Reporting

Kayleigh McEnany named RNC spokesperson

Kayleigh McEnany, who recently departed CNN as a contributor, will be the next spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. McEnany frequently defended President Donald Trump during her tenure at CNN. She began as a paid contributor in 2016. The 29-year-old Georgetown and Harvard Law School graduate began her career in television as a producer for former Gov Mike Huckabee's (R-AR) Fox News program. On Aug 6, McEnany debuted a Trump TV segment that she labeled the “real news", which was shown on Trump's Facebook page.

Data cap analysis found almost 200 ISPs imposing data limits in the US

A company that tracks Internet service providers and data caps in the US has identified 196 home Internet providers that impose monthly caps on Internet users. Not all of them are enforced, but customers of many ISPs must pay overage fees when they use too much data.

BroadbandNow, a broadband provider search site that gets referral fees from some ISPs, has more than 2,500 home Internet providers in its database. This list includes telecommunications providers that are registered to provide service under the government's Lifeline program, which subsidizes access for poor people. BroadbandNow's team looked through the ISPs' websites to generate a list of those with data caps. The data cap information was "pulled directly from ISP websites," said BroadbandNow Director of Content Jameson Zimmer. "For those that have multiple caps, we include the lowest one and an asterisk to show that they have regional variation." BroadbandNow, which is operated by a company called Microbrand Media, plans to keep tracking the data caps over time in order to examine trends, he said.

Sprint Resumes Preliminary Talks on T-Mobile Merger

Sprint’s resumed talks about a potential merger with T-Mobile, being held at the same time as discussions with cable companies, shows the lengths billionaire Masayoshi Son is taking to build scale for a wireless carrier facing increasing competition in the US. The two mobile operators restarted discussions after Sprint’s exclusive negotiating period with Comcast and Charter Communications expired at the end of July, apparently. Son, who leads Sprint’s largest shareholder SoftBank Group Corp., is pursuing all options for industry consolidation as he continues to weigh a potential offer for Charter. SoftBank has been considering making a formal takeover bid for the cable company and combining it with Sprint.

Diverse Groups, Including ACA, Combine to Oppose Sinclair-Tribune

A diverse group of associations, including the American Cable Association, as well as media consolidation opponents and conservative news outlets, are getting together to formally oppose the merger of Sinclair and Tribune, which would result in the nation's largest broadcast TV group. That group includes a big critic of conservative media and a conservative media outlet, united in their strong opposition to the deal. Initial comments on the merger were due Aug 7.

Joining ACA president Matt Polka on a conference call to announce their Federal Communications Comission filings in opposition to the deal were former FCC chairman and Common Cause special adviser Michael Copps, One America News Network president Charles Herring, Computer & Communications Industry Association president Ed Black and Competitive Carriers Association SVP Tim Donovan. Copps said the deal would eviscerate local TV news and help inflict "irreparable damage." He called Sinclair the "most dangerous company most Americans have never heard of." He said the company wants to skirt ownership regulations with more "joint evasion agreements." He said the company comes with an ideology more focused on conservative points of view than "any sense of balance of deep-dive journalism."

[Michael Copps is a regular contribution to the Benton Foundation's Digital Beat blog]

AT&T To Sunset 'Time Warner' Brand, Bests It In Consumer Credibility

AT&T, gearing up to take charge of Time Warner, reportedly plans to dump the media company’s corporate name. It’s not the first time a major brand has gone away as the result of a merger. Amoco disappeared when BP acquired the company, as did US Airways when the company merged with American Airlines. MCI took a hike when the telecommunication company was purchased by Verizon.

While the Time Warner brand likely has a stronger positioning in the entertainment and branded-content space than the AT&T brand, which is still seen as a communications brand, consolidating under a single brand makes some sense, says Ted Marzilli, CEO of YouGov’s BrandIndex. “It is more clear to consumers (and less confusing) that the range of services now provided is coming from a single company,” Marzilli says. “From a business perspective, it is less expensive to maintain a single brand. And it also a signal to all employees that AT&T is now running the show.”

British Media Outlets Most Trusted US News Sources in New Poll

The Economist is the most trusted news source in America, while President Donald Trump, Yahoo and BuzzFeed rank near the bottom, according to a new survey from the University of Missouri’s Reynolds Journalism Institute. The weekly magazine published in the UK is more trusted than a variety of American mainstream news organizations, according to the Trusting News Project survey. Public television, Reuters, BBC and NPR round out the top five most-trusted sources. Another British news organization, The Guardian, ranks sixth, proving that many American’s don’t trust news from their own country. In fact, Donald Trump himself is among the least-trusted sources, with only Occupy Democrats, BuzzFeed, Breitbart and social media ranking lower than the president.

Rep Eshoo to Keynote INCOMPAS Show Oct 15-17

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) will deliver the keynote speech at the INCOMPAS Show Oct. 15-17 in San Francisco (CA). Rep Eshoo represents Silicon Valley and INCOMPAS members comprise some major edge players, including Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Netflix, as well as competitive carriers.

“In her role on the Communications and Technology Subcommittee [she is the former ranking member], Rep. Eshoo has established herself as one of the foremost leaders on technology and telecommunications, advocating for laws that protect consumers and promote competition,” said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering in a statement. “We are honored to welcome Rep. Eshoo to The INCOMPAS Show and hear her insights on many of the issues of importance to our audience – from Open internet and broadband deployment to the need for additional wireless spectrum.

Rosenworcel, Carr Get Washington Welcome

The confirmations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to five-year terms on the Federal Communications Commission drew a crowd of reactors. The FCC is prepared to be at full strength—five commissioners—as it gets ready to take on network neutrality, media ownership regulation reviews, 5G, a new broadcast transmission standard, and repacking most of a thousand TV stations in the wake of the incentive spectrum auction.

“I congratulate Brendan and Jessica on their confirmations," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "As I know from working with each of them for years, they have distinguished records of public service and will be valuable assets to the FCC in the years to come. Their experience at the FCC makes them particularly well-suited to hit the ground running. I’m pleased that the FCC will once again be at full strength and look forward to collaborating to close the digital divide, promote innovation, protect consumers, and improve the agency’s operations.”

Rural Broadband: Taking a Broad-Scope Look at Fed and State Legislation

At the federal level, four bills relating to widespread broadband have been introduced. Take the Rural Broadband Deployment and Streamlining Act (S 1363), introduced by Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Dean Heller (R-NV). It is meant to bolster the expansion of broadband infrastructure on federally owned land. If successful, the bill would also require a streamlined federal application process for expediting broadband deployment.

The most recent legislation was introduced on Aug 1. The bipartisan Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (AIRWAVES) bill (S 1682), was introduced by Sens Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). The legislation aims to drive down wireless costs by opening commercially licensed and unlicensed spectrum space, while hopefully bettering broadband access in rural areas. In a similar spirit, the Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act of 2017 (HR 2903) would direct the Federal Communications Commission to develop a national standard for “reasonably comparable” broadband services in rural and urban areas. Since the bill’s introduction in mid-June, however, it has not progressed in the House. Also in mid-June, Reps Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced legislation that would provide tax incentives for companies willing to build out rural broadband services. The so-called Gigabit Opportunity Act (HR 2870) would effectively allow companies to front load the expensing of investments in rural networks within applicable zones. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai lauded the bill, which has not progressed since its June 16 introduction. And in March, Sens Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Deb Fischer (R-NE) introduced legislation that would streamline broadband permitting in existing highway rights-of-way for broadband infrastructure projects. Called the Highway Rights-of-Way Permitting Efficiency Act of 2017 (S 604), the bill seeks to avoid duplicative federal permitting and regulations and other issues that cause project delays and cost-overruns.

Ex-CNN commentator hosts video 'news' segment on President Trump Facebook page

Former CNN commentator Kayleigh McEnany hosted a video "news" program over the weekend on President Donald Trump's Facebook page. "Thank you for joining us as we provide you the news of the week from Trump Tower here in New York," McEnany said at the beginning of the segment.

During the video, McEnany, appearing in front featuring Trump's campaign logo and website, touted the recent jobs report. The economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the Commerce Department reported Aug 4. Trump hailed the strong numbers last week, saying he had "only just begun." "President Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction," McEnany said in the segment.

Political Donors Put Their Money Where the Memes Are

Imagine you’re a millionaire or billionaire with strong political views and a desire to spread those views to the masses. Do you start a think tank in Washington? Funnel millions to a shadowy “super PAC”? Bankroll the campaign of an up-and-coming politician? For a growing number of deep-pocketed political donors, the answer is much more contemporary: Invest in internet virality.

As TV, radio and newspapers give way to the megaphonic power of social media, today’s donor class is throwing its weight behind a new group of partisan organizations that specialize in creating catchy, highly shareable messages for Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms. Viral media expertise is emerging as a crucial skill for political operatives, and as donors look to replicate the success of the social media sloganeers who helped lift President Trump to victory, they’re seeking out talented meme makers.

Facebook is starting to put more posts from local politicians into people’s News Feed

Facebook is testing a new feature that inserts posts from local politicians into users’ News Feeds, even if they don’t necessarily follow those politicians. The new feature included a label titled “This week in your government.” A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the feature is a test. "We are testing a new civic engagement feature that shows people on Facebook the top posts from their elected officials,” this spokesperson said in a statement. “Our goal is to give people a simple way to learn about what’s happening at all levels of their government.” The feature will appear, at most, once per week, and only for users who follow at least one local, state or federal representative from their area. Facebook knows who your local reps are if you handed over your address to use the company’s voting plan feature — or its “Town Hall” feature, which helps people find and follow their elected officials. Otherwise, you’ll just see posts from politicians at the state and federal levels.

News Media Alliance Blasts Sessions Leak Comments

The News Media Alliance didn’t like what it heard out of the Justice Department about potentially subpoenaing media outlets in the ongoing investigations of leaks. "The News Media Alliance strongly condemns these statements, as they are an attempt to chill communications between the press and government officials," the group said. "The free flow of information to reporters is crucial in order to bring matters of great public importance to light. Threatening the use of subpoenas that could compel reporters to testify, and, in particular, to reveal the identity of a confidential source, will restrict the flow of information to reporters and ultimately to the public on matters of public interest, such as waste, fraud and abuse within the government and in the private sector." "The press provides a vital role in helping the public to hold the government accountable," said Alliance President David Chavern. "The Attorney General’s statements are an attempt to stifle communications between government officials and journalists which will ultimately keep the public in the dark.”

How Trump's FCC aided Sinclair's expansion

Sinclair Broadcast Group is expanding its conservative-leaning television empire into nearly three-quarters of American households — but its aggressive takeover of the airwaves wouldn’t have been possible without help from President Donald Trump's chief at the Federal Communications Commission.

Sinclair, already the nation’s largest TV broadcaster, plans to buy 42 stations from Tribune Media in cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, on top of the more than 170 stations it already owns. It got a critical assist this spring from Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who revived a decades-old regulatory loophole that will keep Sinclair from vastly exceeding federal limits on media ownership. The change will allow Sinclair — a company known for injecting "must run" conservative segments into its local programming — to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribune’s stations. That’s nearly double the congressionally imposed nationwide audience cap of 39 percent. The FCC and the company both say the agency wasn’t giving Sinclair any special favors by reviving the loophole, known as the “UHF discount,” which has long been considered technologically obsolete. But the Tribune deal would not have been viable if not for Pai’s intervention: Sinclair already reaches an estimated 38 percent of U.S. households without the discount, leaving it almost no room for growth. The loophole is a throwback to the days when the ultra-high-frequency TV spectrum — the part higher than Channel 13 — was filled with low-budget stations with often-scratchy reception over analog rabbit ears. That quality gap no longer exists in today's world of digital television.

White House reporters explain why ‘palace intrigue’ actually matters

It's the White House's go-to pejorative when dismissing reports of internal power struggles as idle gossip: “palace intrigue.” The phrase conveys the idea that reporters covering President Trump and his advisers are more like reality TV addicts than real journalists — which is exactly how the White House wants them to be seen. But palace intrigue actually does matter. I asked a half dozen White House reporters to help explain why.

“Clearly what happens inside the White House reflects how policy is made,” said Fox News's John Roberts.

“Whoever has the president's ear has influence over policy because he doesn't have formed views on a variety of topics,” added Politico's Tara Palmeri. “As [chief economic adviser] Gary Cohn said during the foreign trip, [Trump] is learning. His teachers are whoever has access to him. Therefore the proxy wars really do influence policy that affects everyday Americans.”

FBI tracked Election Day social media for fake news from Russia

The FBI monitored social media accounts on Election Day 2016 to track Russian efforts to spread damaging false information about candidates. Dozens of agents scanned Twitter and Facebook, where stories promoting conspiracy theories and false claims against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had gained traction before the vote. Apparently, agents and security analysts spent the day at the FBI headquarters in Washington watching for security threats they believed were originating from Russia. Another group of FBI analysts and investigators found overseas-based social media accounts linked to the viral stories, which they suspected to be a part of a Russian disinformation operation, apparently.

President Trump's jobs tweet might have broken federal rules

President Donald Trump has been tweeting about the economy a lot lately, and Aug 4 was no different. But one of his tweets caught our eye. "Excellent Jobs Numbers just released - and I have only just begun. Many job stifling regulations continue to fall. Movement back to USA!" the President tweeted. Notice he said the jobs numbers had just been released. That's true; the Bureau of Labor Statistics had published them just 15 minutes earlier. That puts President Trump's tweet in violation of a federal rule (page three). It says, in part, when federal data is released, "employees of the Executive Branch shall not comment publicly on the data until at least one hour after the official release time."

Jeff Sessions might subpoena journalists to reveal leakers. Mike Pence once fought against that.

Remember Judith Miller? She is the former New York Times reporter who in 2005 spent almost three months in jail because she refused to identify the government source who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Attorney General Jeff Sessions raised the prospect that more journalists will have to make the same decision Miller did — out the source or go to jail — when he said the Justice Department is “reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas” as part of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on leaks.

Miller, now a Fox News contributor, wrote in 2016 about how Mike Pence, then a Republican congressman from Indiana, invited her to his office upon her release from jail and promised to push for a shield law. She said, "True to his word, Mr. Pence introduced the 'Free Flow of Information Act' with Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA). 'As a conservative who believes in limited government,' he said after reintroducing the legislation, which failed the first time he proposed it, 'I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press.'" In 2007, the Columbia Journalism Review called Mike Pence “journalism’s best ally in the fight to protect anonymous sources.” In the end, however, Pence failed to secure passage of his shield law, and there is still none in place. That is one reason that Sessions now has the power to subpoena journalists.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Center for Digital Democracy to FCC: Don't Weaken Kids Rules

Advocates called Aug 4 on the Federal Communications Commission to reject an effort by major media companies to “eliminate or weaken important rules for children’s television.” The NAB, Internet and Television Association (NCTA), CBS, Disney, Fox, Univision and others have asked the FCC to significantly reduce advertising limits on children’s programming. Industry commenters also urged the FCC to reconsider rules that require broadcasters to provide quality educational programming as part of their obligation to serve the public interest.

In comments filed Aug 4, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy called on the FCC to reject such proposals to repeal or modify the current rules. “The Trump Administration and the FCC should stand up for the rights of children and parents and reject this crass campaign by the broadcast lobby,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “The broadcast industry receives billions of dollars in benefits from its free use of public resources, including invaluable rights to the airwaves. It is unconscionable that TV stations and networks want to kill off one of their few remaining obligations to the public.”

Eric Trump accuses Twitter of censorship

President Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, on Aug 4 accused Twitter of censoring one of his tweets. In a tweet, the president's son tweeted out a screenshot of a tweet posted earlier on Aug 4 that read “Jobs Jobs Jobs!!!” followed by several American flag emojis. The tweet also retweeted another user's tweet that included a Drudge Report link about Aug 4's jobs report. Eric Trump's tweet was hidden for some viewers behind a standard Twitter warning, which was depicted in the screenshot. The grey warning box reads: “This tweet is not available because it includes potentially sensitive content.” “Why are my tweets about jobs and the economy being censored? #Interesting” Eric Trump tweeted in response.

Dish 'confident' its IoT strategy can meet FCC's build-out requirements

Dish Network believes that its plan to launch a narrowband Internet of Things (IoT) network will enable it to meet the Federal Communications Commission’s build-out requirements for its spectrum, according to Jefferies Equity Research Americas. But it may need some help. Dish continues to sit on a significant pile of midband spectrum, but the clock is ticking for the company to put its airwaves to use one way or another. FCC rules stipulate that the satellite-TV provider must reach a 70% build-out by March 2020, and Dish faces similar mandates for its licenses in the AWS-4 band.

“We do not believe that it serves the public interest or makes business sense to build out a 4G/LTE network now that would duplicate networks already offered by the wireless incumbents, and subsequently require an almost immediate upgrade in order to be competitive,” the company wrote in a March filing with the FCC. “Instead, Dish plans to deploy a 5G-capable network, focused on supporting IoT—the first to be deployed in these bands anywhere in the world. … This network will not be burdened with a requirement to be backward-compatible with legacy services.”

Senate Confirms Two FCC Nominees, Chairman Pai's Confirmation Waits

On August 3, 2017, the US Senate confirmed the nominations of Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to be members of the Federal Communications Commission. The commissioners join FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael O'Rielly to implement and enforce America’s communications law and regulations. Rosenworcel and Carr were confirmed without debate -- sorta. The full Senate confirmed 63 presidential nominees by unanimous consent. But both Rosenworcel and Carr faced a bit of drama. And Chairman Pai -- who President Donald Trump has nominated for a new, five-year term -- will have to wait on his confirmation.

AG Sessions says DOJ has tripled the number of leak probes, warns the media could be targeted in crackdown on leaks

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department was now pursuing three times as many leak investigations as the previous administration, a significant devotion of law enforcement resources to hunt down the sources of unauthorized disclosures of information that have plagued the Trump Administration. AG Sessions vowed that the Justice Department would not hesitate to bring criminal charges against people who had leaked classified information. He also announced that the FBI had created a new counterintelligence unit to manage these cases.

The Sessions news conference came against the backdrop of repeated pressure by President Trump, in public and in private, for the Justice Department and the FBI to hunt down people inside the government who have been telling reporters what was happening behind closed doors. In addition, Sessions said that after meeting with FBI and intelligence investigators, the Justice Department would review its policies affecting media subpoenas. “We respect the important role the press plays and we’ll give them respect, but it’s not unlimited,” AG Sessions said. “They cannot place lives at risk with impunity. We must balance the press’ role with protecting our national security and the lives of those who serve in the intelligence community, the Armed Forces and all law-abiding Americans.”

After six months, Vice President Pence has now turned over all state-related AOL e-mails, his attorney says

It took nearly six months after he left the governor's office, but Vice President Mike Pence and his legal team say they have now provided Indiana officials with all e-mails from his personal AOL account involving state business. Pence attorney Karoline Jackson said that, “a complete electronic production of state records" from Pence's time as governor had been delivered to the state as of June 23. The office of Pence's successor, Gov Eric Holcomb (R-IN), said the records consist of state-related e-mails from two AOL accounts Pence used as governor. "Our office is now in the process of reviewing the records, and we anticipate being in a position to provide copies of records that are responsive to pending (public record) requests soon," Holcomb spokeswoman Stephanie Wilson said. Previously, Vice President Pence had only provided some of his AOL emails to the state, and those he did provide were in paper form, making them difficult to search.