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January 2017

How Years Of The Right-Wing Media’s Obama Hatred Paved The Way For Trump

[Commentary] On Jan 20, Donald Trump will swear the oath of office and become president of the United States. His ascent would not have been possible without the years of vitriol that the right-wing media directed at his predecessor. That hatred of President Barack Obama, and the related scorched-earth efforts to smother his agenda, prepared the way for Trump. Many Republican voters became, in the words of one conservative writer, “just increasingly divorced from reality” after spending years in the right-wing echo chamber.

Why journalists should be able to join the Women’s March

[Commentary] This week, countless American Journalists have been weighing the costs of joining the Women’s March in Washington (DC) or one of the many sister demonstrations being held on January 21. Staffers coast to coast, from The San Francisco Chronicle to The New York Times, have received specific edicts against attending.

Others likely know the tried-and-true rule, handed down from standard-setting organizations like The Associated Press: Journalists are not allowed to join protests or demonstrations, in order to avoid appearance of bias. According to the AP’s guidelines, staffers “must refrain from declaring their views on contentious public issues in any public forum…and must not take part in demonstrations in support of causes or movements.” The longstanding and rarely questioned rule was designed to protect the credibility of reporters and their news organizations, and to many, it looks like common sense. But it has arguably become just another barrier to entry in an industry already struggling with a pronounced lack of diversity.

[Shaya Tayefe Mohajer is a (recently laid-off) journalist in Los Angeles. ]

President Trump will be a boon and a challenge for the cable news business

Cable news networks had reason to feel bittersweet about the end of 2016 as Donald Trump’s historic campaign for the White House drove their ratings to record levels. But in the days leading up to his inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, Trump’s continuing love-hate relationship with them is providing a compelling sequel.

CNN, Fox News and MSNBC have seen a surprising surge in their audience levels this month as they report in real time on the unpredictable saga of Trump, who can dictate their programming day with his Twitter account. After Trump takes the oath of office Jan 20, they will be covering a president whose distrust and ridicule of the media is unlike anything they have seen from a commander in chief. While it’s apparent Trump’s combative nature is lifting viewer interest, the uncharted territory of his presidency is likely to test the journalistic spine of the organizations as well.

AT&T raises phone activation fee another $5, now charges $25

AT&T has raised its non-contract phone activation and upgrade fee from $20 to $25, the latest increase for a fee that didn't even exist until July 2015. As the mobile carrier switched from contracts to device payment plans, AT&T initially did not charge an activation and upgrade fee for customers who brought their own phone or bought one from AT&T on an installment plan. But in July 2015, AT&T started charging a $15 activation fee to customers who don't sign two-year contracts. (AT&T also raised the activation/upgrade fee for contract customers from $40 to $45 in July 2015.)

The activation fee for non-contract customers was raised from $15 to $20 in April 2016 and was just raised again to $25. The $25 fee is charged for new activations or upgrades when customers purchase devices on installment agreements, AT&T says. Customers who bring their own phone to the network are charged the $25 fee when they activate a new line of service, but not when they upgrade phones on an existing line.

How to Protest Without Sacrificing Your Digital Privacy

If you're a peaceful protester, but you don't necessarily want your participation in a demonstration to follow you around or lead to harassment online, what sort of steps can you take around your digital security?
Bring a clean phone: “They'll be, obviously, cell-site simulators,” said Matthew Mitchell, a founder of Crypto Harlem. These devices, otherwise known as IMSI-catchers or Stingrays, can record phones' geolocation, their phone number, and sometimes the content of texts and phone calls. "If everyone is texting a couple of organizers, or calling a bunch of friends, that one friend that connected to all people could be identified,” Mitchell said.
Or bring no phone at all: The simpler, and probably more effective approach for protecting privacy, is to not bring a cell phone at all and rely on more traditional methods of activist coordination.

January 20, 2017 (The 45th President of the United States of America)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017

The 58th Presidential Inauguration


ELECTION 2016
   US counterintelligence officials are examining possible ties between Russia and Trump associates
   Electronic Privacy Information Center Sues for FBI Records on Russian Hacking [links to nextgov]

TRANSITION
   Chairman Wheeler’s Farewell Message (in Two Parts) [links to Benton summary]
   Trump Nominees Make Clear Plans to Sweep Away Obama Policies [links to New York Times]
   Trump team prepares dramatic cuts
   Corporation For Public Broadcasting: Reported Trump Privatization Plan Would Be “Devastating” To Public Media [links to Benton summary]
   Obama, Trump paint contrasting pictures of role of White House press corps
   The coming storm for journalism under Trump [links to Benton summary]
   Trump’s hostile takeover of the American brand [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
   CNN’s president has fired a warning shot at Donald Trump [links to Benton summary]
   More, cheaper, bigger, faster: The defense and cyber strategy of Donald Trump
   Cybersecurity Prospects for a New Administration: The Experts Weigh In [links to New America]
   Cybersecurity policy in 2017: Encryption and surveillance - AEI op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   For the sake of national security, Donald Trump needs to trade in his cellphone [links to Benton summary]
   Speaker Ryan offers picture of public-private spending in Trump’s infrastructure plan [links to Benton summary]
   Patent Office head to keep spot in Trump administration [links to Hill, The]
   US Digital Service Gets New Leader [links to Benton summary]
   Trump White House Adds Communications Staffers [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   Congress’ post-inauguration agenda [links to Bloomberg]
   Karl Rove: Trump should 'end the compulsive tweeting’ [links to Hill, The]
   On Eve of Inauguration, Americans Expect Nation’s Deep Political Divisions to Persist [links to Pew Research Center]
   President-elect Trump needs time to make whitehouse.gov great again [links to Benton summary]
   President-elect Trump stirs apolitical Silicon Valley [links to Benton summary]
   President Trump will be a boon and a challenge for the cable news business [links to Los Angeles Times]
   The White House went ghost on Obama’s last night. Here’s what it looked like. [links to Washington Post]
   Obama assembles his post-presidential team [links to Hill, The]

INTERNET/BROADBAND/TELECOM
   Improving the Nation's Digital Infrastructure - FCC report
   CLIC Organizes Letter Opposing Virginia HB 2108 - press release
   FCC's net neutrality enforcement policy should be rated zero - Scott Cleland op-ed
   Here’s How The FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules Might Be Throttled Under Trump [links to Benton summary]
   Protect the Free and Open Internet - New America [links to Benton summary]
   Rise Broadband Cites Connect America Fund Program for Broadband Expansion, Adds 10 ‘Enhanced’ Broadband Markets [links to Benton summary]
   Leaning Toward the IP Future [links to AT&T]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   Chairman Wheeler: Spectrum Auction Was Congress' Directive [links to Benton summary]
   Former FCC Chairman Genachowski: Spectrum Auction Is Success From Various Vantages [links to Benton summary]
   Spectrum Auction Continues, Bids Rise to $18.3B [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   Online traffic data tool shows public benefit of internet of things - Brookings [links to Benton summary]
   Does your smartphone make you less likely to trust others? [links to Conversation, The]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   The emergence of the 'cyber cold war' [links to Benton summary]
   Looking back at privacy in 2016, and on to the future - FTC press release [links to Benton summary]
   St. Louis' public library computers hacked for ransom [links to CNN]

TELEVISION
   OTA Broadcasting Settles FCC Political File Investigation [links to Benton summary]
   FCC Freezes LPTV Companion Channel Applications [links to Benton summary]

ADVERTISING
   Google Uses Its Search Engine to Hawk Its Products

CONTENT
   Will Rinehart: The Enchantment of Code and the Rise of Technoanimism [links to Medium]
   Facebook temporarily limits posts from media outlet RT following copyright dispute [links to Verge, The]

OWNERSHIP
   Qualcomm’s latest regulatory challenge: Will new FTC complaint fizzle out under Trump? [links to International Telecommunication Union]
   Amazon, Apple End Exclusivity Deals for Audiobooks [links to Wall Street Journal]

JOURNALISM
   Researchers Created Fake News. Here’s What They Found. [links to Benton summary]
   William Jennings Bryan, the populist presidential hopeful, warned of an “epidemic of fake news” in his day. [links to Atlantic, The]
   New York Times Report: Journalism That Stands Apart [links to New York Times]
   Margaret Sullivan: Forget Putin. Fox News and Trump is the biggest romance in politics. [links to Washington Post]
   Journalists should stop interviewing Kellyanne Conway [links to Vox]

EDUCATION
   Higher Education Supplement to the National Education Technology Plan [links to Benton summary]
   How Education Is Failing Rural America [links to Education Week]

DIVERSITY
   Twitter users are diverse but not its staff [links to USAToday]

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
   PSAC Profile: US Conference of Mayors (USCM) [links to FirstNet]
   PSHSB Provides Perspective on Bureau of Labor Statistics 911 Dispatcher Classification [links to Federal Communications Commission]

GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
   How Technology Is Giving Town Hall Meetings a Modern Twist [links to Government Technology]
   US soldiers will be armed with machine translators to kill communication woes [links to Quartz]
   What Trump got wrong on Twitter this week (#3) [links to Washington Post]

POLICYMAKERS
   Gus Rossi Joins Public Knowledge to Bolster International Advocacy Efforts for Digital Rights [links to Public Knowledge]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   Lawsuits blame Facebook and Twitter in terror attacks in Paris, Brussels [links to Benton summary]
   Russia threatens retaliation over Facebook 'censorship' of RT [links to Guardian, The]

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ELECTION 2016

TRUMP-RUSSIA TIES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller]
US counterintelligence officials are sifting through intercepted communications and financial data as part of a wider look at possible ties between the Russian government and associates of President-elect Donald Trump, officials said. But while it has been clear for months that a broad investigation is underway, what remains murky — even to lawmakers receiving closed briefings — is its scope and target. It is unclear if the intercepts being examined have any connection to the Trump campaign. But the investigation adds to the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s relationship with Russia even as he is sworn in as president. U.S. intelligence agencies have already concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump win. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been under FBI scrutiny for some time, including for allegations of illegal financial dealings in Ukraine, current and former U.S. officials said. Manafort has done business in Russia and Ukraine. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, CIA and the National Security Agency, which intercepts phone calls, emails and other electronic communications of foreigners overseas, are also involved in the probe.
benton.org/headlines/us-counterintelligence-officials-are-examining-possible-ties-between-russia-and-trump | Washington Post | NY Times
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TRANSITION

TRUMP TEAM PREPARES DRAMATIC CUTS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Alexander Bolton]
Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Jan 20’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy. The changes they propose are dramatic. Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely. At the Department of Justice, the blueprint calls for eliminating the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Violence Against Women Grants and the Legal Services Corporation and for reducing funding for its Civil Rights and its Environment and Natural Resources divisions. “The Trump Administration needs to reform and cut spending dramatically, and targeting waste like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be a good first step in showing that the Trump Administration is serious about radically reforming the federal budget,” said Brian Darling, a former aide to Paul and a former staffer at the Heritage Foundation.
benton.org/headlines/trump-team-prepares-dramatic-cuts | Hill, The
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OBAMA, TRUMP PAINT CONTRASTING PICTURES OF ROLE OF WH PRESS CORPS
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Alex Weprin]
President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump described two very different visions for how the White House press corp should operate, with Trump setting the stage for significant changes to the status quo. Trump’s press team has been teasing out the possibility that White House daily briefing may be moved out of the Brady Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House, perhaps to a space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or the White House Conference Center. They have also raised the possibility of other changes, including taking over responsibility for which outlets and reporters get credentialed, and which reporters can sit where. Trump himself told Fox News that while the daily briefing will stay in the White House, his press team may restrict access to who can attend. President Obama, in his final news conference as president, painted a very different picture of the role the White House press corp should play. “Having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder,” President Obama said, apparently in reference to the idea that the briefings should move outside of the West Wing. “America needs you, and our democracy needs you.”
benton.org/headlines/obama-trump-paint-contrasting-pictures-role-white-house-press-corps | Politico
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THE DEFENSE AND CYBER STRATEGY OF TRUMP
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Sean Gallagher]
Since Election Day, President-elect Donald Trump has taken an inordinate interest in some of the minutia of defense policy. His tweets (particularly about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Air Force One presidential aircraft replacement program) have sent shockwaves through the defense industry. The same is true of the cyber realm—particularly in his treatment of the intelligence community that currently dominates the US' cyber-defense capabilities. The one thing that is certain is that Trump wants more muscle in both departments, urging an increase in the number of troops, ships, planes, and weapons deployed by the Department of Defense; the end of defense budget sequestration; and an expansion of the US nuclear and ballistic missile defense arsenal. And he has also pledged a new focus on offensive "cyber" capabilities, as outlined by his campaign, "to deter attacks by both state and non-state actors and, if necessary, to respond appropriately." That sort of aggressive posture is not a surprise. But the policies that will drive the use of those physical and digital forces are still a bit murky. Considering the position Trump has taken regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and his attitudes toward Russia, Trump's statements may hint at a desire for a Fortress America—armed to the teeth and going it alone in every domain of conflict.
benton.org/headlines/more-cheaper-bigger-faster-defense-and-cyber-strategy-donald-trump | Ars Technica
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

IMPROVING THE NATIONS DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Paul de Sa]
This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion about a national-infrastructure plan by highlighting three points relevant to communications, namely:
1. Improving the nation’s digital infrastructure should be a significant part of any national-infrastructure plan, as the economic upside for the country from accelerating investment in broadband is likely greater than from most other areas of infrastructure investment.
2.The primary goal of federal actions with respect to digital infrastructure should be to increase and accelerate profitable, incremental, private-sector investment to achieve at least 98% nationwide deployment of future-proofed, fixed broadband networks.
3.The policy measures that can be used to achieve this goal are: (i) direct funding support to reduce the cost of capital; (ii) changes to the tax code to increase the return on invested capital, and (iii) operations-related actions that enhance the productivity of capex. A national-infrastructure plan should include initiatives in some, or all, of these categories.
benton.org/headlines/improving-nations-digital-infrastructure | Federal Communications Commission | Broadcasting&Cable
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CLIC ORGANIZES LETTER OPPOSING VIRGINIA HB 2108
[SOURCE: Coalition for Local Internet Choice, AUTHOR: Press release]
On Jan 19, 2017, the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC) distributed a letter to Virginia lawmakers opposing House Bill (HB) 2108. The letter was co-signed by: Atlantic Engineering, Coalition for Local Internet Choice, CTC Energy & Technology, Fiber to the Home Council, Google, Indeed, Internet Association, National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, Netflix, Next Century Cities, Nokia, OnTrac, Telecommunications Industry Association, Ting Internet, and Utilities Technology Council. The letter noted that HB 2108 would essentially ban public broadband networks and public-private partnerships and harm Virginia communities, especially rural communities, and businesses that operate in the state. CLIC, along with its co-signers, encourages the Virginia legislature to reject this harmful legislation.
benton.org/headlines/clic-organizes-letter-opposing-virginia-hb-2108 | Coalition for Local Internet Choice | read the letter
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FCC NET NEUTRALITY ENFORCEMENT POLICY SHOULD BE RATED ZERO
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Scott Cleland]
[Commentary] A week before the transition to the new administration, the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Bureau issued a report about mobile “zero-rating” plans, which provide consumers the option of free data usage paid by advertising. This zero-rating kerfuffle exposes that network neutrality has transmogrified from the FCC’s original net neutrality purpose of protecting consumers’ freedom to competitively access and use the legal content, apps, and devices of their choice, to potentially taking away consumer’s freedom to access cost-saving content and apps of their choice on the device of their choice. How can the FCC claim to be pro-consumer, and then tell consumers that more consumer choice, control, and savings are a net neutrality violation? The dirty little secret that the FCC does not want people to know is that Title II net neutrality is implicit FCC price regulation that by design forces consumers to subsidize corporations, the exact opposite of how the FCC implemented Title II historically before competition, where corporations’ communications bills always subsidized consumers’ communications bills.
[Scott Cleland is president of Precursor LLC.]
benton.org/headlines/fccs-net-neutrality-enforcement-policy-should-be-rated-zero | Hill, The
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ADVERTISING

GOOGLE SEARCH ADS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jack Nicas]
Google runs the world’s largest advertising business, selling space atop its search results. Google is also among the biggest buyers of those ads, promoting products from its music service to its app store. These days, Google often pushes its growing list of hardware products, from Pixel phones to Nest smart thermostats, in the top ad spot above its search results. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that ads for products sold by Google and its sister companies appeared in the most prominent spot in 91% of 25,000 recent searches related to such items. In 43% of the searches, the top two ads both were for Google-related products.
benton.org/headlines/google-uses-its-search-engine-hawk-its-products | Wall Street Journal | How Google’s Ad Auctions Work
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US counterintelligence officials are examining possible ties between Russia and Trump associates

US counterintelligence officials are sifting through intercepted communications and financial data as part of a wider look at possible ties between the Russian government and associates of President-elect Donald Trump, officials said. But while it has been clear for months that a broad investigation is underway, what remains murky — even to lawmakers receiving closed briefings — is its scope and target. It is unclear if the intercepts being examined have any connection to the Trump campaign. But the investigation adds to the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s relationship with Russia even as he is sworn in as president. U.S. intelligence agencies have already concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump win. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been under FBI scrutiny for some time, including for allegations of illegal financial dealings in Ukraine, current and former U.S. officials said. Manafort has done business in Russia and Ukraine. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, CIA and the National Security Agency, which intercepts phone calls, emails and other electronic communications of foreigners overseas, are also involved in the probe.

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