Robert H. Phelps, Editor at New York Times and Boston Globe
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
Today's Event -- Extending Broadband to America's Underserved, USTelecom and ADTRAN -- https://www.benton.org/node/259219
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
Americans’ Attitudes About the News Media Deeply Divided Along Partisan Lines - Pew research
Comey’s Firing May Imperil Republicans’ Legislative Agenda [links to New York Times]
Days Before Firing, Comey Asked for More Resources for Russia Inquiry [links to New York Times]
Sense of Crisis Deepens as Trump Defends FBI Firing [links to New York Times]
Comey Firing Provides Bright Dividing Line for Media Coverage
The Comey firing revealed what is real news and what is propaganda [links to Atlantic, The]
A hidden message in memo justifying Comey’s firing - CJR analysis
Minority Leader Pelosi threatens to force vote on outside Russia probe [links to Hill, The]
Democratic Sens threaten to bring Senate to a crawl over FBI firing [links to Hill, The]
Sen Wyden: AG Sessions must resign over Comey firing [links to Hill, The]
With Comey’s dismissal, the Russia investigation will soon be run by Trump allies [links to Washington Post]
President Trump Tweets: Dems are 'phony hypocrites' for anger over Comey firing [links to Hill, The]
Trump Takes to Twitter to Trample Critics of Comey Dismissal [links to Multichannel News]
How close was Comey getting to the truth? [links to CNN]
News outlets shut out of Trump meeting with Russians [links to Benton summary]
President Trump and trickle-down press persecution - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Eric Boehlert: Journalists May Have Finally Met Their Trump Tipping Point -- Is It Too Late? [links to Media Matters for America]
Trump’s Campaign Can’t Just Erase History on the Internet [links to Benton summary]
‘I wish he’d quit tweeting’: Many President Trump backers say it’s time for him to put down his phone [links to Washington Post]
JOURNALISM
West Virginia journalist arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question
There’s been a big change in how the news media cover sexual assault [links to Washington Post]
In North Carolina, these 2 women are bringing journalists closer to the public [links to Poynter]
‘Respect print and grow digital’: Survey of over 400 local journalists reveals optimism - CJR op-ed [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Anti-net neutrality spammers are impersonating real people to flood FCC comments
The FCC has received 128,000 identical anti-net neutrality comments [links to Ars Technica]
Over 500,000 Comments Flood FCC's 'Restoring Internet Freedom' Docket [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Internet Regulation - Michael Powell op-ed
Repealing net neutrality: Implications for cybersecurity [links to American Enterprise Institute]
A “Bug Fix” That Could Unlock the Web for Millions Around the World [links to Benton summary]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Americans Uneasy About Data Privacy After FCC Rule Repeal
CONTENT
Facebook says it’s cracking down on links that send users to sketchy, ad-filled websites [links to Vox]
Internet Company That Does Business With Hate Sites Alters Complaint Policies [links to ProPublica]
TELEVISION
Most Americans can get internet on their TV — but they’re still mostly watching plain old TV [links to Vox]
CBS Forms New Streaming Deal With Affiliate Stations [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Discovery Communications CEO: Sports-Free Skinny Bundles Will Come [links to Multichannel News]
OWNERSHIP
Verizon Wins Bidding War for Straight Path Communications
Sinclair-Tribune Combo Could Create Future Addressable TV Giant [links to Wall Street Journal]
Sinclair Bid for Tribune Gives Conservative Voice a Big-City Perch [links to Bloomberg]
Sinclair-Tribune Deal Is Huge Bet On Future Of Broadcasting [links to MediaPost]
DIVERSITY
Cable News Networks Pressed for More Diverse Political Talkers [links to Benton summary]
5 Questions on the Meaning of the FCC’s Recent Ruling on Online Recruiting – How Does it Change a Broadcaster’s EEO Obligations? [links to Broadcast Law Blog]
LABOR
Microsoft's CEO Nadella rallies coders to prevent dystopian future [links to USAToday]
ASC3 Launches Services Call Center Providing Workforce Development Opportunities for Digital Literacy Program Participants - press release [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
House Communications Subcommittee Schedules Hearing to Examine Nation's Emergency Alerting Systems for May 17 [links to House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
10 Ways You Can Engage With the U.S. Department of State [links to Medium]
COMPANY NEWS
Time Inc. to Cut Costs, Sell Assets [links to Wall Street Journal]
Watch Out for the ‘Altice Way’ of Doing Business [links to Wall Street Journal]
The New Hulu Looks a Lot Like the Future of TV [links to Wall Street Journal]
Fox Reveals Cost of Sexual Harassment Allegations: $45 Million [links to New York Times]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, The Eurocrat Who Makes Corporate America Tremble [links to Bloomberg]
German Publishers' Lawsuit Against Google Threatens To Backfire [links to National Public Radio]
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
ATTITUDES ABOUT NEWS DEEPLY DIVIDED ALONG PARTISAN LINES
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center, AUTHOR: Michael Barthel, Amy Mitchell]
Democrats and Republicans, who already tend to place their trust in different news sources and rely on different outlets for political news, now disagree more than ever on a fundamental issue of the news media’s role in society: whether news organizations’ criticism of political leaders primarily keeps them from doing things they shouldn’t – or keeps them from doing their job. Today, in the early days of the Trump administration, roughly nine-in-ten Democrats (89%) say news media criticism keeps leaders in line (sometimes called the news media’s “watchdog role”), while only about four-in-ten Republicans (42%) say the same. That is a 47-percentage-point gap, which stands in sharp contrast to January-February 2016, when Americans were asked the same question. Then, in the midst of the presidential primary season, nearly the same share of Democrats (74%) and Republicans (77%) supported the watchdog role. This partisan split is found in other attitudes about the news media, though none in so dramatic a fashion as with the watchdog role. Compared with 2016, Democrats and Republicans are more divided on whether the press favors one side in its political coverage, on how much trust they have in national news media, and on how good a job national news organizations are doing in keeping them informed.
benton.org/headlines/americans-attitudes-about-news-media-deeply-divided-along-partisan-lines | Pew Research Center | Broadcasting&Cable
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COMEY FIRING AND MEDIA COVERAGE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Grynbaum]
The nation’s political divide has been on full display in the news media in the hours since FBI Director James Comey’s abrupt ejection from his post May 9 — and the lines are brighter than ever. On CNN, the legal journalist Jeffrey Toobin was in full-on meltdown mode, denouncing President Trump’s firing as “a grotesque abuse of power” and “the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies.” Over on Fox News, the mood was more sanguine — even celebratory. “This was overdue, and everyone in Washington knows that,” Tucker Carlson declared at the top of his 8 pm broadcast, before introducing a series of guests who echoed his excitement.By May 10, the left-leaning HuffPost featured a one-word, all-capital headline: “Nixonian.” The right-leaning Breitbart News approvingly declared President Trump’s move “the latest in a political outsider’s crusade against entrenched Washington.”
benton.org/headlines/comey-firing-provides-bright-dividing-line-media-coverage | New York Times
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HIDDEN MESSAGE IN MEMO JUSTIFYING COMEY'S FIRING
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Vanessa Gezari]
Anyone seeking further confirmation that Donald Trump’s presidency is primarily a media story need look no further than the surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey. According to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Comey was essentially let go for talking to the press. That’s almost surely not the real reason he was fired, but in this case, the media is both a smokescreen and a clue. Comey’s ouster falls perfectly in line with the administration’s broader positions on media control, leaks, and leakers. It also offers more evidence, in case anyone needed it, of Trump’s overweening desire to control the news cycle.
benton.org/headlines/hidden-message-memo-justifying-comeys-firing | Columbia Journalism Review
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JOURNALISM
WV JOURNALIST ARRESTED AFTER ASKING HHS SEC A QUESTION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Samantha Schmidt]
As Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price walked through a hallway May 9 in the West Virginia state capitol, veteran reporter Dan Heyman followed alongside him, holding up his phone to Sec Price while attempting to ask him a question. Heyman, a journalist with Public News Service, repeatedly asked the secretary whether domestic violence would be considered a preexisting condition under the Republican bill to overhaul the nation’s health care system, he said. “He didn’t say anything,” Heyman said later in a news conference. “So I persisted.” Then, an officer in the capitol pulled him aside, handcuffed him and arrested him. Heyman was jailed on the charge of willful disruption of state government processes and was released later on $5,000 bail. Authorities said while Secret Service agents were providing security in the capitol for Sec Price and Kellyanne Conway, special counsel to the president, Heyman was “aggressively breaching” the agents to the point where they were “forced to remove him a couple of times from the area,” according to a criminal complaint. Heyman “was causing a disturbance by yelling questions at Ms. Conway and Secretary Price,” the complaint stated.
benton.org/headlines/west-virginia-journalist-arrested-after-asking-hhs-secretary-tom-price-question | Washington Post
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
ANTI-NN SPAMMERS IMPERSONATING REAL PEOPLE IN FCC COMMENTS
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: Colin Lecher, Adi Robertson, Russell Brandom]
Thousands have posted comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s website in response to a proposed rollback of network neutrality internet protections, weighing in on whether and how to defend the open internet. But many others appeared to have a different point of view. “The unprecedented regulatory power the Obama Administration imposed on the internet is smothering innovation, damaging the American economy and obstructing job creation,” read thousands of identical comments posted this week, seemingly by different concerned individuals. The comment goes on to give a vigorous defense of deregulation, calling the rules a “power grab” and saying the rollback represents “a positive step forward.” By midday May 9, the thread was inundated with versions of the comment. A search of the duplicated text found more than 58,000 results as of press time, with 17,000 of those posted in the last 24 hours alone. The comments seem to be posted by different, real people, with addresses attached. But people contacted said they did not write the comments and have no idea where the posts came from. “That doesn’t even sound like verbiage I would use,” says Nancy Colombo of Connecticut, whose name and address appeared alongside the comment. “I have no idea where that came from,” says Lynn Vesely, whose Indiana address also appeared, and who was surprised to hear about the comment.
benton.org/headlines/anti-net-neutrality-spammers-are-impersonating-real-people-flood-fcc-comments | Verge, The
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INTERNET REGULATION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Powell]
[Commentary] Internet providers have long offered an open internet experience. Along with web companies like Facebook and Google, internet service providers support open internet rules preventing blocking, throttling or unfair discrimination of online traffic. There is little objection to these common-sense consumer protections, but widespread resistance to the fiction that the government needs to impose outdated public utility regulation to assure openness. What we object to is regulating dynamic internet networks in the same way we regulate failing infrastructure like electricity, water, roads and bridges. Public utility regulation has failed America, and it’s foolish to apply it to the internet, the one infrastructure bright spot that has fueled America’s global competitiveness. The Federal Communications Commission is right to work toward restoring light-touch regulation before the information superhighway becomes marked with potholes.
[Powell, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is president and chief executive of NCTA, the Internet and Television Association]
benton.org/headlines/internet-regulation | New York Times
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
AMERICANS UNEASY ABOUT DATA PRIVACY AFTER FCC RULE REPEAL, SURVEY SAYS
[SOURCE: Bloomberg, AUTHOR: Alexis Kramer]
A vast majority of Americans—95 percent—say they are concerned about businesses’ collection and sale of their personal information without permission, according to a survey taken after the recent rollback of federal privacy rules for broadband providers. The Federal Communications Commission privacy rules had required providers such as Comcast and AT&T to get affirmative consent from subscribers before collecting or selling their data. Since President Donald Trump signed a bill into law rescinding those rules, the public debate over internet privacy has escalated. The survey, published May 4 by software company Anchorfree, asked 2,000 consumers their views on internet access and privacy. Although 90 percent of Americans say internet access must be safe and secure, they are divided as to who should be responsible for ensuring such security. Two out of five Americans say the federal government is responsible, while another two out of five point to network providers, the survey said.
benton.org/headlines/americans-uneasy-about-data-privacy-after-fcc-rule-repeal | Bloomberg
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OWNERSHIP
VERIZON-STRAIGHT PATH
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Thomas Gryta, Drew FitzGerald]
Verizon Communications will buy Straight Path Communications for about $3.1 billion, after beating rival AT&T in an unusually intense bidding war for the wireless-spectrum holder. Straight Path holds licenses to use high-frequency radio waves that some engineers think could form the backbone of next-generation networks. Straight Path, which had just nine employees as of October, was worth about $400 million two months ago. The company acquired most of its wireless spectrum more than 15 years ago but was penalized this year by regulators for failing to build a working network.
benton.org/headlines/verizon-wins-bidding-war-straight-path-communications | Wall Street Journal
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