BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017
This week’s events https://www.benton.org/calendar/2017-05-21--P1W
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Digital gap between rural and nonrural America persists - Pew research
A Trump FCC advisor’s proposal for bringing free Internet to poor people [links to Benton summary]
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Net Neutrality Activists Rally Against Trump FCC's Plan to Destroy the Internet - press release
Mozilla enters net neutrality lobbying fight [links to Hill, The]
FCC's Net Neutrality Comment Tsunami Builds [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Senator Harris (D-CA) Statement on FCC Vote to Repeal Net Neutrality - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Is Honoring Fake Anti-Net Neutrality Rants Left By Bots [links to Benton summary]
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
Sens Udall and Hassan warn Trump Administration Shows 'Pattern of Hostility' to Press
President Trump attacked the free press, and he got exactly what he deserved [links to Washington Post]
RNC Stands by President Trump, 'Witch-Hunt' Branding of Media [links to Benton summary]
Sen Chuck Grassley: FCC must explain 'manhandling' reporter [links to Hill, The]
Sec of State Tillerson holds a press conference without US media [links to Politico]
President Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation [links to New York Times]
Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say [links to Washington Post]
If President Trump wants the leaks to stop, he needs to learn how to take bad news [links to Vox]
Protesting Notre Dame students walk out of Pence’s commencement speech [links to Washington Post]
JOURNALISM
News Coverage of Donald Trump’s First 100 Days - Shorenstein Center research
What to do with public TV’s ‘spectrum auction’ windfall - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Do leaks to the media really put lives at risk? [links to Washington Post]
Washington Post, Breaking News, Is Also Breaking New Ground [links to New York Times]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Feds are using Stingray cell-trackers to find undocumented immigrants [links to Verge, The]
Rep Blackburn bill would extend privacy rules to Google & Facebook
FCC's O'Rielly Hopes To Block State Privacy Laws
America’s dangerous Internet delusion - editorial
All IT Jobs Are Cybersecurity Jobs Now [links to Wall Street Journal]
Get Ready for the Next Big Privacy Backlash Against Facebook [links to Wired]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Chairman Pai Announces Plans for Nationwide Blue Alerts - press release
OWNERSHIP
Sinclair’s TV deal would be good for Trump. And his new FCC is clearing the way. - analysis
Here’s who loses big time if Sprint and T-Mobile are allowed to merge - Bill Baer, Tom Wheeler op-ed
Hidden in Plain Sight: FCC Chairman Pai's Strategy to Further Concentrate the US Wireless Marketplace - TeleFrieden
TELEVISION
Colbert joke prompts thousands of FCC complaints from all political stripes [links to Politico]
Cutting the cord doesn't necessarily mean cutting the cost [links to Los Angeles Times]
Networks Offer Taste of TV’s Ad Future. Marketers Are Hungry for More. [links to New York Times]
CONTENT
Want a Better Web? Here’s an Idea: Pay for It [links to Wired]
Democrats are falling for fake news about Russia [links to Vox]
LABOR
AT&T workers go on three-day strike [links to Reuters]
Fox News fires Bob Beckel over alleged 'insensitive' remark to African-American staffer [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
President Trump weighs downsizing Spicer’s public role [links to Benton summary]
Roger Ailes: The Man Who Mined a Divided America [links to Benton summary]
Roger Ailes Was a Revolutionary in Reactionary Clothing [links to Politico]
Roger Ailes's legacy: the road to the White House runs through Fox News [links to Vox]
Anthony Weiner to Plead Guilty to Resolve Sexting Inquiry [links to New York Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Bringing the Internet to Rural India
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
DIGITAL GAP BETWEEN RURAL AND NONRURAL AMERICA PERSISTS
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center, AUTHOR: Andrew Perrin]
Rural Americans have made large gains in adopting digital technology in recent years, but they remain less likely than nonrural adults to have home broadband, smartphones and other devices. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of rural Americans say they have a broadband internet connection at home, up from about a third (35%) in 2007, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in fall 2016. Rural Americans are now 10 percentage points less likely than Americans overall to have home broadband; in 2007, there was a 16-point gap between rural Americans (35%) and all U.S. adults (51%) on this question. Rural residents also go online less frequently than their urban and suburban counterparts. Roughly six-in-ten adults (58%) who live in rural communities say they use the internet on at least a daily basis, compared with more than three-quarters of those in urban (80%) or suburban (76%) areas. Meanwhile, roughly one-in-five rural adults (19%) say they never go online, compared with 11% of those who live in urban communities and 10% of those who live in the suburbs.
benton.org/headlines/digital-gap-between-rural-and-nonrural-america-persists | Pew Research Center
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
NN ACTIVISTS
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Amy Kroin]
People from across the country have already generated more than 1 million comments and signatures opposing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s destructive plan to kill network neutrality. And outside the agency’s headquarters May 18, a range of advocacy groups, members of Congress and nearly 100 activists rallied to preserve the open internet. Among the speakers were Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jared Polis (D-CO). “The debate we’re here to begin is over democracy itself. It’s over whether we have a free and open internet for all voices, all competitors,” said Sen Markey. “The Trump administration is intending to shut down Net Neutrality at the behest of a few corporate behemoths. … This is the beginning of a historic fight to save Net Neutrality.” Advocates from groups including the ACLU, the Center for Media Justice, CREDO Action, Color Of Change, Common Cause, Demand Progress, EFF, Faithful Internet, Free Press Action Fund, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Popular Resistance and Public Knowledge all gave forceful speeches testifying to the need to preserve the internet’s level playing field. Daily Kos, Fight for the Future, The Nation and Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press were also represented at the rally.
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-activists-rally-against-trump-fccs-plan-destroy-internet | Free Press
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COMMUNICATIONS AND DEMOCRACY
SENS UDALL AND HASSAN LETTER
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Max Greenwood]
Sens Tom Udall (D-NM) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) are warning of a "pattern of hostility" by the Trump Administration toward journalists. In a letter sent to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, the Sens seek answers on why security guards at the FCC reportedly "manhandled" and ejected a reporter from the agency's headquarters on May 18. "Yesterday’s incident at the FCC is not an isolated one and seems to be a part of a larger pattern of hostility towards the press characteristic of this administration, which underscores our serious concern," the letter reads. Sens Udall and Hassan assail the security guard's treatment of CQ Roll Call reporter John Donnelly in the letter. "Given the FCC’s role as the primary authority for communications law and its regulatory role with respect to the media, the FCC should set a sterling example when it comes to supporting the First Amendment and freedom of the press for other government entities here in the United States and around the world," the letter reads.
benton.org/headlines/sens-udall-and-hassan-warn-trump-administration-shows-pattern-hostility-press | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM
NEWS COVERAGE OF TRUMP'S FIRST 100 DAYS
[SOURCE: Shorenstein Center, AUTHOR: Thomas Patterson]
A new report from Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy analyzes news coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days in office. The report is based on an analysis of news reports in the print editions of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, the main newscasts of CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC, and three European news outlets (The UK’s Financial Times and BBC, and Germany’s ARD). Findings include:
President Trump dominated media coverage in the outlets and programs analyzed, with Trump being the topic of 41 percent of all news stories—three times the amount of coverage received by previous presidents. He was also the featured speaker in nearly two-thirds of his coverage.
Republican voices accounted for 80 percent of what newsmakers said about the Trump presidency, compared to only 6 percent for Democrats and 3 percent for those involved in anti-Trump protests.
European reporters were more likely than American journalists to directly question Trump’s fitness for office.
Trump has received unsparing coverage for most weeks of his presidency, without a single major topic where Trump’s coverage, on balance, was more positive than negative, setting a new standard for unfavorable press coverage of a president.
Fox was the only news outlet in the study that came close to giving Trump positive coverage overall, however, there was variation in the tone of Fox’s coverage depending on the topic.
benton.org/headlines/news-coverage-donald-trumps-first-100-days | Shorenstein Center | Washington Post
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
BLACKBURN BILL WOULD EXTEND PRIVACY RULES TO GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK
[SOURCE: Axios, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
House Communications Subcommittee Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill that would apply privacy rules to internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast and web companies such as Google and Facebook. The bill would require the companies to get their users' permission before sharing their sensitive information, including web-browsing history, with advertisers. Chairman Blackburn's proposal differs from the FCC's rules (which she voted to overturn) in two important ways: 1) The legislation would also apply to web companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Snap — known as "edge providers" — which were not subject to the FCC's rules. 2) The Federal Trade Commission (as opposed to the FCC) would be the enforcer of the rules. They would require internet providers and the web firms to make users opt-in to the sharing of "sensitive information" such as the content of communications, "precise" location data and web-browsing and app-usage history, with some exceptions.
benton.org/headlines/rep-blackburn-bill-would-extend-privacy-rules-google-facebook | Axios
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O'RIELLY HOPES TO BLOCK STATE PRIVACY LAWS
[SOURCE: MediaPost, AUTHOR: Wendy Davis]
Congress's decision to repeal the nationwide broadband privacy rules appears to have spurred lawmakers in at least a dozen states to introduce new measures that would protect residents' online privacy. Now, at least one Republican on the Federal Communications Commission wants the agency to enact regulations that would prohibit states from enacting their own privacy rules. "I believe states should be ... barred from enacting their own privacy burdens on what is by all means an interstate information service," Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said earlier in May in a speech delivered to the American Legislative Exchange Council. "It is both impractical and very harmful for each state to enact differing and conflicting privacy burdens on broadband providers, many of which serve multiple states, if not the entire country."
benton.org/headlines/fccs-orielly-hopes-block-state-privacy-laws | MediaPost
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INTERNET DELUSION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert Samuelson]
[Commentary] The unmistakable lesson of recent years is that the Internet is a double-edged sword. Despite enormous benefits — instant access to huge quantities of information, the proliferation of new forms of businesses, communications and entertainment — it also encourages crime, global conflict and economic disruption. The drift seems ominous. We are dangerously dependent on Internet-based systems. This makes the Internet a weapon that can be used against us — or by us. The trouble is that we are aiding and abetting our adversaries. We are addicted to the Internet and refuse to recognize how our addiction subtracts from our security. The more we connect our devices and instruments to the Internet, the more we create paths for others to use against us, either by shutting down websites or by controlling what they do. Put differently, we are — incredibly — inviting trouble. Our commercial interests and our national security diverge.
benton.org/headlines/americas-dangerous-internet-delusion | Washington Post
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
PAI ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NATIONWIDE BLUE ALERTS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced a proposal to add an alert option to the nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) to help protect our nation’s law enforcement officers. Called a “Blue Alert,” the option would be used by authorities in states across the country to notify the public through television and radio of threats to law enforcement and to help apprehend dangerous suspects. The Chairman unveiled the proposal at an event hosted by the Department of Justice announcing the nationwide rollout of the National Blue Alert Network. “As we have learned from the very successful AMBER Alert initiative for recovering missing children, an informed public can play a vital role in assisting law enforcement,” Chairman Pai said. “By expanding the Emergency Alert System to better support Blue Alerts, we could build on that success – and help protect those in law enforcement who risk their lives each day to
protect us.” Blue Alerts can be used to warn the public when there is actionable information related to a law enforcement officer who is missing, seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, or when there is an imminent credible threat to an officer. As a result, a Blue Alert could quickly warn you if a violent suspect could be in your community, along with providing instructions on what to do if you spot the suspect and how to stay safe.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-pai-announces-plans-nationwide-blue-alerts | Federal Communications Commission | Pai Speech
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OWNERSHIP
SINCLAIR’S TV DEAL
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Margaret Sullivan]
Sinclair Broadcast Group has struck a deal with Tribune Media to buy dozens of local TV stations. And what Fox News is for cable, Sinclair could become for broadcast: programming with a soupcon — or more — of conservative spin. Already, Sinclair is the largest owner of local TV stations in the nation. If the $3.9 billion deal gets regulatory approval, Sinclair would have 7 of every 10 Americans in its potential audience. “That’s too much power to repose in one entity,” Michael Copps, who served on the FCC from 2001 to 2012, told me. Sinclair would have 215 stations, including ones in big markets such as Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago, instead of the 173 it has now. There’s no reason to think that the FCC’s new chairman, Ajit Pai, will stand in the way. Already, his commission has reinstated a regulatory loophole — closed under his predecessor, Tom Wheeler — that allows a single corporation to own more stations than the current 39 percent nationwide cap. And Pai has made no secret of his deregulatory fervor. The former Verizon lawyer, an FCC commissioner for five years, is moving quickly. The stakes are high — and not just for Sinclair’s business interests. There’s evidence that when Sinclair takes over, conservative content gets a powerful platform.
benton.org/headlines/sinclairs-tv-deal-would-be-good-trump-and-his-new-fcc-clearing-way | Washington Post
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WHO LOSES BIG TIME IF SPRINT AND T-MOBILE ARE ALLOWED TO MERGE
[SOURCE: CNBC, AUTHOR: Bill Baer, Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] The press reports that Sprint's owner SoftBank may once again seek to eliminate its rival T-Mobile, perhaps believing that it will find more sympathetic ears in the new administration. But the merger made no sense before, and it makes no sense today. Ensuring that competition works to consumers' benefit makes policing mergers among competitors a priority that transcends party and politics. Without it, you pay the price. Let's hope the president's professed belief in competition continues and that our successors at the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission act responsibly to block any renewed attempts to stymie the robust wireless competition that consumers are now enjoying.
benton.org/headlines/heres-who-loses-big-time-if-sprint-and-t-mobile-are-allowed-merge | CNBC
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HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
[SOURCE: TeleFrieden, AUTHOR: Rob Frieden]
[Commentary] While couched in noble terms of promoting competition, innovation and freedom, the Federal Communications Commission soon will combine two initiatives that will enhance the likelihood that Sprint and T-Mobile will stop operating as separate companies within 18 months. In the same manner at the regulatory approval of airline mergers, the FCC will make all sorts of conclusions sorely lacking empirical evidence and common sense. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s game plan starts with a report to Congress that the wireless marketplace is robustly competitive. The Commission can then leverage its marketplace assessment to conclude that even a further concentration in an already massively concentrated industry will not matter. Virtually overnight, the remaining firms will have far less incentives to enhance the value proposition for subscribers as T-Mobile and Sprint have done much to the chagrin of their larger, innovation-free competitors AT&T and Verizon who control over 67% of the market and serve about 275 million of the nation’s 405 million subscribers.
[Rob Frieden serves as Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law at Penn State University.]
benton.org/headlines/hidden-plain-sight-fcc-chairman-pais-strategy-further-concentrate-us-wireless-marketplace | TeleFrieden
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
BRINGING THE INTERNET TO RURAL INDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ellen Barry]
While India produces some of the world’s best coders and computer engineers, vast multitudes of its people are entering the virtual world with little sense of what lies within it, or how it could be of use to them. Those who work in development tend to speak of this moment as a civilizational breakthrough, of particular significance in a country aching to educate its children. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has made expanding internet use a central goal, shifting government services onto digital platforms. When Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, toured India in 2014, he told audiences that for every 10 people who get online, “one person gets lifted out of poverty and one new job gets created.” Young men use the internet in Taradand. Bollywood films. Older people view it as a conduit for pornography and other wastes of time. Women are not allowed access even to simple mobile phones, for fear they will engage in illicit relationships; the internet is out of the question. Illiterate people — almost everyone over 40 — dismiss the internet as not intended for them.
benton.org/headlines/bringing-internet-rural-india | New York Times
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