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  2. January 2017

January 2017

FCC Chairman Pai Meets With Diverse Stakeholders on Digital Divide

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai had his first official meeting with outside parties as chairman with a diverse group of stakeholders in closing that digital divide, apparently. The meeting was held with Kim Keenan of the Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council, Rosa Mendoza of the Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership, Carlos Gutierrez of the LGBT Technology Partnership, and Debra Berlyn of the Project to Get Older Adults OnLine (GOAL).

The chairman was said to have solicited ideas for getting broadband to all Americans. He also asked for input on proposals in his Digital Empowerment Agenda. Among other things, Chairman Pai wants Congress to create Gigabit Opportunity Zones to "provide financial incentives for internet service providers to deploy gigabit broadband services in low-income neighborhoods, incentivize local governments to make it easy for ISPs to deploy these networks, and offer tax incentives for startups of all kinds in order to take advantage of these networks and create jobs in these areas."

Remarks of Commissioner Clyburn at NAB Capital Assets Conference

Now I am as tired of highlighting this factoid as you must be of hearing it: racial and/or ethnic minorities only hold a majority of the voting interests in approximately six percent of fullpower commercial TV licenses and just over eight percent of commercial radio licenses. My office released a draft proposal in December, and in this #Solutions2020 Call to Action Plan, we outline several steps designed to enhance digital inclusion and promote a more diverse media landscape.

It starts, from where I sit, with the reinstatement of the Federal Communications Commission’s Minority Tax Certificate Program. Second, working with the broadcast industry, the Commission should establish a pilot incubator program, designed expressly to increase women and minority ownership. Third, through our Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Independent Programming adopted last September, we have an opportunity to enhance the voices of independent and diverse programmers outside of the broadcast space. Fourth, and while it was not introduced in our draft plan, I continue to believe if done right, ATSC 3.0 could help to fulfill our goal of greater viewpoint diversity. Fifth, even when capital is available, securing a license for a full-power television or radio station in a major market, may not be within reach. Sixth, it is important that we focus not just on station ownership, but on the importance of diversity in front of and behind the camera.

Statement of Acting FTC Chairman Ohlhausen on Appointment by President Trump

President Donald Trump has designated Maureen K. Ohlhausen as Acting Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission by a White House order. Ohlhausen was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission on April 4, 2012, to a term that expires in September 2018.

Prior to joining the Commission, Ohlhausen was a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where she headed the firm’s FTC practice focusing on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity matters. Ohlhausen previously served at the FTC for 11 years, most recently as Director of the Office of Policy Planning from 2004 to 2008, where she led the FTC's Internet Access Task Force. She was also Deputy Director of that office. From 1998 to 2001, Ohlhausen was an attorney advisor for former FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle, advising him on competition and consumer protection matters. She started at the FTC General Counsel’s Office in 1997.

Senate Bill Would Exempt Small ISPs From Open Internet Transparency Rules

Sen Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced bipartisan legislation (S 228) that would exempt small internet service providers from transparency requirements under the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet order. The Republican-led FCC has already said it won’t enforce the requirements for small ISPs, and suggested that it would revisit the rules as part of a broader re-examination of the 2015 Open Internet order. But providers want the exemption codified into law. The lack of enforcement could give senators time to work out the bill’s details with Democrats. As of Jan 24, Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) was the only Democratic co-sponsor. The Senate Commerce Committee is not scheduled to vote on the measure, according to an aide to Sen Daines. S 228, would grant broadband providers with fewer than 250,000 subscribers a five-year exemption from FCC requirements that they provide enhanced technical and fee data to consumers. Smaller ISPs say the cost of collecting that data is onerous and would cut disproportionately into their business. The House passed a similar bill by voice vote earlier in January.

Kremlin-Sponsored News Does Really Well on Google

There’s a category of often-misleading news sources that seems to have escaped the notice of tech companies: state-sponsored outlets like RT, a TV network and online news website that’s funded by the Russian government. As my colleagues Julia Ioffe and Rosie Gray wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review and BuzzFeed, respectively, RT—formerly known as Russia Today—routinely shapes its coverage portray Russia in the best possible light, and to make the West, and especially the United States, look bad. RT stories regularly appear toward the top of Google search results.

What Do You Mean by 'The Media?'

[Commentary] Interrogating the meaning of “the media” has become more important in recent months, as no American president has tried so aggressively to discredit all journalists. This sort of wholesale antagonism can only occur in a world that is drastically oversimplified into binaries. If you’ve read this far, you probably don’t “hate the media” or “love the media,” but see it as the complex professional-commercial-personal-political ecosystem that it is.

Making sweeping claims about “the media” jumbles up journalists with infotainment and partisan pundits and advocates. Many of us see the absurdity in that type of overgeneralization, and yet we contribute to it, with every mention of “the media” as if it were some monolithic entity. That sort of usage enables the painting of this monolithic entity as either corrupt or not, trustworthy or not. It further jeopardizes what little trust remains in the profession that exists only to convey truth. The profession that grows more necessary by the day.

Broadcasting Board of Governors announces new Acting Board Chairman

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) announced the unanimous election of Kenneth Weinstein, who has served as a Board Member since October 2013, to the position of Acting Board Chairman, effective immediately. Weinstein takes over the position from Jeff Shell, who served as Chairman of the Board since August 2013. Shell, the Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, will continue to serve as a Board Member.

Kenneth R. Weinstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Institute, a think tank focused on promoting American leadership and global engagement for a secure, free, and prosperous future. He has been decorated with a knighthood in Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Weinstein previously served by presidential appointment and Senate confirmation on the National Humanities Council, the governing body of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Weinstein graduated from The University of Chicago (B.A. in General Studies in the Humanities), the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (D.E.A. in Soviet and Eastern European Studies), and Harvard University (Ph.D. in Government).

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