Editorial staff

[Commentary]  The Federal Communications Commission’s sudden halt to Sinclair Broadcasting’s effort to dominate local television is far from an example of an overbearing regulatory state. The FCC and its Chairman, Ajit Pai, are deeply conservative and pro-business. That Pai has expressed “serious concerns” about Sinclair’s $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Co.’s local television stations, after leading the charge to give private companies control over internet access and pricing, indicates just how the bad the merger would be for local broadcasting.

[Editorial] Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (R-NC) hosted a made-for-a-campaign-commercial media event with Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pai and a bevy of Republican state legislators at Graham High School in Alamance County to boast about North Carolina being the first state to connect every classroom to high-speed broadband. It is no small achievement. However, it’s not quite his to brag about. If Forest’s fellow Republicans had their way, there would be nothing to celebrate. In 2007 only one Republican, former state Sen.

[Editorial] Consider this a plea to Alden — owner of Digital First Media, one of the largest newspaper chains in the country — to rethink its business strategy across all its newspaper holdings. Consider this also a signal to our community and civic leaders that they ought to demand better. Denver deserves a newspaper owner who supports its newsroom.

[Commentary] Many people, including many Republican lawmakers, dismiss President Trump’s attacks on The Washington Post, CNN and other news organizations as just one of those crazy — but ultimately harmless — things he does to blow off steam.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on a measure which would exempt 5G infrastructure from environmental and historic reviews. And more than a dozen states have passed laws stripping their local governments of any meaningful say on issues relating to where to put the 5G boxes. A smarter approach would bar localities from turning the permitting process into a cash cow, but would give them input on where 5G boxes go and what they should look like. This kind of buy-in might seem burdensome.

[Commentary] In 2004, Congress delivered what seemed to be an unmistakable message about ownership limits in the TV broadcasting industry. It ordered the Federal Communications Commission to institute a new cap: No company could own stations that collectively broadcast into more than 39% of US homes. So why hasn't the FCC summarily rejected Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed purchase of Tribune Media, which would allow Sinclair-owned stations to beam their programs to more than 70% of U.S. TV viewers?

[Commentary] President Donald Trump’s White House has been so scandal-plagued that controversies involving cabinet members and other high-level officials that would have been front-page news in any other administration have barely registered in the public consciousness.

[Commentary] Even as an estimated 240 million 911 calls continue to be placed annually, the systems that service them have grown obsolete, unable to handle photos, video, downloads, precise geo-locating and even, in most places, simple text messages. That’s a threat not just to public safety but also to national security. Worryingly, no one seems quite sure how to pay for a modernization to what’s known as Next Generation 911 (“NG911” in industry parlance), whose cost could exceed $20 billion.

[Commentary] In 2010, Highland (IL) leaders and residents decided they were not getting the broadband service they deserved, so they built their own fiber optic network. The city’s fiber optic company was just cited in a Harvard University study as fifth for value out of 27 public utilities compared to private competitors. A resident will pay Highland $383 a year compared to $679 a year for Charter, the study said.

[Commentary] The Restoring Internet Freedom order was a triumph of ideology over sense, sacrificing the interests of internet users and innovators on the altar of deregulatory purity. Some leading broadband providers, recognizing that they got more from the FCC than they’d bargained for, pledged never to use their newfound freedom to interfere online. But that’s not enough. Ideally, Congress would do something it should have done a decade ago: update federal communications law to give the FCC a mandate and clear authority to protect net neutrality.