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April 2013

EFF presses for update to California privacy law

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is encouraging Californians to support a proposed update to a state law aimed at giving people greater access to the personal information that companies digitally store about them.

The bill, called the Right to Know Act, would require companies to provide people, upon request, with a copy of the personal information they collect about them. The measure would also require companies to share the names and contact information of the outside parties, such as data brokers and Web apps, they have shared people's data with during the last year. "The new proposal brings California's outdated transparency law into the digital age, making it possible for California consumers to request an accounting of all the ways their personal information is being trafficked — including with online advertisers, data brokers, and third party apps," Rainey Reitman, activism director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, writes.

Obama's trash-talkers

Twitter is aflame these days with high-ranking former Obama aides.

Liberated from any official constraints, overflowing with opinions and no small measure of old resentments at political foes and the news media, they are letting the world know what they really think — and seemingly enjoying themselves to no end while doing so. In the process, they are offering an unequaled window into the culture of the Obama West Wing. The brash, argumentative, sarcastic, often humorous, never-in-doubt ethos long familiar to reporters and other Washington operatives can now be followed by everyone in real time. The Twitter alumni network has a distinctly male cast — it also includes Jon Lovett, Bill Burton, Ben LaBolt and even David Axelrod — and their frat-house banter serves a dual purpose for the Obama White House. It is an influential surrogate group, shaping the national debate while offering a relief valve for the pent-up frustrations of current administration officials.

The Facts are in on Wireless Competition

The Federal Communications Commission’s 16th Wireless Competition Report is out and, as has been widely reported, the good news is abundant.

This year’s report achieves new analytical depth and breadth, and marshals an impressive picture of the U.S. wireless industry. Virtually everyone in the U.S. now has access to mobile voice and broadband service (99.9% and 99.5%, respectively), and 82% of Americans can choose from between at least four facilities-based mobile broadband providers. Investment in U.S. wireless networks is growing at a rate that is the envy of other countries, with total 2011 investment topping $25 billion and LTE deployments expanding rapidly. And U.S. consumers are reaping the competitive benefits. Americans are embracing smartphones in record numbers (67% chose smartphones in 2012), mobile data traffic continues its exponential growth, and unit prices, for both minutes and megabytes, are falling. In fact, the Report’s CPI analysis shows that U.S. wireless services are a bargain – since December 1997, the CPI for wireless services has declined by 40% while the overall CPI increased by nearly 40%. At bottom, the FCC’s own data decisively rebuts the argument that the U.S. is somehow falling behind other countries. That Big Lie has been peddled and pushed by some in order to justify more government control over the wireless industry – a goal rooted more in ideology than in any competitive concern or consumer outcry. It is also an argument pushed by some businesses that would rather compete through regulatory fiat than with investment and innovation. No longer can either argument withstand the overwhelming facts to the contrary.

The mobile phone turns 40 years old

On April 3 in 1973, the most important phone call in technology history was made. Using a prototype Motorola DynaTAC, inventor Martin Cooper made the first call on a mobile phone.

Forty years later, it's considered a brick compared to the diminutive devices we carry around. Today, Cooper helps run the tech incubator Dyna LLC. He also works as an advisor for companies and the government on telecommunications issues. Cell phones are everywhere in 2013. According to the U.N., the world has 6 billion cell phone subscribers. And more of them are moving into the realm of smartphones. Last fall, the tech research firm Strategic Analytics claims the global smartphone population topped 1 billion.

April 3, 2013 (Fiber good for a telco’s health)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013

The April agenda http://benton.org/calendar/2013-04/


INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Who knew? Fiber is also good for a telco’s health
   Verizon, New York City to Test Way to Spread Fiber Network
   Moving Together Beyond Dubai - editorial
   Springtime for Broadband? - editorial
   Groups say ICANN unprepared for gTLD launch [links to web]

PRIVACY
   Six European countries launch formal investigations into Google's privacy policy
   California lawmaker introduces unprecedented personal data disclosure bill

CONTENT
   ACLU, FreedomWorks officials oppose House Judiciary's draft cyber bill
   SEC gives OK for companies to publish announcements on Facebook, Twitter [links to web]

TELEVISION
   Parents' group fights FCC bid to loosen indecency rules
   Income, Education Levels Impact TV Viewing [links to web]
   US Internet TV Users Soaring [links to web]
   Bravo Discusses Mixing Advertising With Its Shows [links to web]

WIRELESS
   AT&T's Tricky Trans-Atlantic Call - analysis
   Verizon denies bid with AT&T for Vodafone [links to web]
   The road to HD Voice on mobile phones is a bumpy one [links to web]
   Apple ‘bounce back’ patent ruled invalid [links to web]
   SMG to Track How Mobile Ads Lead to In-store Visits [links to web]

JOURNALISM
   US newspaper deals set to make headlines
   News Corp. Explores Sale of U.S. Community Papers
   The Koch brothers’ media investment

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   President Obama 'Limiting Press Access In Ways That Past Administrations Wouldn't Have Dared'
   Lawmakers to the Public: Follow Me

AGENDA
   Senate to Hear From Telecoms on Rural Communications

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   What Will the Proposed Telecom Overhaul Mean for Mexico? - analysis
   Six European countries launch formal investigations into Google's privacy policy
   Iraq: 4 Newspapers Are Attacked [links to web]

MORE ONLINE
   Opening a Gateway for Girls to Enter the Computer Field [links to web]
   Hey Apple - give Americans the good deal you gave the Chinese! - editorial [links to web]

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

FIBER GOOD FOR TELCOS
[SOURCE: GigaOm, AUTHOR: Stacey Higginbotham]
Fiber deployments aren’t just good for the consumers — for small to medium-sized telcos they are also good for the bottom line, resulting in an average operating savings of 20 percent. The data, which came from a Fiber to the Home Council survey, also noted that the number of homes that can access fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks increased by 17.6 percent over a year ago to 22.7 million. Most of the cost savings associated with FTTH deployments came from an end to costly maintenance and down time on telco networks, which one would expect if you are going from an aging DSL network to a newer network. However, offering fiber also enabled these smaller and mid-sized telcos to offer TV offerings as well as faster speeds, which enables them to compete against cable or satellite providers.
benton.org/node/148863 | GigaOm
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VERIZON’S NYC BROADBAND EXPERIMENT
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Crayton Harrison]
Verizon Communications and New York City agreed to test a method to more quickly install fiber-optic cables under sidewalks, potentially enabling the company to offer faster connections in more neighborhoods. The pilot program allows Verizon to use “micro-trenching” or “saw cutting,” in which narrow, shallow grooves are carved out of the ground, opening space for cables, the city said in a statement. The trial will start with 12 sites across the five boroughs, after which the government and the company will assess whether it can be adopted citywide. The plan would help Verizon, the nation’s second-largest phone company, sell higher Internet speeds and television service in more parts of the city, competing with Time Warner Cable and RCN. Verizon is counting on those offerings to help keep its phone customers from switching to cable. While Verizon has been offering its fiber-optic service, called FiOS, in parts of New York City since 2008, it still hasn’t reached every neighborhood. The program could also help the carrier provide service to areas affected by Superstorm Sandy last year, the city said.
benton.org/node/148854 | Bloomberg
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BEYOND DUBAI
[SOURCE: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, AUTHOR: Lawrence Strickling]
Today the world’s citizens are benefitting from the growth and innovation of the Internet. The Internet has flourished because of the approach taken from its infancy to resolve technical and policy questions. Known as the multistakeholder process, it involves the full involvement of all stakeholders, consensus-based decision-making and operating in an open, transparent and accountable manner. The multistakeholder model has promoted freedom of expression, both online and off. It has ensured the Internet is a robust, open platform for innovation, investment, economic growth and the creation of wealth throughout the world, including in developing countries. For these reasons, the United States Government is committed to the multistakeholder model as the appropriate process for addressing Internet policy and governance issues. We believe that the Internet’s decentralized, multistakeholder processes enable us all to benefit from the engagement of all interested parties. By encouraging the participation of industry, civil society, technical and academic experts, and governments from around the globe, multistakeholder processes result in broader and more creative problem solving than traditional governmental approaches.
benton.org/node/148851 | National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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SPRINGTIME FOR BROADBAND?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Holman Jenkins Jr]
[Commentary] It's true America has been through an uncertain patch in its 15-year broadband rollout. Cable operators invested in higher-speed services, but the phone companies have been reluctant to spend on DSL or fiber upgrade, despite the big profits on offer. The great recession didn't help, and two other factors also compute. Fixed broadband providers tell themselves wireless isn't a competitor—too slow, too costly. But wireless providers have invested big money to deploy high-speed mobile networks, and fixed and mobile are inevitably beginning to compete. A second factor is uncertainty over the future of TV, which paid for so much of America's broadband rollout to date. The showstopper in a word: Netflix. Still, in typical fashion, cries of "broadband stagnation" are bubbling into public awareness just as these worries are becoming obsolete.
benton.org/node/148882 | Wall Street Journal
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PRIVACY

SIX COUNTRIES LAUNCH GOOGLE PRIVACY INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: IDG News Service, AUTHOR: Peter Sayer]
Six European data protection authorities will conduct formal investigations of Google's privacy policy after the company repeatedly rejected their requests that it reverse changes it made to the policy last March. Data protection authorities in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K. have resolved to conduct investigations or inspections of Google's privacy policy, following an initial investigation by the French data protection authority. The precise nature of the actions will depend on how the European Data Protection Directive has been transposed in their respective national laws. A Google spokeswoman offered the same response the company has made since the beginning of the investigation: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with the DPAs involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward." The six data protection authorities working on the case are all members of the Article 29 Working Party (A29WP), which brings together data protection authorities from across the European Union. Last year it mandated the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty to begin an investigation on its behalf, after the company repeatedly refused to answer questions about its plans to introduce a new privacy policy.
benton.org/node/148856 | IDG News Service | WSJ | ars technica | GigaOm
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HABEAS DATA
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Cyrus Farivar]
It may seem odd, but in the European Union citizens have a near-blanket right to compel companies to release personal data held about them. The concept is sometimes referred to in its Latin shorthand: habeas data. It’s the principle through which an Austrian law student has become a thorn in the side of Facebook, trying to compel the social network to disclose the vast amount of data that it holds about him. Here in the United States, we generally don’t have this right. But after lobbying by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, California Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal (who represents parts of the Los Angeles area) recently introduced a bill that could extend that concept to the Golden State for the first time. The "Right to Know Act of 2013" (AB 1291) was re-read and amended a second time on April 1.
benton.org/node/148862 | Ars Technica
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CONTENT

OPPOSITION TO COMPUTER FRAUD AND ABUSE ACT
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jennifer Martinez]
Over a dozen officials from cyber liberties and conservative advocacy groups voiced opposition to a draft cybersecurity bill that would stiffen the penalties for the anti-hacking law used to charge Internet activist Aaron Swartz. Top representatives from the Center for Democracy and Technology, Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform Digital Liberty arm and the Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks, among others, urged leaders of the House Judiciary Committee in a letter to reject the language proposed in the draft bill, which may be considered for markup as early as this month. The officials said the draft bill would dangerously expand the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) so it would give prosecutors "a free hand" to go after ordinary Internet users for violating a website's terms of service or employer's computer policy. "It is unreasonable to expand CFAA penalties when the statute already makes illegal so much of what Americans do with computers every day," the letter reads. "Expanding the scope of the CFAA to cover even more conduct is even more dangerous."
benton.org/node/148839 | Hill, The
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TELEVISION

PTC VS FCC
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
The Parents Television Council, a media watchdog group, is pushing back against the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to soften its policy against indecent radio and TV content. The FCC issued a request for public comment on a proposal that would focus on penalizing only "egregious" indecency cases. The proposal would be a shift away from the agency's policy, adopted during the Bush administration, of penalizing even "fleeting expletives." Tim Winter, the president of the Parents Television Council, said that the FCC's announcement is "deeply vexing." "It unnecessarily weakens a decency law that withstood a ferocious, 10-year constitutional attack waged by the broadcast industry. It invites yet another wave of special interest pressure to obviate the intent of Congress and the will of the American people," Winter said. "The FCC is supposed to represent the interests of the American public, not the interests of the entertainment industry," he added. "Either material is legally indecent or it is not," Winter said. "It is unnecessary for indecent content to be repeated many times in order to be actionable, and it is unwise for the FCC to pursue a new course which will guarantee nothing but a new rash of new litigation."
benton.org/node/148841 | Hill, The | B&C
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WIRELESS

AT&T AND VODAFONE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Miriam Gottfried]
Could Verizon Communications' biggest rival end up lending it a hand? Speculation has been swirling that the timing may soon be right for the telecommunications giant to buy the 45% of Verizon Wireless owned by London-based Vodafone, or even to buy Vodafone itself. The weak British pound and low interest rates that would make financing a deal easier lend credence to the idea. But one recently posited scenario—that AT&T T might partner with Verizon to buy Vodafone's non-U.S. assets—seems an unlikely way to bring it to fruition. For Verizon, which has expressed interest in only the Verizon Wireless stake and has said it doesn't currently have any intention to merge with or make an offer for Vodafone, cobbling together a deal with AT&T would give it a way around the obstacle of a high tax liability for Vodafone shareholders if it sells just its U.S. stake. In theory, Verizon could buy all of Vodafone and then immediately sell the non-U.S. assets to AT&T. But such a deal looks far from clear-cut for AT&T. For AT&T, getting involved in a Vodafone deal could prove an expensive long-distance call.
benton.org/node/148881 | Wall Street Journal | FT
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JOURNALISM

NEWSPAPERS FOR SALE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Emily Steel]
Extra! Extra! Newspapers for sale. It’s the headline across America, with newspapers in more than half a dozen cities from Boston to Los Angeles and Chicago to South Florida on the block. One analyst is calling 2013 the “great metro sell-off.” “It’s a reshuffling of the newspaper ownership deck,” said Brian McCarthy, a partner at Skadden who has acted as counsel to several newspaper mergers and acquisitions. “There is a new generation of owners, who don’t think newspapers are going away and believe there is a new value proposition for the medium.”
benton.org/node/148877 | Financial Times
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DOW JONES LOCAL MEDIA
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Keach Hagey]
Apparently, News Corp is exploring the sale of its Dow Jones Local Media group, the collection of community newspapers mainly on the East Coast that was formerly known as the Ottaway community newspapers. The company has hired Waller Capital, the New York-based investment bank, to shop the papers, in hopes of selling them before the company spins off its publishing assets into a separate company this summer. News Corp. acquired the papers when it bought Dow Jones & Co.., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in 2007. It tried briefly to sell the papers at that time but pulled the papers off the market in 2008. Newspaper industry observers say potential buyers could include Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which has bought dozens of local newspapers in the last year, as well as Halifax Media Group, which bought the New York Times Co.'s regional newspapers last year.
benton.org/node/148876 | Wall Street Journal
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KOCH BROTHERS AND THE TRIBUNE
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Sasha Chavkin]
Tribune Company’s moves to sell its newspapers—a string that includes the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune—has reportedly sparked the interest of the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch. The Koch brothers, of course, are best known for funding conservative causes and conservative politicians -- and they don’t have much of a track record of media ownership. As news of their interest in the Tribune newspapers spread, Koch Companies spokeswoman Missy Cohlmia declined as a matter of policy to confirm or deny a bid. At the same time, though, she sought to dispel concerns that the Koch brothers would seek to transform Tribune newspapers into an arm of the broad network of conservative opinion and policy shops whose activities they underwrite. “We respect the independence of the journalistic institutions referenced in today’s news stories,” Cohlmia said. That didn’t stop some observers from worrying out loud, particularly on the left, about the political orientation of those papers, particularly their editorial pages.
benton.org/node/148833 | Columbia Journalism Review
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE PRESS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Nancy Benac]
Capitalizing on the possibilities of the digital age, the Obama White House is generating its own content like no president before, and refining its media strategies in the second term in hopes of telling a more compelling story than in the first. At the same time, it is limiting press access in ways that past administrations wouldn't have dared, and the President is answering to the public in more controlled settings than his predecessors. It's raising new questions about what's lost when the White House tries to make an end run around the media, functioning, in effect, as its own news agency. Mike McCurry, who served as press secretary to President Bill Clinton, sees an inclination by the Obama White House to "self-publish," coupled with tactics "I never would have dreamed of in terms of restricting access" for independent news organizations. "What gets lost are those revealing moments when the president's held accountable by the representatives of the public who are there in the form of the media," says McCurry.
benton.org/node/148838 | Associated Press
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LAWMAKERS TO THE PUBLIC: FOLLOW ME
[SOURCE: nextgov, AUTHOR: Kedar Pavgi]
A report released by the Congressional Research Service on March 22 assessed how members of the 112th Congress use Facebook and Twitter. The CRS said that social media technology has “arguably served to enhance” the ability of lawmakers to represent their constituents, and looked to see how exactly the technologies were being used. The study analyzed data on both services from August 2011 to October 2011, along with the service adoption rates as of January 2012. Some of the report’s highlights:
Approximately 84 percent of the 112th Congress was registered on Twitter, and 90 percent had a registered account on Facebook.
House Republicans had the highest adoption rates on Facebook and Twitter as of January 2012 -- 94.7 percent and 87.3 percent for both services, respectively. Senate Democrats had the lowest adoption rates -- 78 percent for Facebook and 77 percent for Twitter.
Senate Republicans were the most active on Twitter and Facebook. They had 1.53 Tweets per day and .84 posts on Facebook. House Democrats were the least active on both services, with approximately 1 Tweet per day, and .49 posts on Facebook per day, according to the report.
benton.org/node/148848 | nextgov | read the report
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AGENDA

RURAL COMMUNICATIONS
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
The Senate Commerce Committee’s Communications Subcommittee announced the witness list for an April 9 hearing on rural communications and the "challenges facing companies serving rural consumers" and the list include smaller cable operators and telecom providers intimately familiar with the issue. Among those challenges, according to cable operators are not being overbuilt by government broadband stimulus money, and continuing to get subsidies as the FCC migrates the Universal Service Fund from phone to broadband. Scheduled to testify are Steven Davis from CenturyLink, John Strode of Ritter Communications, Patricia Jo Boyers of BOYCOM Cablevision Inc., and Leroy Carlson Jr. of Telephone & Data Systems.
benton.org/node/148853 | Broadcasting&Cable
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

MEXICO’S TELECOM OVERHAUL
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Andrés Rozental]
In his first 100 days in office, President Peña Nieto has successfully garnered widespread political support for various reform packages that had been pending from previous administrations. Education and labor reforms were the first to be approved by Congress and in the case of the former is now constitutionally law. The telecommunications reform package has won approval in the lower house of Congress and now must pass the Senate and be ratified by the states before becoming part of the Constitution. Rather than being specifically targeted at any individual company, the reform is designed to open the sector to competition and to guarantee Mexicans access to services that up to now have been expensive and oligopolistic in nature. Measures such as opening up national television to additional channels, wider broadband coverage and a stricter regulatory regime are all designed to fundamentally change Mexico's telecoms structure. When finally approved, these changes will greatly benefit the Mexican economy by generating competition and additional players in the sector. All indications are that this reform package will be approved, perhaps with congressional modifications. Although there has been opposition by some in the PAN to parts of the proposal, the other parties are agreed on the majority of the changes. This augurs well for further proposals that Peña Nieto plans to send to Congress in the coming months, especially the energy and fiscal reforms that are so necessary for Mexico to guarantee future growth and prosperity.
benton.org/node/148832 | Brookings
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Springtime for Broadband?

[Commentary] It's true America has been through an uncertain patch in its 15-year broadband rollout. Cable operators invested in higher-speed services, but the phone companies have been reluctant to spend on DSL or fiber upgrade, despite the big profits on offer. The great recession didn't help, and two other factors also compute. Fixed broadband providers tell themselves wireless isn't a competitor—too slow, too costly. But wireless providers have invested big money to deploy high-speed mobile networks, and fixed and mobile are inevitably beginning to compete. A second factor is uncertainty over the future of TV, which paid for so much of America's broadband rollout to date. The showstopper in a word: Netflix. Still, in typical fashion, cries of "broadband stagnation" are bubbling into public awareness just as these worries are becoming obsolete.

AT&T's Tricky Trans-Atlantic Call

Could Verizon Communications' biggest rival end up lending it a hand?

Speculation has been swirling that the timing may soon be right for the telecommunications giant to buy the 45% of Verizon Wireless owned by London-based Vodafone, or even to buy Vodafone itself. The weak British pound and low interest rates that would make financing a deal easier lend credence to the idea. But one recently posited scenario—that AT&T T might partner with Verizon to buy Vodafone's non-U.S. assets—seems an unlikely way to bring it to fruition. For Verizon, which has expressed interest in only the Verizon Wireless stake and has said it doesn't currently have any intention to merge with or make an offer for Vodafone, cobbling together a deal with AT&T would give it a way around the obstacle of a high tax liability for Vodafone shareholders if it sells just its U.S. stake.

In theory, Verizon could buy all of Vodafone and then immediately sell the non-U.S. assets to AT&T. But such a deal looks far from clear-cut for AT&T. For AT&T, getting involved in a Vodafone deal could prove an expensive long-distance call.

Apple ‘bounce back’ patent ruled invalid

Apple’s patent for the “bounce back” scrolling used on its touchscreen iPhones and iPads has been found invalid in a review by the US patent examiner, a move that could affect its ongoing legal battle with Samsung.

In a detailed and technical filing issued last week, the patent examiner overturned its preliminary ruling on three of Apple’s claims, but not on 17 other counts, including the crucial bounce back element. The reason for this is that Apple’s designs were found to have been predated by a patent granted to AOL in 2003. AOL’s patent, which was submitted by a former software engineer named Luigi Lira, covered a wide range of ways to interact with a web page on a touchscreen device – even though the devices it references were largely PDAs with styluses rather than today’s smartphones. The examiner wrote that Apple’s “rubber banding” patent describes “exactly what Lira does” by “snapping back” to a document when the “input” – whether stylus or finger – is removed from the screen.

US newspaper deals set to make headlines

Extra! Extra! Newspapers for sale. It’s the headline across America, with newspapers in more than half a dozen cities from Boston to Los Angeles and Chicago to South Florida on the block. One analyst is calling 2013 the “great metro sell-off.” “It’s a reshuffling of the newspaper ownership deck,” said Brian McCarthy, a partner at Skadden who has acted as counsel to several newspaper mergers and acquisitions. “There is a new generation of owners, who don’t think newspapers are going away and believe there is a new value proposition for the medium.”

News Corp. Explores Sale of U.S. Community Papers

Apparently, News Corp is exploring the sale of its Dow Jones Local Media group, the collection of community newspapers mainly on the East Coast that was formerly known as the Ottaway community newspapers.

The company has hired Waller Capital, the New York-based investment bank, to shop the papers, in hopes of selling them before the company spins off its publishing assets into a separate company this summer. News Corp. acquired the papers when it bought Dow Jones & Co.., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, in 2007. It tried briefly to sell the papers at that time but pulled the papers off the market in 2008. Newspaper industry observers say potential buyers could include Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which has bought dozens of local newspapers in the last year, as well as Halifax Media Group, which bought the New York Times Co.'s regional newspapers last year.

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