August 8, 2017 (The Art of Fabrication)
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017
8.8.88
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
Many Politicians Lie. But President Trump Has Elevated the Art of Fabrication. [links to New York Times]
Trump TV’s ‘real news’ sounds more like real propaganda [links to Washington Post]
As Mueller closes in, President Trump prepares his base for the worst - WaPo [links to Benton summary]
‘Fake news’? The Russia investigation is getting very, very real. [links to Washington Post]
President Trump: 'Fake news media' not covering UN sanctions vote on North Korea [links to Hill, The]
House GOP unveils website criticizing media coverage [links to Benton summary]
Sen Blumenthal: DOJ 'weaponizing' leak laws [links to Hill, The]
News Media Alliance Blasts Sessions Leak Comments [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
The Economic Benefits of Ubiquitous Broadband: Why Invest in Broadband Infrastructure and Adoption? - Daily Yonder op-ed
Rural Broadband: Taking a Broad-Scope Look at Fed and State Legislation
Data cap analysis found almost 200 ISPs imposing data limits in the US
If Cable Won’t #UnlockTheBox, Why Would ISPs #ProtectNetNeutrality? - PK [links to Benton summary]
Commercialization brought the Internet to the masses. It also gave us spam. - WaPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
The End of Typing: The Next Billion Mobile Users Will Rely on Video and Voice
MOBILE NOW Act - press release
SECURITY/PRIVACY
These 42 Disney apps are allegedly spying on your kids [links to Benton summary]
A Future Ruled by the "Botnet of Things"? - New America [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Montana to Transform Communications for Public Safety [links to FirstNet]
TELEVISION
Vermont Public Utilities Commission denies Comcast’s appeal against providing schedule information for state PEG channels [links to Alliance for Community Media]
CONTENT
Facebook is starting to put more posts from local politicians into people’s News Feed [links to Benton summary]
As politicians become less civil, so does the internet - Vox op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Remember when the iPad was going to be the key to the media business? [links to Vox]
ADVERTISING
YouTube will now let creators appeal limits on advertising [links to Verge, The]
OWNERSHIP
Diverse Groups, Including ACA, Combine to Oppose Sinclair-Tribune
Dish Asks FCC to Deny Sinclair/Tribune [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Is Fox Threatened By Sinclair's Reach? - MediaPost analysis [links to Benton summary]
Civis Analytics Poll Shows Bipartisan Opposition to AT&T/Time Warner Merger - PK press release [links to Benton summary]
Sprint Resumes Preliminary Talks on T-Mobile Merger [links to Benton summary]
Amazon owns a whole collection of secret brands [links to Quartz]
Dish Network's Way Forward Still Not Clear - TVNewsCheck op-ed [links to Benton summary]
LABOR
The federal government under President Trump has 11,000 less workers – although that may not be by design [links to American Public Media]
Actors Guild Membership Approves New Film and TV Contract [links to Wrap, The]
Opinion: Why Facebook should pay us a basic income. If data are the new oil then we may have found a 21st-century revenue stream [links to Financial Times]
DIVERSITY
Google employee's memo triggers another crisis for a tech industry struggling to diversify [links to Los Angeles Times]
Segregated Valley: the ugly truth about Google and diversity in tech [links to Guardian, The]
It’s not just Google — many major tech companies are struggling with diversity [links to Vox]
Google Fires Engineer Who Wrote Memo Questioning Women in Tech [links to New York Times]
Read Google CEO's email to staff about anti-diversity memo [links to Vox]
JOURNALISM
Digital News Fact Sheet - Pew research
Public Broadcasting Fact Sheet - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
Hispanic and African American News Media Fact Sheet - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
British Media Outlets Most Trusted US News Sources in New Poll [links to Benton summary]
Thomas Lenard: Newspapers Don't Need Anti-Trust Immunity [links to Real Clear Politics]
Margaret Talev on the evolving role of the White House Correspondents’ Association [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Op-Ed: We’re in the early stages of a visual revolution in journalism [links to Vox]
Buyouts taken, voices lost at New York Times [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
Ex-CNN commentator hosts video 'news' segment on President Trump Facebook page
See also: Kayleigh McEnany named RNC spokesperson [links to Benton summary]
White House pays a staffer $89,000 a year to spot and distribute positive stories from the mainstream media [links to Politico]
LOBBYING
Political Donors Put Their Money Where the Memes Are [links to Benton summary]
POLICYMAKERS
Sen Warren Blocks President Trump’s Pick for Antitrust Chief [links to Bloomberg]
Secrecy and Suspicion Surround President Trump’s Deregulation Teams [links to Benton summary]
FCC Commissioners Rosenworcel, Carr Get Washington Welcome [links to Benton summary]
DHS chief information officer resigns after three months on job [links to Hill, The]
COMPANY NEWS
AT&T To Sunset 'Time Warner' Brand, Bests It In Consumer Credibility [links to Benton summary]
CBS signs with AT&T to stream networks on DirecTV Now [links to Reuters]
Netflix buys comics publisher Millarworld to feed films and TV [links to Reuters]
T-Mobile’s new Unlimited 55+ gives seniors a much-needed upgrade on cell service [links to Verge, The]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
France and Germany Plan Tax Crackdown on U.S. Tech Giants [links to Bloomberg]
How to hack the internet, Cuban-style [links to Public Radio International]
Israel wants to close Al Jazeera and ban its journalists because of “incitement” [links to Vox]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
BROADBAND ECONOMIC BENEFITS: WHY INVEST IN BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE AND ADOPTION?
[SOURCE: Daily Yonder, AUTHOR: Roberto Gallardo, Mark Rembert]
[Commentary] How much is being lost in economic benefits because fixed broadband connectivity is not ubiquitous? A 2017 study by Ohio State University Swank Program on Rural-Urban Policy estimated the economic benefits of providing broadband access to unserved households in Ohio. To calculate these estimates, the Ohio State study used customer surplus – what a consumer is willing to pay for a service compared to what they are actually paying. In other words, consumer surplus is the average amount of value a consumer receives from Internet service above and beyond the price. The most conservative of scenarios, which assumes full access but only 20 percent adoption, would generate an impact of $4.5 billion per year or $43.8 billion over fifteen years in the US. In non-metropolitan counties, this same scenario would yield $2.3 billion annually or $22.7 billion over fifteen years.
[Dr. Roberto Gallardo is Assistant Director & Community & Regional Economics Specialist of the Purdue Center for Regional Development at Purdue University.
Dr. Mark Rembert is the Graduate Research Associate at the Swank Program on Rural-Urban Policy at the Ohio State University.]
benton.org/headlines/economic-benefits-ubiquitous-broadband-why-invest-broadband-infrastructure-and-adoption | Daily Yonder
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RURAL BROADBAND FED AND STATE LEGISLATION
[SOURCE: Government Technology, AUTHOR: Eyragon Eidam, Jessica Mulholland]
At the federal level, four bills relating to widespread broadband have been introduced. Take the Rural Broadband Deployment and Streamlining Act (S 1363), introduced by Sens Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Dean Heller (R-NV). It is meant to bolster the expansion of broadband infrastructure on federally owned land. If successful, the bill would also require a streamlined federal application process for expediting broadband deployment. The most recent legislation was introduced on Aug 1. The bipartisan Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (AIRWAVES) bill (S 1682), was introduced by Sens Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). The legislation aims to drive down wireless costs by opening commercially licensed and unlicensed spectrum space, while hopefully bettering broadband access in rural areas. In a similar spirit, the Rural Reasonable and Comparable Wireless Access Act of 2017 (HR 2903) would direct the Federal Communications Commission to develop a national standard for “reasonably comparable” broadband services in rural and urban areas. Since the bill’s introduction in mid-June, however, it has not progressed in the House. Also in mid-June, Reps Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced legislation that would provide tax incentives for companies willing to build out rural broadband services. The so-called Gigabit Opportunity Act (HR 2870) would effectively allow companies to front load the expensing of investments in rural networks within applicable zones. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai lauded the bill, which has not progressed since its June 16 introduction. And in March, Sens Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Deb Fischer (R-NE) introduced legislation that would streamline broadband permitting in existing highway rights-of-way for broadband infrastructure projects. Called the Highway Rights-of-Way Permitting Efficiency Act of 2017 (S 604), the bill seeks to avoid duplicative federal permitting and regulations and other issues that cause project delays and cost-overruns.
benton.org/headlines/rural-broadband-taking-broad-scope-look-fed-and-state-legislation | Government Technology
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DATA CAP ANALYSIS FOUND ALMOST 200 ISPS IMPOSING DATA LIMITS IN US
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: Jon Brodkin]
A company that tracks Internet service providers and data caps in the US has identified 196 home Internet providers that impose monthly caps on Internet users. Not all of them are enforced, but customers of many ISPs must pay overage fees when they use too much data. BroadbandNow, a broadband provider search site that gets referral fees from some ISPs, has more than 2,500 home Internet providers in its database. This list includes telecommunications providers that are registered to provide service under the government's Lifeline program, which subsidizes access for poor people. BroadbandNow's team looked through the ISPs' websites to generate a list of those with data caps. The data cap information was "pulled directly from ISP websites," said BroadbandNow Director of Content Jameson Zimmer. "For those that have multiple caps, we include the lowest one and an asterisk to show that they have regional variation." BroadbandNow, which is operated by a company called Microbrand Media, plans to keep tracking the data caps over time in order to examine trends, he said.
benton.org/headlines/data-cap-analysis-found-almost-200-isps-imposing-data-limits-us | Ars Technica
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WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
NEXT BILLION MOBILE USERS WILL RELY ON VIDEO AND VOICE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Eric Bellman]
The internet’s global expansion is entering a new phase, and it looks decidedly unlike the last one. Instead of typing searches and e-mails, a wave of newcomers—“the next billion,” the tech industry calls them—is avoiding text, using voice activation and communicating with images. They are a swath of the world’s less-educated, online for the first time thanks to low-end smartphones, cheap data plans and intuitive apps that let them navigate despite poor literacy. Incumbent tech companies are finding they must rethink their products for these newcomers and face local competitors that have been quicker to figure them out. Mr. Singh, 36, balances suitcases on his head in New Delhi, earning less than $8 a day as a porter in one of India’s biggest railway stations. He isn’t comfortable reading or using a keyboard. That doesn’t stop him from checking train schedules, messaging family and downloading movies. “We don’t know anything about e-mails or even how to send one,” said Mr. Singh, who went online only in the past year. “But we are enjoying the internet to the fullest.”
benton.org/headlines/end-typing-next-billion-mobile-users-will-rely-video-and-voice | Wall Street Journal
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MOBILE NOW ACT
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Senate approval by unanimous consent of the MOBILE NOW Act (S. 19), a bill they introduced to boost the development of next-generation gigabit wireless broadband services, including 5G, by ensuring more spectrum is made available for commercial use and by reducing the red tape associated with building broadband networks. Elements of MOBILE NOW Act:
Making 500 megahertz available: A 2010 executive order set a goal of making available 500 MHz of federal spectrum for private sector use by 2020. The MOBILE NOW Act makes that goal the law.
Speeding up 5G infrastructure: Next-generation gigabit wireless services, like 5G, will rely on smaller and more numerous antenna and infrastructure systems than current cellular technology. Federal agencies would have a new obligation to make decisions on applications and permit requests for placing wireless infrastructure on federal property in a timely and reasonable manner.
Spectrum assessments: The bill directs the Federal government to conduct assessments of spectrum in the 3 GHz band and in the millimeter wave frequencies to determine whether authorizing licensed or unlicensed wireless broadband services in those bands is feasible, and if so, which frequencies are best suited for such operations. Frequencies totaling more than 13 gigahertz of bandwidth will be studied, most of which are in the millimeter wave frequencies that will be critical for next-generation wireless networks, including 5G mobile networks.
Dig once: The Act facilitates adoption of safe and efficient “dig once” policies by states. Dig once is the idea that a single conduit through which all broadband wires can be run should be laid in the ground at the same time as other below-ground infrastructure work, like highway construction. Dig once can reduce costs for deployment of broadband infrastructure.
National broadband facilities asset database: The bill creates a central, online inventory of federal government property assets available or appropriate for private-sector deployment of broadband facilities. Such information includes the location of buildings and points of contact for siting applications. State and local governments would be permitted to voluntarily submit information about their assets to the inventory.
Reallocation incentives: The Commerce Department would be directed to issue a report within 18 months on additional legislative or regulatory proposals to incentivize Federal entities to relinquish or share their spectrum with non-federal spectrum users.
Immediate transfer of funds for agencies: The MOBILE NOW Act accelerates the relocation of Federal entities by allowing existing Spectrum Relocation Fund balances to be transferred to agencies for transition efforts immediately upon completion of an auction, rather than after the actual receipt by the Fund of auction proceeds. By immediately executing their transition plans, agencies would reduce their timelines to vacate, potentially increasing auction proceeds due to the value of accelerated access to the auctioned bands.
benton.org/headlines/mobile-now-act | US Senate Commerce Committee
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OWNERSHIP
DIVERSE GROUPS COMBINE TO OPPOSE SINCLAIR-TRIBUNIE
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
A diverse group of associations, including the American Cable Association, as well as media consolidation opponents and conservative news outlets, are getting together to formally oppose the merger of Sinclair and Tribune, which would result in the nation's largest broadcast TV group. That group includes a big critic of conservative media and a conservative media outlet, united in their strong opposition to the deal. Initial comments on the merger were due Aug 7. Joining ACA president Matt Polka on a conference call to announce their Federal Communications Comission filings in opposition to the deal were former FCC chairman and Common Cause special adviser Michael Copps, One America News Network president Charles Herring, Computer & Communications Industry Association president Ed Black and Competitive Carriers Association SVP Tim Donovan. Copps said the deal would eviscerate local TV news and help inflict "irreparable damage." He called Sinclair the "most dangerous company most Americans have never heard of." He said the company wants to skirt ownership regulations with more "joint evasion agreements." He said the company comes with an ideology more focused on conservative points of view than "any sense of balance of deep-dive journalism."
[Michael Copps is a regular contribution to the Benton Foundation's Digital Beat blog]
benton.org/headlines/diverse-groups-including-aca-combine-oppose-sinclair-tribune | Multichannel News |
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JOURNALISM
DIGITAL NEWS FACT SHEET
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center, AUTHOR: ]
In the US, roughly nine-in-ten adults (93%) ever get news online (either via mobile or desktop), and the online space has become a host for the digital homes of both legacy news outlets and new, “born on the web” news outlets. Digital advertising revenue across all digital entities (beyond just news) continues to grow, with technology companies playing a large role in the flow of both news and revenue. Digital-native news outlets are also adopting other outreach and engagement methods. Fully 97% of these outlets offer newsletters, and 92% have an official presence on Apple News. Three-quarters, meanwhile, release podcasts and 61% allow comments on their articles. These outlets are also highly likely to use social media as part of their outreach. Nearly all have official pages or accounts on Facebook (100%), Twitter (100%), YouTube (97%) and Instagram (92%). Far fewer (25%) have an official channel or account on Snapchat.
benton.org/headlines/digital-news-fact-sheet | Pew Research Center
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GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
EX-CNN COMMENTATOR HOSTS NEWS SEGMENT ON TRUMP FACEBOOK PAGE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Rebecca Savransky]
Former CNN commentator Kayleigh McEnany hosted a video "news" program over the weekend on President Donald Trump's Facebook page. "Thank you for joining us as we provide you the news of the week from Trump Tower here in New York," McEnany said at the beginning of the segment. During the video, McEnany, appearing in front featuring Trump's campaign logo and website, touted the recent jobs report. The economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent, the Commerce Department reported Aug 4. Trump hailed the strong numbers last week, saying he had "only just begun." "President Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction," McEnany said in the segment. McEnany was named RNC spokesperson on August 7.
benton.org/headlines/ex-cnn-commentator-hosts-video-news-segment-president-trump-facebook-page | Hill, The
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