travelled outside the country, Modi chose to take only nine journalists on his 2014 trip to the USmost of which were from state-funded media.

Several journalists I met with in India shared the belief that Modi was tightening the screws on the flow of information and found newsgathering was becoming more difficult. I think the same can be said of Trumps early moves in office, says Galhotra. Both Trump and Modi have attempted to create a one-directional relationship with the press: journalists should amplify their message but should not be given the space to challenge it.

One reason this tactic has been effective in both countries is that public trust in the media has eroded. In September 2016 a Gallup survey found that Americans trust in the mass media had sunk to an all-time low, with only 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. Likewise, according to a 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, the media is the least trusted institution in India. In India, the right-wing has succeeded at denigrating the media, by labelling them presstitutes, and painting them as corrupt, says Galhotra. I see Trump and his supporters making similar attempts here at home to undermine the publics trust in the media.

In Modis India, the press has often found it hard to effectively do its job and hold government accountable. The Editors Guild of India issued a statement saying, Diminishing access to information to journalists and the media runs against the grain of democratic functioning in an age of openness, transparency, and right to information. Without access to government officials, the prime ministers Twitter feed has become a primary news source.

One news source that is fast acquiring a monopoly over the dissemination of the government newsapart from the Press Information Bureau, which is churning out press statements at an unprecedented paceis the prime minister himself, wrote journalist Dhirendra K Jha in Scroll. Modis tweets, in fact, are fast becoming the main source of news for the mediapersons in Delhi. And on Twitter and radio addresses, journalists have no opportunity to question Modi.

Several Indian journalists say they increasingly face backlash for producing journalism that questions or criticizes the Modi administration or the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is at the helm of the government currently. The environment is one in which you cant say anything against Modi, says Swati Chaturvedi, a print and TV journalist who filed a police report after receiving hundreds of threats a day. Its a systematic sort of harassment and bullying which will eventually silence a lot of people who dont have the confidence to fight back.

We might be looking at one of the most illiberal periods for the media operating in India, with the government indulging in a form of unilateral messaging and many media outlets surrendering their irreverence in favor of adulatory reporting, wrote journalist Nidhi Dutt.

Meanwhile, prime minister Modi plans to set up a new journalism university, modelled on Beijings massive government-run Communication University of China, to train thousands of journalists in government propaganda.

It remains to be seen if Trumps administration will change course in the coming months; it has already backtracked on some of its media-related directives. For example, vice-president Mike Pence had said that the administration was considering getting rid of the press briefing room in the White House and moving reporters to a larger venue elsewhere on the complex. Though Pence framed this as a way to make room for more journalists, it has raised alarm bells in the media. Last week, in an interview with Fox and Friends, Trump said, The press went crazy, so I said, Lets not move it.

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Modi's success silencing the media in India sets a dangerous precedent for the free press in Trump's America - Quartz

An apologist of the President and a public official who gets paid by taxpayers money, Andanar is embarking on a dangerous path of propaganda and media control

Published 5:36 PM, January 26, 2017

Updated 11:53 AM, January 27, 2017

MANCAVE. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar launches his Martin's Mancave Lifecast on January 7, 2017. Andanar's Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines Ever heard of Martins Mancave Lifecast? Its a podcast on Facebook that features no less than the Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Martin Andanar.

The former commentator of Aksyon TV and anchor of TV5s Aksyon sa Umaga, Andanar hosted his first podcast under the Duterte administration on a Saturday evening, January 7, and titled it, Leni Leaks: Truth or Lies?

The maiden podcast of the Cabinet secretary under the new government amplified a supposedly explosive discovery by bloggers about an alleged plan to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

As of the afternoon of Thursday, January 26, the episode had garnered over 774,000 views and shared over 13,000 times. The numbers are quite impressive for a first episode that ran for over 50 minutes and featured interviews with two bloggers who are avid supporters of Duterte Sass Rogando Sasot and Rey Joseph (RJ) Nieto, who, until only a few weeks ago, was known as the anonymous Thinking Pinoy. Andanar ended that episode with a short interview with National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

Early on, after Duterte won as president, the first thing that Andanar asked the Malacaang Press Corps (MPC) officers was if bloggers like "Thinking Pinoy" could be accredited as members of the press corps. Clear about the distinction between the role of the press and that of pro-Duterte bloggers, the officers said no.

An apologist of the President and a public official who gets paid by taxpayers money, Andanar is embarking on a dangerous path of propaganda and media control.

As articulated by media theorist Manuel Castells, propaganda and media control refers to the fabrication and diffusion of messages that distort facts and induce misinformation for the purpose of advancing government interests, and involves the censorship of any message deemed to undermine these interests, if necessary by criminalizing unhindered communication and prosecuting the messenger.

Palace insiders said that, starting September 2016, money was released to groups that had maintained an online presence in support of the President. The same insiders said some of these groups are identified with Andanar.

Platform of legitimacy

Through his resurrected Martins Mancave with Lifecast attached to the brand to give the podcast a new name on Facebook the Cabinet secretary provides the two bloggers with a platform and grants them legitimacy, both as attack dogs out to intimidate journalists and as sources of alarmist information.

This shrewd artificial online boost spread like wild fire the message about the supposed plot to oust Duterte. It rattled the social media sphere of Duterte followers and generated a lot of anger about the supposed grand conspiracy.

Andanar justified his decision to discuss #LeniLeaks in his podcast, saying that the administration does not welcome any destabilization attempts and is against methods to advance such destabilization interests kung totoo man (if they are true).

It was Sasot who first posted about #LeniLeaks on Twitter in the evening of January 5. She followed up with a Facebook post afternoon of January 6, detailing the message of United States-based Loida Nicolas Lewis in a Yahoogroup about how to defend the Vice President from criticism and defeated vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos: The only way to fight this evil plot to unseat Vice President Leni Robredo is to ask Duterte to Resign.

It was also Sasot who recently equated the punishment of fake news with the punishment of people who write fiction, generating a wave of criticism and negative reactions. Faraway in The Netherlands, she openly cursed Rapplers Palace reporter Pia Ranada for her story on #LeniLeaks. Sasots post has since been taken down.

SASOT. Blogger Sass Rogando Sasot curses Rappler's Pia Ranada. Screenshot of Sasot's Facebook Live video.

Nieto, on the other hand, also recently repeatedly cursed from Singapore the MPC for their statement calling out Andanar.

The MPC accredited journalists assigned to cover the Palace said in their statement that they were disturbed by the propensity of the officials of this administration to blame the media whenever the inflammatory statements of the President stir controversy or draw flak. Andanar had accused the MPC of misreporting Dutertes statements on martial law.

Not content with his curses, Nieto flashed the dirty finger repeatedly during his 13-minute rant. Nasaan ang Malacaang Press Corps? Nakatambay kayo sa hotel o nagsa-shopping kayo sa Orchard Road. Puro kayo inutil, mga putang ina nyo. Wag kayo umarte na kay-iinam. Wala naman kayong ginawa sa Singapore kundi mamasyal. O, yan ba loyal sa Filipino people?

(Wheres the Malacaang Press Corps? Standing by the hotel or shopping on Orchard Road. Youre all useless, sons of bitches. Dont act as if youre all good. You didnt do anything in Singapore but to shop. Is that what you call loyal to the Filipino people?)

REY JOSEPH NIETO. The face behind Thinking Pinoy. Screenshot of his Facebook Live video.

He reported that only he and a handful of others were at a hotel lobby in Singapore waiting to ambush-interview officials. However, this is not how the media works and gathers news. Journalists do not base their stories solely on officialdom but countless other sources, depending on issues they are pursuing and monitoring. Ambush-interviews likewise do not yield the best of stories because officials tend to give answers on the fly.

Nieto threatened the press corps that when he sees them in Russia during a presidential visit, he would be reporting on what they will be doing.

It is these types of disseminators of information whom Andanar, the Presidents communications secretary, has chosen to promote.

Boosts and failure

During his podcast, Andanar built up Sasot and Nieto, then known as the anonymous Thinking Pinoy, and referred to them as internet superstar bloggers.

Donning headphones and doing the interviews, Andanar made it easy for viewers on Facebook to forget he is an official of the Palace and no longer a broadcaster.

Instead of using government resources at his disposal to establish the veracity of #LeniLeaks through solid intelligence information from other agencies of government, Andanar chose the two partisan bloggers as his sources.

After Sasot and Nieto failed to create enough splash the first time around, Andanar got them as interviewees on January 7 to shed light on #LeniLeaks which, he said, had gone viral.

Yet our data analysis of posts related to #LeniLeaks from January 5-15, 2017, showed that before January 7, the issue had not created enough buzz. The podcast on January 7, a Saturday, however, boosted the message and prompted a lot of shares as seen by the spike on that day (see chart below).

Perhaps because it was a weekend or because not enough traction was created, the number of posts dropped not long after.

The next attempt to sustain interest came the following day on January 8, a Sunday, via a second episode of the podcast, leading up to the January 9 Cabinet meeting, where Andanar said the #LeniLeaks issue would be brought up.

The second episode, however, got much lesser viewership. As of afternoon of January 26, it had 98,000 views and over 1,100 shares. The numbers were much lower compared to the over 774,000 views and over 13,000 shares of the first episode.

Evidently, the posts got their first stimulus on January 7 and hit an apex close to the day of the Cabinet meeting itself. When the issue was ignored by the Cabinet because of more compelling issues they had to discuss, the number of posts dropped dramatically, more visibly by January 10.

Despite occasional spurts, interest in #LeniLeaks subsided not long after, more clearly by January 11 onwards. The posts, however, prompted a lot of comments that peaked on January 8, then started tapering by January 11 (see chart below).

In the comments section, some of those who posted were impatient about updates on the issue. Unfortunately, the revelations of Andanars sources were found to be inadequate to merit a probe by the justice department.

Propaganda

In his January 24 Facebook Live interview with Duterte supporter "Maharlika" in Los Angeles, Andanar said the possibility of bloggers being accredited to cover the Palace is "very bright." The unspoken rule is that they should support the Duterte presidency and dish out only "constructive information."

In that interview, Andanar said a certain Carlos Munda, who runs the pro-Duterte MindaVote page, has already been given access by the PCO to its newsfeed. He said it's really a matter of creating a "new system" to include bloggers in the news feed of the Palace.

For Andanar, whether in Malacaang or in his man cave, the distinction between journalists and bloggers, as well as news and propaganda, are all a blur. with Paige Occeola and Pia Ranada/Rappler.com

Read more here:
Inside Martin Andanar's man cave - Rappler