January 2017

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2017

Today's Event -- Consumer Advisory Committee, FCC -- https://www.benton.org/node/250663

AGENDA
   Legal experts say that Congress can overrule Obama regulations going back to 2009 - analysis
   President Trump Follows Obama’s Lead in Flexing Executive Muscle [links to New York Times]
   President Trump's first news conference to take place Jan 27 [links to Politico]
   Consumer Advisory Committee Agenda for Jan 27 [links to Federal Communications Commission]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   Trump Strategist Steve Bannon Says Media Should ‘Keep Its Mouth Shut’
   Steve Bannon’s Media Rage Explained: ‘Press Coverage Is Killing Their Credibility,’ Experts Say
   By setting himself as a crusader against Washington and the media, President Trump has played on Americans’ declining trust in both [links to Christian Science Monitor]
   “The new administration needs to understand that good government requires good communication. Good communication is guided by ethics.”
   President Trump Called National Park Chief Over Twitter Post on Inaugural Crowd [links to New York Times]
   The Trump administration is pulling back advertisements that encourage people to sign up for health insurance [links to New York Times]
   Trump's @POTUS Twitter account was tied to Gmail
   Trump’s Personal Phone Is a National Security Risk [links to Vice]
   Federal workers' Twitter brushfire burns President Trump
   President Trump’s movie-review media strategy [links to Benton summary]

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   FCC Votes To Expand Broadband Deployment In New York - press release
   FCC's Pai Talks Rural Broadband
   Virginia Governor Threatens to Veto Broadband Bill [links to Benton summary]
   AT&T says 30% of FTTH subs are purchasing 1 Gbps speeds [links to Fierce]
   Can Hybrid Wired/Wireless Infrastructure Stop the Broadband Hype? - GovTech op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   TDS A-CAM Broadband Support Will Total $75 Million Annually [links to Benton summary]

FCC REFORM
   An Economics Bureau for the FCC - op-ed [links to Benton summary]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   Conservative groups ask Congress to rescind FCC privacy rules
   Trump’s cybersecurity hypocrisy, in 10 tweets [links to Vox]
   Sen John McCain says US has no strategy to deal with Russian cyber warfare [links to Guadian, The]
   Improving cybersecurity through cooperation, not regulation [links to American Enterprise Institute]
   Many ‘password challenged’ internet users don’t take steps that could protect their data [links to Pew Research Center]
   Many Americans do not trust modern institutions to protect their personal data – even as they frequently neglect cybersecurity best practices in their own personal lives. [links to Pew Internet Science and Tech]
   Why tech companies don’t need to stymie democratic governments [links to International Association of Privacy Professionals]
   How to Protect Your Digital Privacy in the Era of Public Shaming [links to Pro Publica]

OWNERSHIP
   Surge in media mergers is expected under Trump's pro-business agenda
   Verizon Exploring Combination With Cable Firm Charter Communications
   Miriam Gottfried: Verizon Needs to Bet Big But Shouldn’t Overpay for Charter [links to Wall Street Journal]
   Compare and contrast: AT&T’s Stephenson goes all in on Trump while Comcast’s Roberts takes more cautious approach [links to Fierce]
   News Media Alliance Backs NAB Petition on Crossownership [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   'Very major border tax' is big migraine for tech [links to USAToday]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC Is Increasing Spectrum Auction Rounds [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

JOURNALISM
   President Trump moves to put his own stamp on Voice of America
   Journalists arrested in DC inauguration protests have law on their side [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
   Lessons From Knight Investments in Digital Audio and Podcasting [links to Medium]

TELEVISION
   NAB to FCC: Don't Force Us to Underserve Viewers [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   TDG: Connected TV Penetration Rises to 74% in Broadband Households [links to telecompetitor]
   How Mary Tyler Moore changed television [links to Vox]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   FirstNet Innovation and Test Lab Blog Series: Testing Coverage Reliability [links to First Responder Network Authority]

POLICYMAKERS
   Acting FTC Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen is a noted critic of government regulation, such as the FCC’s network neutrality rules [links to Washington Post]

COMPANY NEWS
   Comcast mobile phone service coming in 2017 with wireless/cable bundles [links to Benton summary]

MORE ONLINE
   Op-ed: Political correctness on campus has reached the stage of a perfect Orwellian inversion [links to Wall Street Journal]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   In Latin America, women code a better future [links to Christian Science Monitor]

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AGENDA

CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Kimberley Strassel]
[Commentary] Todd Gaziano, a former House staffer who helped craft the Congressional Review Act, told a meeting of free-market attorneys, think tankers and Republican congressional staff that the law could be used to overturn any Obama administration rules – if the agency responsible did not submit a report to Congress. The accepted wisdom in Washington is that the CRA can be used only against new regulations, those finalized in the past 60 legislative days. That gets Republicans back to June, teeing up 180 rules or so for override. The CRA also would allow the GOP to dismantle these regulations quickly, and to ensure those rules can’t come back, even under a future Democratic president. “There was always intended to be consequences if agencies didn’t deliver these reports,” Mr. Gaziano tells me. “And while some Obama agencies may have been better at sending reports, others, through incompetence or spite, likely didn’t.” Bottom line: There are rules for which there are no reports. And if the Trump administration were now to submit those reports—for rules implemented long ago—Congress would be free to vote the regulations down. There’s more. It turns out the CRA has a expansive definition of what counts as a “rule”—and it isn’t limited to those published in the Federal Register. The CRA also applies to “guidance” that agencies issue. Republicans in both chambers—particularly in the Senate—worry that a great use of the CRA could eat up valuable floor time, as Democrats drag out the review process. But Gaziano points out another hidden gem: The law allows a simple majority to limit debate time. Republicans could easily whip through a regulation an hour.
benton.org/headlines/legal-experts-say-congress-can-overrule-obama-regulations-going-back-2009 | Wall Street Journal
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

BANNON SAYS MEDIA SHOULD KEEP ITS MOUTH SHUT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Grynbaum]
Stephen K. Bannon, President Donald Trump’s chief White House strategist, laced into the American press during an interview, arguing that news organizations had been “humiliated” by an election outcome few anticipated, and repeatedly describing the media as “the opposition party” of the current administration. “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,” Bannon said during a telephone call. “I want you to quote this,” Bannon added. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” “The elite media got it dead wrong, 100 percent dead wrong,” Bannon said of the election, calling it “a humiliating defeat that they will never wash away, that will always be there.” “The mainstream media has not fired or terminated anyone associated with following our campaign,” Bannon said. “Look at the Twitter feeds of those people: they were outright activists of the Clinton campaign.” “That’s why you have no power,” Bannon added. “You were humiliated.”
benton.org/headlines/trump-strategist-steve-bannon-says-media-should-keep-its-mouth-shut | New York Times
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BANNON’S MEDIA RAGE
[SOURCE: The Wrap, AUTHOR: Itay Hod, Meriah Doty]
Steve Bannon’s demand that the media “keep its mouth shut” reflects the new Trump administration’s weakness and not its strength. “If Bannon didn’t care, then he would ignore all of it,” said Al Tompkins, Poynter Institute’s senior faculty for broadcasting and online. “The opposite of love is not hate — it’s apathy. It matters and they know that this press coverage is killing their credibility,” Tompkins said. “Even their own supporters have to be raising questions.” “This isn’t the first time the administration has attacked the media,” said Bill Wheatley, former NBC News executive and adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. “I remember when Spiro Agnew called us ‘nattering nabobs of negativism.’ We were under attack during the Nixon administration. We just need to do our jobs. That’s what it’s all about.” Tompkins added, “I’m not worried. I believe there has not been a time in my life when journalists have mattered more, when things have moved as fast as they’re moving now.” He continued: “The role of journalism is essential because the role of the government right now is so unclear. You have a massive exodus at the State Department, a pending trade war with Mexico and the pending dismantling of a very large health insurance system and it’s all happening too fast for regular citizens to make sense of it, so we need journalists now more than ever.”
benton.org/headlines/steve-bannons-media-rage-explained-press-coverage-killing-their-credibility-experts-say | Wrap, The
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TRUMP AND THE PRESS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Joe Davidson]
Although the media are an easy target for President Donald Trump and former-House Speaker Gingrich, it is the public that will suffer from a one-sided war with the press. Democracy thrives on information from government, particularly information about government’s foibles and politicians’ wrongdoings. “In a democracy, journalists are a built-in check against power. Both Trump and Gingrich in their comments are trying to discredit the one check on their power that they cannot control,” said Kelly McBride, vice president of the Poynter Institute, a journalism training center. “It’s scary because it suggests that they don’t believe in the balance of power that is inherent in democracy. Trump is the most powerful man on the planet right now. And he clearly doesn’t welcome or appreciate anyone who might scrutinize him. Gingrich seems to be in lockstep.” This war also targets federal public affairs staffers. Even in good times, they put the best face on bad situations. But career public information officers know they ultimately serve and owe allegiance to the public and not to any politician. “[G]overnment communicators, at all levels of the administration, must be allowed to practice their profession, to serve the public interest by being the timely, credible and trusted source of factual information about government,” said the National Association of Government Communicators. “The new administration needs to understand that good government requires good communication. Good communication is guided by ethics, like not knowingly or intentionally withholding information that is publicly releasable, taking swift and effective action to prevent the public release of false or misleading information, and above all else never lying to the media because in government communication, the truth is sacred.”
benton.org/headlines/new-administration-needs-understand-good-government-requires-good-communication-good | Washington Post | National Association of Government Communicators
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TRUMP POTUS TWITTER ACCOUNT TIED TO GMAIL
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Max Greenwood]
The White House tightened up President Trump's lax social media security shortly after it was revealed that Trump’s official Twitter account, @POTUS, was linked to a personal Gmail account. The Gmail link could have allowed any hacker with access to the Gmail account to reset the Twitter password and gain control of the influential account. A request to reset the password for the account earlier on Jan 26 revealed that Trump’s recovery e-mail was an address on Google’s widely used e-mail service. A TV Guide editor was the first to attempt the password reset. The Hill confirmed that the password could be reset through Gmail. As the hacks of Democratic Party-affiliated e-mail accounts allegedly perpetrated by Russian hackers recently revealed, personal accounts can be vulnerable to illicit access. Theoretically, a hacker could use the Gmail account to wrest control of the @POTUS handle for mischief or worse.
benton.org/headlines/trumps-potus-twitter-account-was-tied-gmail | Hill, The
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TRUMP VS GOVERNMENT WORKERS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Nancy Scola]
President Donald Trump may be a master of combat on Twitter, but he’s suddenly run into a growing digital uprising — anonymous federal workers who are using social media to tweak the president even as his agencies crack down on information-sharing. This Twitter rebellion, apparently centered at the National Park Service, is winning cheers from liberal activists who seize on every 140-character outburst for signs of anti-Trump resistance. It’s also forcing Trump’s agencies to mount a whack-a-mole response, as they delete tweets about climate change and order employees to stay quiet online, each time stirring up headlines alleging an information lockdown. President Trump has yet to tweet a response to all the needling. But his team may be realizing months too late that it’s up against a foe it didn’t reckon with: Thousands of federal employees and contractors have access to government Twitter accounts. And of course, anybody can set up a non-government account when the official channels are off-limits.
benton.org/headlines/federal-workers-twitter-brushfire-burns-president-trump | Politico
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TRUMP AND VOA
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Tara Palmeri]
On January 23, President Donald Trump dispatched two aides to scope out the studios of Voice of America, heightening concerns among some longtime staffers that President Trump may quickly put his stamp on the broadcasting arm that has long pushed US democratic ideals across the world. The arrival of the two aides – both political operatives from Trump’s campaign – comes after Voice of America received blowback for sending out a series of tweets about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s claims about inauguration crowd size that looked to some like an endorsement of his false statements. The news outlet later deleted one of the tweets. The concern among some staffers is especially acute because Trump’s administration is getting control over the broadcasting agency just weeks after Congress moved to eliminate the board of directors that had served as an integrity check on the organization, instead consolidating power with a CEO position appointed by the president.
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-moves-put-his-own-stamp-voice-america | Politico | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

FCC VOTES TO EXPAND BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT IN NY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
In its first action under Chairman Ajit Pai, the Federal Communications Commission voted to provide up to $170 million from the Connect America Fund to expand broadband deployment in unserved rural areas of New York State. The $170 million in federal funding will be coupled with at least $200 million in state funding and private investment to jump-start broadband deployment and close the digital divide in these unserved areas more quickly. This partnership with the state program will also result in more efficient and effective use of both state and federal funding. The Order adopted by the FCC today will authorize Connect America Phase II support in areas where applicants are selected through New York’s competitive New NY Broadband Program, subject to specified conditions to ensure broad participation and ongoing oversight. The funding that will be made available was declined by Verizon in 2015.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-votes-expand-broadband-deployment-new-york | Federal Communications Commission | The Hill | B&C
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PAI TALKS RURAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
American Cable Association president Matt Polka and top ACA policy staffer Ross Lieberman were among a group representing rural broadband who met with new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai Jan 26, his second meeting with outside groups since being named chairman this week. It was a continuation of Chairman Pai's pledge to focus on closing the digital divide. Also at the meeting were Mike Romano of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, Alex Phillips and Stephen Coran from the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, Steve Berry and Rebecca Murphy Thompson of the Competitive Carriers Association, and Martha Duggan of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. According to an FCC official, "participants raised several ideas for closing the digital divide and expressed strong support for proposals he made as part of his Digital Empowerment Agenda." For his part, Chairman Pai at the meeting "pledged to continue working closely with these organizations to bring digital opportunity to all Americans."
benton.org/headlines/fccs-pai-talks-rural-broadband | Broadcasting&Cable
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS ASK CONGRESS TO RESCIND FCC PRIVACY RULES
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Harper Neidig]
Conservative groups are urging Congress to roll back the broadband privacy rules that were enacted by the Federal Communications Commission in 2016. In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the groups asked the lawmakers to use their Congressional Review Act authority to rescind the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Order. The letter’s signees include the telecom industry-aligned NetCompetition as well as free-market groups like Americans for Tax Reform and FreedomWorks. “Congress is fully justified in rescinding these rules both because the Order lacks proper legal grounding and because of the need to ensure real consumer privacy across contexts of user experience,” the letter reads. The regulations were passed in October and require internet service providers to obtain permission from customers before using their browsing and app usage data. “Rescinding the Privacy Order would promote both innovation and effective, consistent privacy protections in over-the-top, application, wireless and wireline markets,” reads the letter. “It would also send a clear signal that the FCC has lost its way in interpreting the statute Congress gave it.”
benton.org/headlines/conservative-groups-ask-congress-rescind-fcc-privacy-rules | Hill, The | read the letter | B&C
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OWNERSHIP

MEDIA OWNERSHIP
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Meg James, Jim Puzzanghera]
Media companies are preparing for some whirlwind courtships in what’s expected to be the biggest merger bonanza in years. Verizon, the nation’s largest phone company with more than 114 million wireless subscribers, could pair up with Charter Communications, which has more than 17 million customers in such key markets as Los Angeles, New York and Dallas. This romance and others appear to be blooming one week after President Donald Trump took office and designated a new Federal Communications Commission chairman who favors a more hands-off approach to government regulation than his predecessor. Traditional media companies desperate for growth don’t want to get left behind as rivals bulk up in an effort to survive a more difficult environment. “What is driving this [merger activity] is challenges in these businesses,” said Matthew Harrigan, a senior analyst with Wunderlich Securities. “There are not a lot of elephants on the savanna, and when one moves, you have to move too.” Trump administration appointees are expected to be friendlier to corporate mergers, returning to a traditional Republican openness to approving major deals after eight years of heightened scrutiny — and some major rejections — under Democratic appointees of former President Barack Obama.
benton.org/headlines/surge-media-mergers-expected-under-trumps-pro-business-agenda | Los Angeles Times
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VERIZON-CHARTER?
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Shalini Ramachandran, Ryan Knutson, Dana Mattioli]
Apparently, Verizon Communications is exploring a combination with Charter Communications that would unite two giants in search of growth in a rapidly consolidating media and telecom landscape, according to people familiar with the matter. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has made a preliminary approach to officials close to Charter, which has a market value of more than $80 billion. Verizon is working with advisers to study a potential transaction, the people said. There’s no guarantee a deal will materialize. It is unclear whether Charter executives, including Chief Executive Tom Rutledge, would be open to a transaction. The effort could be complicated by Charter’s ownership structure, which includes cable tycoon John Malone and the Newhouse family. A combination would bring together Verizon’s more than 114 million wireless subscribers and what remains of its landline business with Charter’s cable network, which provides television to 17 million customers and broadband connections to 21 million. Verizon has a market capitalization of $194 billion and more than $100 billion in debt.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-exploring-combination-cable-firm-charter-communications | Wall Street Journal
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