Lost Luggage Nears Historic High

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But the case of Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who is due in court tomorrow on a misdemeanor assault charge, is presented by today's Washington Post as more of a poster boy's rallying cry than a cautionary tale.

That's because when Filner explained after the incident that he was "tired after a delayed flight and frustrated by the subsequent delay of the entire flight's baggage," he actually had a very valid point, according to the Post. The appallingly bad service was not just in Filner's (admittedly somewhat unhinged) mind.

More than 1 million pieces of luggage were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines from May to July, according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. June and July ranked among the 20 worst months for mishandled baggage in 20 years.

"The shoddy service is the crest of five years of steady deterioration in the ability of the major airlines to deliver a checked bag," the Post reports. In 2002, there were 3.84 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. In July, the fiture was 7.93.

What's to blame? Topping the list is the oh-so-popular restriction on carrying on gels and liquids, which has led to a surge in the number of checked bags since August 2006. (As if we needed another reason to hate that rule.) Adding to those woes are staffing cutbacks during the industry's downturn a few years ago, major carriers' reliance on hubs, an increase in smaller airplanes that have weight restrictions on luggage and, of course, an antiquated air traffic control system that causes more and more delayed and cancelled flights.

In short, as one expert put it, "The customer is going to keep taking it on the chin."

Air Travel Is Both More Annoying And Safer Than Ever

Although your chances of being frustrated to the point of doing something you regret during air travel are higher than ever, your chances of dying while flying have been declining for a decade, the New York Times reports.

Fatal crashes have gone down 65 percent over the past 10 years, to one fatal accident in about 4.5 million departures down from one in nearly 2 million.

The drop is a result of the government's efforts to force the airline industry to reduce the domestic rate of fatal accidents, after two infamous crashes in 1996 killed 375 people together. The goal was to drop the rate by 80 percent in 10 years.

Some of the drop is plain luck, but the rest of it can be explained by a bunch of little changes seeking to nip potential problems in the bud. Equipment improvements have also helped.

"It's not one thing," said John Cox of the Air Line Pilots Association. "It's a series of small things."

Spanish-Language Networks Lead The Digital TV Education Charge

Quick, what's the significance of Feb. 17, 2009?

If you don't know - it's when the television industry will switch to digital-only broadcasting - you might benefit from a bit of education on the subject. But for the moment, you'll only get it in Spanish.

That's because Univision, the No. 1 Spanish-language broadcaster, will be the first major network owner to launch a public service ad campaign about the change when it begins airing messages today, USA Today reports.

Univision is concerned about the coming change because nearly 28 percent of Hispanic households - and 43 percent of homes were Spanish is the primary language - watch TV only via over-the-air transmissions. By contrast about 16 percent of non-Hispanic white households and 23 percent of African Americans depend solely on broadcast signals.

While most other broadcasters aren't going to start hyping the switch until November, Univision is starting now to be sure viewers are ready to deal with a federal subsidy program beginning in January. The government will offer each household an opportunity to receive two $40 coupons to help pay for converter boxes for their analog TVs. They could cost as much as $70 a piece.

And yes, you heard that right: the government is subsidizing the watching of television.

Newspaper Circulation Is Dropping. So What?

Paper-and-ink enthusiasts and other media watchers have long taken it for granted that newspapers are dying because the Web is killing them.

But the New York Times reports today that much of steady decline in newspapers' circulation has actually been intentional - and not necessarily caused by the migration of readers to the Web. The real culprit is that advertisers are getting more sophisticated and no longer want to pay to distribute their information to less-than-highly-targeted readers.

"Driven by marketing and delivery costs and pressure from advertising, many papers have decided certain readers are not worth the expense involved in finding, serving and keeping them," the Times reports.

As a result, newspapers' traditional customer-expansion efforts like cold-calling people during dinner are out; those obnoxious printed inserts that fall on the subway floor when you open the paper are in.

"There is a school of thought these days that you stop actively selling altogether and let the readership seek its natural level," said Jack Klunder, senior vice president for circulation at the Los Angeles Times, which has lost more circulation this decade than any other paper.

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