Headlines

The first wave in a flood of spending by independent groups in the general election race for the White House came Tuesday with a TV ad blasting Sen John McCain (R-AZ) for his support of the Iraq war.

While colleagues loved and admired NBC's Tim Russert, did they understand him? What made Tim Russert different, and better, was his willingness to listen to -- and take seriously -- criticism about his own profession.

LinkedIn has made a big connection with investors, who are valuing the professional networking company at more than $1 billion. LinkedIn said Tuesday that it had received $53 million in venture capital funding from Bain Capital Ventures and three existing investors in exchange for a 5% stake in the company.

Executives from AT&T and Verizon Communications defended early termination fees for wireless customers Tuesday, but said they wouldn't oppose Federal Communications Commission rules that required these fees to be "reasonable."

After 74 years, most Americans have more yesterdays than tomorrows. Does the same hold for the Federal Communications Commission? By many accounts, the FCC is just beginning to flex its muscles.

Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they would not stand in the way of a compromise overhaul of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), despite their concerns with the impacts of the sprawling measure.

As the general election semi-officially kicks-off, the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain on issues ranging from the economy to Iraq constituted the media’s main campaign narrative. Together, the debates over several key issues accounted for almost one-third -- 29% -- of the campaign newshole, as measured by PEJ’s Campaign Coverage Index for June 9-15.

Philadelphia revived an effort on Tuesday to provide free citywide wireless Internet access in a project to be run by a new group of investors. The city aims to provide free-of-charge outdoor Web access throughout its 135 square miles, which would be the largest area covered by public Wi-Fi of any US city.

The Senate Commerce Committee postponed a hearing on privacy and online advertising. The hearing, which was only called five days ago, was scheduled for Wednesday (June 18), but Sen Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who called for the hearing, asked that it be postponed.