1. Monthly archive
  2. June 2018

June 2018

The war against the press comes to the local newsroom

[Commentary] It is heartbreaking, but necessary, to recognize that the openness that defines local news likely carries too high a risk; local newsrooms, at least for now, may have no choice but to fortify themselves. Since Donald Trump chose, in the very earliest days of his presidential campaign, to make attacks on a free press in the United States one of his signature themes, many of us have thought it inevitable that his dangerous rhetoric would one day be a trigger for tragedy.

President Trump: Journalists should be free from fear of violent attacks

President Donald Trump lamented the “horrible” shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis (MD) saying journalists should not face grave danger in the United States. “This attack shocked the conscience of our nation and filled our hearts with grief,” President Trump said.

Senate Farm Bill Sets New RUS Broadband Finance Standards

The Senate has passed a Farm Bill whose broadband section reins in potential overbuilding of commercial broadband operators with government broadband subsidies.

Conservative Groups Push for Loosening Kids TV Mandates

Limited-government groups want the Federal Communications Commission to limit the mandates in its enforcement of children's programming legislation dating from the early 1990s, while a prominent kids TV group sees it slightly differently, while agreeing changes are needed.

EFF Sues to Invalidate FOSTA, an Unconstitutional Internet Censorship Law

We are asking a court to declare the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (“FOSTA”) unconstitutional and prevent it from being enforced.  The law was written so poorly that it actually criminalizes a substantial amount of protected speech and, according to experts, actually hinders efforts to prosecute sex traffickers and aid victims.

AT&T is raising an obscure fee on customer bills to make an extra $970 million a year, analyst says

AT&T’s wireless customers are expected to pay almost $1 billion in new fees every year to the company after it increased a monthly “administrative fee” this spring in a move that went largely unnoticed, according to an industry analyst. The analyst, Walt Piecyk of BTIG, initially estimated that AT&T could pocket roughly $800 million more annually from the higher fee, before revising that figure upward to $970 million once he learned that the fee hike will also affect tablets and smartwatches on AT&T’s network, not just cellphones.

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