August 2017
2005
Benton: Benton publishes Jim Kohlenberger's Citizen's Guide to Public Service Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters with funding from Ford Foundation; Benton appointed to the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee
Policy World: Kevin Martin is appointed FCC Chairman (-2009)
2004
Benton: Jim Kohlenberger becomes a Benton Senior Policy Fellow (2004-2008)
World: Facebook launched; President Bush reelected
2003
Benton: Benton and EDC's CCT continue their partnership with The Sustainability Challenge: Taking EdTech to the Next Level
2002
Benton: Benton and EDC's CCT continue their partnership and write Great Expectations: Leveraging America's Investment in Education Technology which examines the five-year old E-Rate program
2001
Benton: 1. Benton is home for the US center for OneWorld.net, the leading global information service, search engine, and network of organizations working for sustainable development and human rights; 2. Benton, MacArthur Foundation and P.O.V. publish Making Television Matter, a guide for producers, broadcasters, activists, and funders; 3. MacArthur Foundation gives Benton a three-year grant to fund core policy work
World: Media giants Time/Warner and AOL merge; 400 million Internet users worldwide and 1 billion Web pages on the Internet
Policy World: Michael Powell is appointed FCC Chairman (-2005)
2000
Benton: 1. Benton creates the Digital Divide Network, providing the most comprehensive map of resources and strategies for bridging the digital divide with progamming help from the National Urban League. DDN featured news, research, and data about the problem of unequal access to technology, and one-stop resources and information for communities seeking local solutions; 2. With funding from the Joyce Foundation, Benton and the Education Development Center's Center for Children & Technology write The E-rate in America: A Tale of Four Cities, the first in-depth analysis of the federal E-Rate program, analyzing the impact in four Midwest school systems of the federal commitment to connect every classroom; 3. Benton publishes Richard Someset-Ward's Connecting Communities, a report funded by Ford Foundation, as part of the Public Media in the Digital Age series.
World: George W. Bush elected President of the United States
1999
Benton: 1. Benton publishes Native Networking: Telecommunications and Information Technology in Indian Country; 2. Benton completes the What's Going On series with Networking for Better Health: Health Care in the Information Age; 3. With funds from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Benton produces Debate America, a web portal that maps a broad scope of local and national issues, and gives a platform for community voices to engage in thoughtful, interactive public deliberation
World: There are 150 million Internet users worldwide; 50% in the US
Policy World: Because of the FCC's E-rate program, 95 percent of U.S. schools are connected to the Internet
1998
Benton: 1. Benton continues the What's Going On series with Losing Ground Bit by Bit: Low-Income Communities in the Information Age drawing attention to the digital divide; 2. As part of a Kellogg Foundation initiative on libraries and community information, Benton undertakes strategic communications research published as Buildings, Books and Bytes: Libraries and Communities in the Digital Age and produces a communications toolkit, The Future's in the Balance: A Toolkit for Libraries and Communities in the Digital Age; 3. Between 1998-2000, Benton begins a series of online service hubs that demonstrate the power of the Internet to aggregate online resources, provide interactive forums, and report on communications issues for: children and families (connectforkids.org funded by AT&T, Packard, Knight, and the Annie E. Casey Foundations); international development (oneworld.net funded with a major grant by Ford Foundation, and additional funding from Omidyar Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Open Society Institute); and bridging the digital divide (digitaldividenetwork.org funded by corporate and private foundations including AOL, AT&T, Gates, Kellogg and Markle)
World: There are over one million websites on the Internet; digital television transmission begins at 26 stations in top 10 markets; Google founded
1997
Benton: 1. Charles Benton serves on Presidential Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters (-1998); 2. Benton continues publishing the What's Going On series funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation. Publications include Local Places, Global Connections: Libraries in the Digital Age and The Learning Connection: Schools in the Information Age; 3. Richard Somerset-Ward becomes Benton Senior Fellow (-2002); 3. Benton releases Destination Democracy: A Guide to Money and Politics, a website, video, and discussion guide promoting solutions for campaign finance reform, with funding from the Joyce and Ford Foundations.
Policy World: Vice President Gore convenes presidential advisory committee to recommend public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters who have been given $100 billion worth of spectrum to transition away from traditional, analog TV; William Kennard is appointed FCC Chairman (-2001)
1996
Benton: 1. Benton launches Headlines daily digest; 2. Sound Partners for Community Health (1996-2006), brings public TV and radio stations and community partners together to produce public health programs, funded by Robert Woods Johnson Foundation with $10 million over ten years; 3. Open Studio: The Arts Online (1996-1998) provides training for hundreds of local arts groups on using the Internet and is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ford and Microsoft Foundations; 4. Advertising Council, Benton, and the Coalition for America's Children kick-off KidsCampaigns and the Whose Side Are You On? A Campaign to Improve the Lives of Children; 5. Benton named legatee of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council; 6. Benton and Consumer Federation of American release Universal Service: A Historical Perspective and Policies for the 21st Century; 7. Benton and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration jointly sponsor the Up for Grabs: Communications Practice and Policy in the Public Interest conference. The conference brings together policy makers, industry representatives, and community service providers to discuss applications of advanced telecommunications technology in improved health care, education and civic participation.
World: President Clinton reelected
Policy World: Congress passes Telecommunications Act including the E-rate, a federal commitment to connect all public classrooms and libraries to the Internet; Library Services and Technology Act sets new goals for the use of federal funds to support libraries' role in providing access to information technology