Killing privacy rules, barring journalists... too much news to wait 'til Monday.
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017 (THE FRIDAY DUMP)
Next week’s events https://www.benton.org/calendar/2017-02-26--P1W
COMMUNICATIONS AND DEMOCRACY
President Trump at CPAC: Right’s Unlikely Hero Renews Attack on Press
Social media users criticize Trump on anonymous sources [links to Hill, The]
White House Bars Times and Other News Outlets From Briefing
Here's the audio from the White House briefing that blocked CNN, New York Times [links to Washington Post]
The Trump White House’s press problems just keep getting worse - analysis
AP, Time skip WH briefing after other news outlets excluded [links to Hill, The]
Media figures slam White House for excluding outlets from briefing [links to Hill, The]
Ex-press secretary defends WH media exclusions [links to Hill, The]
Hollywood, Media Slam White House Media Crackdown: ‘Dictatorship, Plain & Simple’ [links to Wrap, The]
Virginia GOP chair defends Spicer: 'Why would we let media who hate us have access?' [links to Hill, The]
Spicer in 2016: Media shouldn't be banned from press briefings [links to Washington Post]
In December, Spicer said barring media access is what a ‘dictatorship’ does. Today, he barred media access. [links to Washington Post]
CBS Anchor Scott Pelley Wonders If Trump Will Expand Enemies List to Include a ‘Painter, Filmmaker, Poet’ [links to Wrap, The]
We analyzed two weeks of Spicer press briefings. Here’s what we learned. [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
White House dismisses CNN report on FBI as ‘indefensible’
Washington Post: Our story wasn't fake, it led to Trump ousting Flynn
Minority Leader Pelosi calls for DOJ probe of Priebus on FBI, Russia [links to Benton summary]
Steve Bannon’s not-so-subtle threat to the media
For conservatives, social media is a key battleground [links to Benton summary]
How the ACLU Plans to Fight Trump [links to Politico]
Republican lawmakers introduce bills to curb protesting in at least 18 states
PRIVACY
Pai's Privacy Ultimatum - press release
Joint FCC-FTC Commissioner Statement on Suspension of Broadband Privacy Protections - press release
REGULATION
Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda - public notice
Kevin Werbach Shares Lessons for Policymakers: How to Regulate Innovation without Killing It [links to Technology Academics Policy]
OWNERSHIP
FCC’s Pai Wants to Lift Charter-TWC Condition
FCC Grants First 100% Foreign Control of US Broadcasters [links to Benton summary]
Sinclair May Be On The Wrong News Path - editorial [links to Benton summary]
Op-Ed: Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook to have more power in our lives, and we should resist [links to Vox]
JOURNALISM
Can We Make Media Better? Some Signs Of Hope. - Julie Menter, New Media Ventures [links to Benton summary]
Why So Sad? A Look at the Change in Tone of Technology Reporting From 1986 to 2013 - ITIF
CNN might not attend White House correspondents' dinner [links to Hill, The]
DIGITAL DIVIDE
American Library Association and Cox Communications partner to narrow digital divide for low-income families - press release
Listen, technology holdouts: Enough is enough - Larry Downes
LABOR
When tech companies go public, employees can strike it rich — or not. And then the trouble starts [links to Los Angeles Times]
Rep Khanna headed to Appalachia to support program that trains young people for tech jobs [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
A Bot That Identifies 'Toxic' Comments Online [links to Benton summary]
Twitter is locking accounts that swear at famous people [links to Verge, The]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
MWC 2017: what to expect from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona [links to Verge, The]
What is 5G? [links to Benton summary]
TELEVISION
ACA to FCC: Bundling Is Biggest Diversity Damper [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY
Industry Still Waiting on Trump's Cyber Policy With Anxiety, Cautious Optimism [links to nextgov]
Virginia Expands Cybersecurity Training for Veterans in Bid to Fill Vacant Positions Statewide [links to Government Technology]
Yahoo! To Senate: No User Financial Data Was Hacked [links to Multichannel News]
HEALTH
Constant Phone Checkers Are Totally Strung Out [links to Technology Review]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
The FBI's New FOIA Policy Is a Big Step Backward - press release [links to Benton summary]
Ban Donald Trump on Twitter [links to Verge, The]
MORE ONLINE
Trump’s Tax Talk Sounds Less Than “Phenomenal” for Tech [links to Technology Review]
Key public policy issues for cognitive computing systems [links to Brookings]
FTC and NASCO to explore consumer protection and charitable solicitations [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Google: Access’ Next Steps with Citizens Broadband Radio Service [links to Google]
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COMMUNICATIONS AND DEMOCRACY
TRUMP RENEWS ATTACK ON PRESS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Glenn Thrush]
President Donald Trump intensified his slashing attack on the news media during an appearance before the Conservative Political Action Conference , reiterating his charge that “fake news” outlets are “the enemy of the people.” The opening portion of the president’s free-range, campaign-style speech centered on a declaration of war on the news media — a new foil to replace vanquished political opponents like Hillary Clinton. “They are very smart, they are very cunning, they are very dishonest,” Trump said to the delight of the crowd. “It doesn’t represent the people; it never will represent the people.” President Trump, who once posed as his own public relations man to plant news stories in New York tabloids — and spoke frequently with reporters off the record during the campaign — called for an end to the use of “sources,” meaning anonymous sources. “A few days ago, I called the fake news the enemy of the people because they have no sources — they just make it up,” he said. He added that his “enemy of the people” label applied only to “dishonest” reporters and editors. President Trump, who suggested revisiting First Amendment protections for the news media during the campaign, refined that attack on Feb 24, urging his supporters to use their free-speech rights to counter hostile press accounts from outlets like CNN, which he called the “Clinton News Network.” “They always bring up the First Amendment,” Trump said of journalists. “Nobody loves it better than me.” After spending 10 minutes listing the shortcomings of the news media, Trump said criticism “doesn’t bother me.”
benton.org/headlines/trump-cpac-rights-unlikely-hero-renews-attack-press | New York Times | The Hill | Huffington Post
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WH BARS TIMES AND OTHER NEWS OUTLETS FROM BREIFING
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Grynbaum]
Journalists from The New York Times and several other news organizations were prohibited from attending a briefing by President Donald Trump’s press secretary on Feb 24, a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps. Reporters from The Times, BuzzFeed News, CNN, The Los Angeles Times and Politico were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean M. Spicer, for the scheduled briefing. Aides to Spicer only allowed in reporters from a handpicked group of news organizations that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed. Those organizations included Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times, all with conservative leanings. Journalists from ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fox News also attended. Reporters from Time magazine and The Associated Press, who were set to be allowed in, chose not to attend the briefing in protest of the White House’s actions. “Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, said in a statement. “We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.” The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the press corps, quickly rebuked the White House’s actions.
benton.org/headlines/white-house-bars-times-and-other-news-outlets-briefing | New York Times | The Hill | Washington Post | USA Today | Multichannel News | B&C
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RELATIONSHIP GETTING WORSE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Chris Cillizza]
[Commentary] The message — if you are really bad at reading the signs — is that President Donald Trump and the people who support him believe they are at war with the media, plain and simple. It's beyond an adversarial relationship. It's a desire on their part to extinguish what they believe to be the corporate-controlled, liberal media once and for all. From a political perspective, it makes sense for Trump to villainize the press, since the media is a stand-in for virtually everything that Trump supporters dislike about Washington specifically and “elites” more generally. But from a healthy democracy perspective, the attempts to change the rules — or turn the daily interactions between the president and the media into a game of favorites — is a very dangerous thing.
benton.org/headlines/trump-white-houses-press-problems-just-keep-getting-worse | Washington Post
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WH DISMISSSES CNN REPORT ON FBI AS 'INDEFENSIBLE'
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jordan Fabian]
President Donald Trump’s top spokesman dismissed a news report alleging the FBI rejected a request by the White House to publicly knock down reports about communications between Trump associates and the Russians. “What you guys have done is indefensible and inaccurate,” he told reporters. Senior administration officials accused CNN, which broke the story, of mischaracterizing the White House’s request to the FBI — though they did not dispute that a communication took place between the FBI and White House officials. CNN reported that White House chief of staff Reince Priebus reached out to FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe asking them to talk to reporters on background to dispute the stories about communications between Trump associates and Russia, which ran in The New York Times and CNN. Comey reportedly rejected the request because the alleged communications are the subject of an investigation. The discussions between the FBI and the White House could run aground of longstanding rules restrictions of contact regarding pending investigations.
benton.org/headlines/white-house-dismisses-cnn-report-fbi-indefensible | Hill, The
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WAPO: OUR STORY WASNT FAKE, IT LED TO TRUMP OUSTING FLYNN
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Max Greenwood]
The Washington Post pushed back against President Donald Trump’s claims that a report about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s conversations with a Russian ambassador was “fake news.” President Trump obliquely referred to the Post's story on Flynn that cited nine former or current officials, insisting the sources were made up. “Everything we published regarding Gen. Flynn was true, as confirmed by subsequent events and on-the-record statements from administration officials themselves,” Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a statement. "The story led directly to the general’s dismissal as national security adviser. Calling press reports fake doesn’t make them so.”
benton.org/headlines/washington-post-our-story-wasnt-fake-it-led-trump-ousting-flynn | Hill, The
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BANNON'S NOT-SO-SUBTLE THREAT TO THE MEDIA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Chris Cillizza]
It's no secret that Stephen Bannon, the past chairman of Breitbart News and now a senior strategist to the President, is behind much of Trump's anti-media rhetoric. The idea of the media as the “opposition party” or the “enemy" — two phrases President Trump has used of late to describe those who cover him — is pure Bannon. So, there was no reason to think that Bannon was going to be anything but confrontational with the media during a joint appearance with Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. But, even by Bannon's standards, he seemed to ramp up his attacks on the media and offer a very clear message to political journalists: You think this is bad? Just wait. “It's going to get worse every day for the media,” Bannon said, insisting that the “corporatist” media would continue to see Trump pursue exactly the sort of economic nationalism that journalism allegedly despises. Then he added this call to arms: “If you think they are giving you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken.”
benton.org/headlines/steve-bannons-not-so-subtle-threat-media | Washington Post
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GOP LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BILLS TO CURB PROTESTING IN 18 STATES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christopher Ingraham]
Since the election of President Trump, Republican lawmakers in at least 18 states have introduced or voted on legislation to curb mass protests in what civil liberties experts are calling “an attack on protest rights throughout the states.” From Virginia to Washington state, legislators have introduced bills that would increase punishments for blocking highways, ban the use of masks during protests, indemnify drivers who strike protesters with their cars and, in at least once case, seize the assets of people involved in protests that later turn violent. The proposals come after a string of mass protest movements in the past few years, covering everything from police shootings of unarmed black men to the Dakota Access Pipeline to the inauguration of Trump. Some are introducing bills because they say they're necessary to counter the actions of “paid” or “professional” protesters who set out to intimidate or disrupt, a common accusation that experts agree is largely overstated.
benton.org/headlines/republican-lawmakers-introduce-bills-curb-protesting-least-18-states | Washington Post | The Hill
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PRIVACY
PAI'S PRIVACY ULTIMATUM
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Mark Wigfield]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai believes that the best way to protect the online privacy of American consumers is through a comprehensive and uniform regulatory framework. All actors in the online space should be subject to the same rules, and the federal government shouldn’t favor one set of companies over another. Therefore, he has advocated returning to a technology-neutral privacy framework for the online world and harmonizing the FCC’s privacy rules for broadband providers with the Federal Trade Commission’s standards for others in the digital economy. Unfortunately, one of the previous administration’s privacy rules that is scheduled to take effect on March 2 is not consistent with the FTC’s privacy standards. Therefore, Chairman Pai is seeking to act on a request to stay this rule before it takes effect on March 2. If Commissioners are willing to cast their votes by March 2, then the full Commission will decide the stay request. If not, then the Wireline Competition Bureau will stay that one element of the privacy rules pending a full Commission vote on the pending petitions for reconsideration consistent with past practice.
benton.org/headlines/pais-privacy-ultimatum | Federal Communications Commission | WSJ | Morning Consult | B&C | WaPo | The Verge | The Hill | IDG News Service | ars technica
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JOINT STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER MIGNON CLYBURN AND FTC COMMISSIONER TERRELL MCSWEENY
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny]
“Today Chairman Pai has created an unfortunate dilemma: accept a Bureau-level action that indefinitely unwinds key consumer privacy protections established by the FCC last year, or accept four business days (rather than the usual three weeks) to evaluate and vote on a decision that has massive ramifications for the security of private information held by broadband providers,” said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.
“I am very troubled by the news that the data security protections of the Broadband Privacy Rule will be put on hold. What this means, in effect, is that consumers with a broadband subscription will be less protected because the only cop on the beat has been taken off their patrol. In an age of Internet connected everything, removing security requirements from broadband providers is needlessly dangerous for American consumers. The rules the FCC adopted conform to long standing FTC practice and provide clear rules on how broadband companies should protect their customers’ personal information. This action weakens the security requirement guarding every consumers’ most personal data and should be reconsidered,” said FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny.
“The outcome is clear. Chairman Pai is determined to take action that leaves consumers without a cop on the beat protecting their personal information from misuse by their broadband service provider. This means no federal data security requirements whatsoever for broadband providers. This is the antithesis of putting #ConsumersFirst,” said Clyburn and McSweeny.
“Then-Commissioner Pai said in 2014 that ‘FCC decisions issued on the bureau level cut the commissioners out of the decision-making process entirely.’ Today, he is using the very same tool as Chairman that he criticized as a Commissioner. I could not agree with his 2014-self more that ‘bad process makes bad policy.’ And that is exactly what we see here today,” continued Clyburn.
benton.org/headlines/joint-fcc-ftc-commissioner-statement-suspension-broadband-privacy-protections | Federal Communications Commission
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REGULATION
REGULATORY REFORM
[SOURCE: The White House, AUTHOR: President Donald Trump]
It is the policy of the United States to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people. Within 60 days of the date of this order, the head of each agency shall designate an agency official as its Regulatory Reform Officer (RRO). Each RRO shall oversee the implementation of regulatory reform initiatives and policies to ensure that agencies effectively carry out regulatory reforms. Each agency shall establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force. Each Regulatory Reform Task Force shall evaluate existing and make recommendations to the agency head regarding their repeal, replacement, or modification. At a minimum, each Regulatory Reform Task Force shall attempt to identify regulations that:
eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation;
are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;
impose costs that exceed benefits;
create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies;
are inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that provision, in particular those regulations that rely in whole or in part on data, information, or methods that are not publicly available or that are insufficiently transparent to meet the standard for reproducibility; or
derive from or implement Executive Orders or other Presidential directives that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially modified.
benton.org/headlines/presidential-executive-order-enforcing-regulatory-reform-agenda | White House, The | B&C
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OWNERSHIP
FCC’s PAI WANTS TO LIFT CHARTER-TWC CONDITION
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Margaret Harding McGill]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wants to eliminate an FCC mandate forcing Charter Communications to compete head-to-head with other broadband providers in one million new locations. A draft order circulated among commissioners would jettison that requirement, but preserve a condition calling for overall broadband buildout to two million new households. The requirements were part of the FCC's approval of the $67 billion Charter-Time Warner Cable-Bright House Networks merger in 2016. An FCC spokesperson said it’s more important for Charter to build out to unserved households than to take on competitors.
benton.org/headlines/fccs-pai-wants-lift-charter-twc-condition | Politico | B&C | ars technica
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JOURNALISM
TECH REPORTING
[SOURCE: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, AUTHOR: Doug Allen, Daniel Castro]
This report looks at the way that the US print media has covered technology over the past 30 years, examining the claims that a typical reader of national newspapers is likely to have seen during that time. The findings show that coverage of technology in the 1980s and early 1990s was largely favorable, with a heavy focus on the economic and military advantages afforded by advancing technologies. In the late 1980s, in particular, there was a notable focus on the economic opportunities afforded by the developing technology sector and its offerings. However, that tone has gradually shifted over the years, with more articles highlighting the potential ill effects of technology: its displacement of face-to-face interaction, its role in environmental degradation, its threat to employment, and its failure to live up to some of the promises made on its behalf. The findings also indicate that positive and negative claims are more likely to be associated with certain segments of society than others. Claims about the potentials of technology and their associated benefits are more likely to come out of the private sector, while claims about the potential problems are more likely to come from actors in civil society and government.
benton.org/headlines/why-so-sad-look-change-tone-technology-reporting-1986-2013 | Information Technology & Innovation Foundation | Multichannel News
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DIGITAL DIVIDE
ALA AND COX PARTNER TO NARROW DIGITAL DIVIDE
[SOURCE: American Library Association, AUTHOR: Press release]
The American Library Association and Cox Communications announced a new partnership that will strengthen and expand our shared commitment to connecting low-income students and their families with technology, providing a stronger foundation for success in the classroom, in continuing education and in job opportunities. Through this new partnership, more low-income families will have access to digital literacy training and resources in their local libraries and online. In Tucson (AZ), Topeka (KS), and Baton Rouge (LA), libraries and Cox will pilot the deployment of enhanced digital literacy training and resources for library patrons and families. Research will be conducted to measure the outcomes of the pilot. In all Cox markets across the company’s 18-state footprint, Cox and the local libraries will collaborate on digital literacy and internet adoption initiatives, including an advertising campaign on Cox’s cross-channel cable lineup.
benton.org/headlines/american-library-association-and-cox-communications-partner-narrow-digital-divide-low | American Library Association | B&C
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TECH HOLDOUTS: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Larry Downes]
Commentary] Even as fanatic customers can be counted on to line up outside the Apple store for the latest iPhone, there are still millions of Americans who don’t use a smartphone at all. For that matter, there are still plenty of happy owners of tube televisions, rotary dial telephones, film cameras, fax machines, typewriters and cassette tape players. You might think the holdouts just can’t afford it, which certainly remains an important factor despite programs that subsidize both wired and wireless broadband. But the real holdup is that non-adopters — mostly older, rural and less-educated — just aren’t interested in Internet access, at any price. As other factors such as price and usability fall, a perceived lack of relevance now dominates. To overcome the inertia of legacy customers, it may be appropriate for governments to step in. The United States has long had programs aimed at making broadband more affordable for lower-income Americans and more accessible for those living in sparsely populated areas.
[Larry Downes is a project director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy.]
benton.org/headlines/listen-technology-holdouts-enough-enough | Washington Post
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