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February 2017

Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Senate Commerce Committee
Thursday, March 2, 2017
9:30 am
http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=668CF8D9-C5F...

A hearing to explore the future of spectrum policy and how wireless technology benefits consumers and the economy. It will also examine evolving market demand for licensed and unlicensed spectrum and the Federal Communications Commission’s recent spectrum auctions.

Witnesses

  • Scott Bergmann, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, CTIA – the Wireless Association
  • Roger Entner, Founder, Recon Analytics
  • Dave Heiner, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft
  • Pat LaPlatney, President and Chief Executive Officer, Raycom Media
  • Tom Stroup, President, Satellite Industry Association

Senate Commerce Committee
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
10 am
http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=A94236A1-D23...

The hearing will examine the challenge of connecting Americans, particularly in rural communities, to transportation and information networks.

Witnesses

  • Dennis Daugaard, Governor of South Dakota
  • Philip Levine, Mayor of Miami Beach
  • Carlos Braceras, Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation
  • Shirley Bloomfield, Chief Executive Officer, NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association

FCC’s Pai Wants to Lift Charter-TWC Condition

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.

White House dismisses CNN report on FBI as ‘indefensible’

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.

Steve Bannon’s not-so-subtle threat to the media

It's no secret that Stephen K. 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 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.”

For conservatives, social media is a key battleground

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trevor Loudon, author of "Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress,” said: “The media is totally against the president. Hollywood is against the president. The radical left is against the president. He’s got all these forces against him. What we have is social media.” His call to action: “Get on Facebook, get on Twitter, and stand up.”

Ginni Thomas, the conservative journalist and activist (and, yes, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) said that given her “reverence for social media that gives us the power beyond the propaganda media to find the truth,” she was going to have speakers take turns "in order of who has the most Twitter followers." First up, with more than half a million followers: Milwaukee County Sheriff and conservative icon David Clarke. Going last, after Loudon (8,100 followers) and the Center for Security Policy’s Clare Lopez (6,100), was acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen (3,900).

Rep Khanna headed to Appalachia to support program that trains young people for tech jobs

Rep Ro Khanna (D-CA), whose Silicon Valley district is home to Apple, Google, Facebook and Tesla, says he’ll travel to Appalachia in March to lend his support to a program that trains young people — including the children of coal miners — for jobs like coding and computer tech.

The March 13 trip to Paintsville (KY) a rural community several hours east of Louisville, was organized with the help of tech giants like Cupertino-based Apple Computers. The plan is to train at least 40 young adults for four months in tech and software development, followed by four-month paid internships, said Khanna, a Democrat. According to Khanna’s office, the program is being funded with $4.5 million from TechHire Eastern Kentucky in cooperation with the Appalachian Regional Commission. It’s part of a 2015 TechHire initiative launched by the Obama administration.

Can We Make Media Better? Some Signs Of Hope.

[Commentary] I see two main opportunities to make media more informative, delightful and inspiring of action:
1) Change media’s ad-driven business model: Can revenue be connected to trust and community building, instead of audience size and amount of content published? Instead of breadth, can business models encourage depth and time well-spent?
2) Harness social media for 2-way conversations: How can we use different formats and communications channels to make stories more engaging and more authentic? How can we elevate new voices and bringing richer, more diverse perspectives to the table?

[Julie Menter is Principal at New Media Ventures]

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