Headlines
Benton Foundation provides free, daily summaries of articles concerning the quickly-changing telecommunications policy landscape.
Digital Beat
Here Benton Foundation Chairman and CEO Charles Benton and others offer their unique perspective on communications policy.
- A Look at Lobbying in the Wake of SOPA/PIPA 2 days 17 hours ago
- FCC Must Reach Out On Upcoming Changes to Lifeline Telecom Program 5 days 19 hours ago
- Biggest Day Ever of Online Protest in English 1 week 1 day ago
Policy Initiatives
Acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T
The latest news, opinions, and policy matters related to the Transaction. Learn more
Tracking Legislation
Congress is poised to make a number of critical yet irreversible decisions this year and next that will shape our communications future for decades to come. Learn More
Universal Affordable Broadband For All Americans
America is on the verge of vast new broadband-driven digital transformation that promises to make life more livable, businesses more productive, jobs more plentiful, and the Internet more accessible. Learn More
Public Interest Obligations
A key principle of federal communications law is that in exchange for free use of the public airwaves broadcasters agree to take actions to benefit the public. Learn More
Media Ownership
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 fundamentally changed US broadcast ownership law. The 1996 Act directs the Federal Communications Commission to reexamine its broadcast ownership rules every few years and repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the public interest. Learn More
Benton Mobile
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Public Service Media
Benton believes that our democracy is enhanced by a rich and inclusive media system that values the voices of all communities. To that end, we’ve supported research that gives us a sense of the health and well-being of public service media.
In April 2011, we released the results of a study administered by the Alliance for Communications Democracy on the current state of PEG access channels. Public access channels in our communities can provide hyper-local news and public affairs programming, a kind of narrowcasting that can help us make informed decisions about our neighborhoods. The study shows that far too many PEG channels are closing or under-funded.
Benton also funded the pilot phase of the Community Media Database, developed during the months of February through May, 2011. This project is intended to collaboratively collect and freely present information about community media providers in the United States. Presently it contains initial information on over 2,000 community access television providers and over 800 Low Power FM radio stations.
For more information on Benton’s history in Public Service Media, click here.
Broadband Deployment's "Best-in-Breed"
With the potential to jumpstart the massive investment needed to build America's information infrastructure for the next century, the $7.2 billion for broadband contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act merits great attention. On Thursday, May 7th, the Benton Foundation highlighted innovative deployment and sustainable use projects already at work to bridge the broadband divides between rich and poor, urban and rural. View the presentations
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