BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017
Today's Event -- Title II, Net Neutrality, and the Struggle for Balance in Broadband Regulation: How Did We Get Here?, Georgetown University -- https://www.benton.org/node/261774
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said
President Trump defends Trump Jr.: 'I applaud his transparency'
How Trump Jr.’s ‘Transparency’ Erodes Trust With the Media
Donald Trump Jr. and Russia: What the Law Says [links to New York Times]
The Trump Internet’s defense of Donald Trump Jr.’s tweets shows how quickly messaging falls into place [links to Washington Post]
House Oversight Ranking Member Cummings on Donald Trump Jr E-mails: 'A sad day for our country' [links to Hill, The]
Sen Schumer: Trump Jr. should testify publicly under oath [links to Hill, The]
Senate Intelligence Committee Co-Chair Warner: Trump campaign's Russian involvement is 'black and white' [links to Hill, The]
Trump Jr. reminds us all: Don’t email anything you don’t want to see in the New York Times [links to Washington Post]
Lawsuit alleges President Trump violated 1st Amendment by blocking US citizens on Twitter
Editorial: Protect the nation’s voting systems from hackers [links to Newsday]
Editorial: Turning down the temperature on town halls [links to Christian Science Monitor]
Are Americans moved by Trump’s media-as-enemy war cry? The opposite may be true. - Margaret Sullivan, WaPo [links to Benton summary]
NET NEUTRALITY
Online ‘Day of Action’ for Network Neutrality Will Feature Free Speech Arguments
Trump's 'war on the open internet': tech firms join activists in day of protest [links to Guardian, The]
Should the internet be a free market? [links to Marketplace]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Thune: On this day of action, the internet needs a law, not a regulation [links to Vox]
Op-ed: Do we want the internet of the future to look like the cable TV of today? [links to Vox]
Why We’re Joining the ‘Day of Action’ in Support of an Open Internet - AT&T
10 Things AT&T Could Do to Actually Support Net Neutrality - Free Press editorial
Public Knowledge Partners with Major Websites and Public Interest Groups to Save the Internet [links to Public Knowledge]
For Every 1 Net Neutrality Comment, Internet & Cable Providers Spent $100 on Lobbying Over Decade - MapLight analysis
ISPs Seek More Time to Challenge Title II in Supreme Court
Why Marsha Blackburn is wrong on net neutrality - The Tennessean op-ed
Meet the Woman Leading the Fight to Save Net Neutrality [links to Benton summary]
The Who's Who of Net Neutrality's 'Day of Action' [links to Benton summary]
Net Neutrality and Broadband Investment for All - USTelecom op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Net neutrality legislation needed in South Dakota - Argus Leader op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Silicon Valley’s shortsighted politics [links to American Enterprise Institute]
Battle for the Net to Wage War Across Your Browser [links to nextgov]
Internet Innovation Alliance Joins AT&T in Non-Title II ‘Net Action Day Advocacy [links to Multichannel News]
Get ready to hear a lot about net neutrality if you use Amazon, Google, Netflix and hundreds of other websites [links to Los Angeles Times]
Why Aren’t Google Amazon & Facebook’s Winner-Take-All Networks Neutral? [links to Scott Cleland]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
Microsoft Rural Airband Project Will Partner with Service Providers for Rural Broadband
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
A Mid-Band Spectrum Win in the Making - FCC Commissioner O'Rielly blog [links to Benton summary]
NAB Lists Reasons Microsoft Vacant Channel Push is Off Base [links to Multichannel News]
BROADCASTING
Trump FCC deregulation threatens local broadcasting - Tom Wheeler
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Why your emergency call might not be answered
Virginia is First State to Opt in to AT&T FirstNet Plan [links to Benton summary]
Wyoming to Approve Buildout Plan for First Responder Network [links to First Responder Network Authority AUTHOR:]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Digital Privacy to Come Under Supreme Court’s Scrutiny
Op-ed: America Isn’t Ready for a ‘Cyber 9/11’ [links to Wall Street Journal]
JOURNALISM
Legacy media diverge from digital natives in fight against Facebook, Google - analysis [links to Benton summary]
Fake news might be harder to spot than most people believe - WaPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
HEALTH
Using data and technology to improve healthcare ecosystems [links to McKinsey]
CONTENT
Online Harassment 2017 - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
Netflix is in half of all US broadband households, study says [links to Fierce]
Babette Boliek: When you don’t have the FCC picking winners and losers, you have to compete [links to American Enterprise Institute]
DIVERSITY
The Wall Street Journal Admits It Has A Gender Problem, Pledges To Fix It [links to Huffington Post]
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
FCC Chairman Pai Orders Immediate Action on Lifeline Waste, Fraud and Abuse
POLICYMAKERS & LOBBYING
President Trump Has Secretive Teams to Roll Back Regulations, Led by Hires With Deep Industry Ties
Paying Professors: Inside Google’s Academic Influence Campaign
Chairman Pai Announces Pelkey As Press Secretary - press release
Regulatory Capture of the FCC: Stacking the Deck with the New Proposed Republican Commissioner - HuffPo op-ed [links to Benton summary]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Singapore, the Country with the World’s Best Cybersecurity, Is Planning New Law to License Hackers [links to nextgov]
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
TRUMP JR AND RUSSIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jo Becker, Adam Goldman, Matt Apuzzo]
The June 3, 2016, e-mail sent to Donald Trump Jr. could hardly have been more explicit: One of his father’s former Russian business partners had been contacted by a senior Russian government official and was offering to provide the Trump campaign with dirt on Hillary Clinton. The documents “would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” read the email, written by a trusted intermediary, who added, “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” If the future president’s eldest son was surprised or disturbed by the provenance of the promised material — or the notion that it was part of a continuing effort by the Russian government to aid his father’s campaign — he gave no indication. He replied within minutes: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.” Four days later, after a flurry of e-mails, the intermediary wrote back, proposing a meeting in New York on Thursday with a “Russian government attorney.” Donald Trump Jr. agreed, adding that he would most likely bring along “Paul Manafort (campaign boss)” and “my brother-in-law,” Jared Kushner, now one of the president’s closest White House advisers.
benton.org/headlines/russian-dirt-clinton-i-love-it-donald-trump-jr-said | New York Times
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PRESIDENT TRUMP DEFENDS TRUMP JR
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jordan Fabian]
President Donald Trump praised his son, Donald Trump Jr., who is under fire for meeting with a Russian lawyer who claimed to have compromising information about Trump's Democratic rival in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton. “My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency,” President Trump said in a brief statement, which White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders read to reporters during an off-camera briefing. President Trump had previously remained silent on the growing controversy surrounding the meeting at the height of the campaign. The revelation has shaken the White House, which for months has struggled to contain the fallout from a wide-ranging investigation into Russia’s election-meddling effort in 2016. Sanders acknowledged that, “the president is, I would say, frustrated with the process of the fact that this continues to be an issue.”
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-defends-trump-jr-i-applaud-his-transparency | Hill, The | Vox
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TRUST WITH MEDIA
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Grynbaum]
Asked by New York Times reporters about emails revealing that he had agreed to a meeting to hear damaging information about Hillary Clinton proffered by an intermediary for the Russian government, Donald Trump Jr revealed the emails to the public instead. The move was cheered by some of the president’s supporters. They called it a clever way to upend a narrative emerging in the news media that Donald Trump Jr. — whose public explanations of the meeting had evolved several times since The Times revealed it — had not been forthcoming. Still, political veterans from both parties said that while the pre-emptive publication might register as a short-term win, it could have long-term implications for the Trumps’ ability to shape coverage. Reporters seek comment ahead of an article’s publication to ensure a piece is fair; if the subject leaks the story to a competitor — or, in this case, leaks the information himself — it can be tough to re-establish trust. “You get one mulligan to do it this way, and he just took it,” said Ari Fleischer, a press secretary to President George W. Bush. “He will not get that consideration from the press corps again,” Mr. Fleischer said. “The next time something comes up, reporters are going to jam him in, 10 seconds before they hit the ‘send’ button, because they won’t trust him not to do the same thing again.”
benton.org/headlines/how-trump-jrs-transparency-erodes-trust-media | New York Times
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LAWSUIT ALLEGES TRUMP VIOLATED 1ST AMENDMENT BY BLOCKING US CITIZENS ON TWITTER
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: David Pierson]
With each tweet, President Trump says he’s redefining the American presidency, describing his use of social media as “modern day presidential” and necessary to fight what he deems fake news. Not everyone agrees on the substance of Trump’s social media message, but both his supporters and detractors have something in common: They want access to Trump’s frenetic Twitter feed. Which is why the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven Twitter users who say their 1st Amendment rights were violated after they were blocked from reading Trump’s personal account (@realDonaldTrump, not the official @POTUS account) after criticizing him or his policies. The suit, filed in US District Court in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, names President Trump, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and White House director of social media Dan Scavino as defendants. The Knight Institute sent a letter to the White House in June threatening legal action if it didn’t heed its call to unblock followers.
benton.org/headlines/lawsuit-alleges-president-trump-violated-1st-amendment-blocking-us-citizens-twitter | Los Angeles Times | The Hill
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NET NEUTRALITY
DAY OF ACTION
[SOURCE: Morning Consult, AUTHOR: Mariam Baksh]
Net neutrality supporters preparing for July 12’s online protests to defend the set of rules enacted two years ago by the Federal Communications Commission are using the freedom of speech to bolster their case. The Obama-era rules, codified in the 2015 Open Internet Order, aim to prevent internet service providers from blocking, slowing or otherwise unreasonably discriminating against content that end-users could access. On July 12, in response to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to undo the rules, a slew of prominent websites and companies intend to show their support for net neutrality. Similar protests against a crackdown on copyright violation in 2012 were able to help move the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act bills off the table through coordinated site “blackouts.” For the net neutrality fight, participants will use memes, push notifications, banner ads and other means to drive comments to the FCC’s website before a July 17 public comment deadline. “Wednesday’s day of action is only the beginning of a massive pushback against the effort to remove essential net neutrality protections,” said Chris Lewis, vice president at digital consumer rights group Public Knowledge by email Monday. “This is especially important when broadband providers are getting into a variety of other markets where they can prefer their services over competitors, from online payments and financing to security systems and competitive video offerings.”
benton.org/headlines/online-day-action-network-neutrality-will-feature-free-speech-arguments | Morning Consult
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WHY WERE JOINING THE 'DAY OF ACTION' IN SUPPORT OF AN OPEN INTERNET
[SOURCE: AT&T, AUTHOR: Bob Quinn]
July 12, AT&T will join the “Day of Action” for preserving and advancing an open internet. This may seem like an anomaly to many people who might question why AT&T is joining with those who have differing viewpoints on how to ensure an open and free internet. But that’s exactly the point – we all agree that an open internet is critical for ensuring freedom of expression and a free flow of ideas and commerce in the United States and around the world. We agree that no company should be allowed to block content or throttle the download speeds of content in a discriminatory manner. So, we are joining this effort because it’s consistent with AT&T’s proud history of championing our customers’ right to an open internet and access to the internet content, applications and devices of their choosing.
benton.org/headlines/why-were-joining-day-action-support-open-internet | AT&T
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10 THINGS ATT COULD DO TO ACTUALLY SUPPORT NN
[SOURCE: Free Press, AUTHOR: Craig Aaron, Candace Clement]
[Commentary] We’re still picking ourselves off the floor from all the laughing we did when AT&T issued a press release announcing that it was joining the “Day of Action for preserving and advancing the open internet.” Here are some things AT&T could actually do to defend Net Neutrality and the open internet:
1) Quit trying to co-opt the terms “Net Neutrality” and “open internet.”
2) Actually support real Net Neutrality.
3) Get your CEO on the record in support of Title II.
4) Quit suing the FCC over the 2015 Open Internet Order.
5) Stop sending all your lobbyists to lobby against Net Neutrality.
6) In fact, leave Congress out of it altogether.
7) Stop lying.
8) Specifically stop lying about investment.
9) Abandon your merger with Time Warner.
10) If you won’t do that, can you at least pledge to extend John Oliver’s contract when you own HBO? That’s our guy.
benton.org/headlines/10-things-att-could-do-actually-support-net-neutrality | Free Press
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FOR 1 NN COMMENT, ISPS SPENT $100 LOBBYING OVER DECADE
[SOURCE: MapLight, AUTHOR: Frank Bass]
Three of the largest internet service providers and the cable television industry’s primary trade association have spent more than a half-billion dollars lobbying the federal government during the past decade on issues that include network neutrality, according to a MapLight analysis. Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) have spent $572 million on attempts to influence the Federal Communications Commission and other government agencies since 2008. The amount represents more than $100 for each of the 5.6 million public comments on the FCC’s proposed elimination of net neutrality rules. Despite the resources devoted to the rollback by the big internet service providers, net neutrality advocates haven’t been totally bereft of support in the nation’s capital. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has spent $41.1 million lobbying in the nation’s capital. Facebook, which boasts 2 billion unique monthly users, has spent almost $43.3 million.
benton.org/headlines/every-1-net-neutrality-comment-internet-cable-providers-spent-100-lobbying-over-decade | MapLight
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ISPS SEEK MORE TIME TO CHALLENGE TITLE II IN SUPREME COURT
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Internet service providers have asked the Supreme Court for a 60-day extension of the deadline for filing their appeals to the Supreme Court of a DC federal appeals court decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission's Title II-based Open Internet order. They want an extension from July 30 to Sept. 28 in case the new FCC proposal to roll back Title II moots that appeal. Seeking the extension are NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, CTIA–The Wireless Association, USTelecom, the American Cable Association, AT&T, CenturyLink , Alamo Broadband, TechFreedom and various individuals including VoIP pioneer Daniel Berninger. The FCC has sought comment on the proposal by the Republican FCC majority under chairman Ajit Pai to reclassify internet access—wired and wireless, fixed and mobile, customer facing and interconnections—as an information service not subject to Title II and to review whether rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization are necessary. Those comments are due July 17 (initial comments) and Aug. 16 (replies).
benton.org/headlines/isps-seek-more-time-challenge-title-ii-supreme-court | Broadcasting&Cable
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WHY BLACKBURN IS WRONG ON NN
[SOURCE: The Tennessean, AUTHOR: E Michael Harrington]
[Commentary] House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has tried to argue that ending network neutrality is good for Nashville’s musicians, but she’s flat wrong. She says that musicians would have the opportunity to negotiate “paid prioritization deals,” but this is just payola with a new name and the same ugly consequences for music. Working musicians want to spend their time making and distributing music to their fans, not cutting special deals with big media conglomerates; allowing paid prioritization and other forms of discrimination is only good for big media companies that can afford to cut big checks. That’s why organizations like the Future of Music Coalition oppose what the Federal Communications Commission is trying to do. It’s critical that musicians stand up for net neutrality and oppose the FCC’s plan.
[E. Michael Harrington is a composer, musician, consultant, Music Business Program Faculty Chair at SAE Institute Nashville, course author and faculty at Berklee College of Music]
benton.org/headlines/why-marsha-blackburn-wrong-net-neutrality | Tennessean, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
MICROSOFT RURAL AIRBAND PROJECT WILL PARTNER WITH SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR RURAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Bernie Arnason]
Microsoft introduced an initiative, the Microsoft Rural Airband project. Microsoft will invest an unspecified amount of money with existing rural broadband carriers to bring broadband to 2 million people in rural America by 2022. Microsoft will help fund projects that use TV white spaces spectrum for wireless broadband. It’s a technology they believe in and have deployed in 20 projects across the globe, serving about 185K subscribers. TV white spaces spectrum is in the 600 MHz band and offers good propagation and distance characteristics. Microsoft is also calling on federal, state, and local governments to play a role. They are advocating appropriate spectrum use policies with the FCC to ensure nationwide unlicensed use of three channels below the 700 MHz band. They are calling on matching funds from any federal and state infrastructure spending to include TV white spaces technology options.
benton.org/headlines/microsoft-rural-airband-project-will-partner-service-providers-rural-broadband | telecompetitor | Microsoft | Washington Post
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BROADCASTING
TRUMP FCC DEREGULATION THREATENS LOCAL BROADCASTING
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] "There is no other industry in the world like broadcasting,” the CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Gordon Smith told his annual convention. “No other industry has, at its core, such an overarching focus on bringing communities together and serving the public good,” Smith opined. “No other media industry is as dedicated to supporting our local communities.” That “overarching focus” on “serving the public good” is being stealthily watered down, with the industry’s support, by the Trump Federal Communications Commission. In little-noticed decisions, the agency has been removing regulatory requirements to protect broadcast localism, shield a diversity of local voices, and avoid the establishment of a dominant national broadcaster.
Exhibit One: imagine broadcast localism without a local broadcast studio. The Trump FCC, voting along party lines, is now preparing to eliminate this “fundamental” part of a licensee’s local community obligation.
Exhibit Two: skirting Congress’ mandate that no single broadcaster have more than 39 percent of the national audience.
Exhibit Three: using contracts to get around local ownership rules.
In short, the Trump FCC has set the stage for a dramatic overhaul of the national landscape. It took no time for one company to seize the opportunity. Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of more TV stations than anyone else and a Trump election ally, quickly embraced the new reality. It now appears that broadcast localism, a diversity of local voices, and the congressional mandate against one company dominating local broadcasting are about to become casualties of the Trump FCC.
[Tom Wheeler is the former Chairman to the Federal Communications Commission]
benton.org/headlines/trump-fcc-deregulation-threatens-local-broadcasting | Brookings
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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
WHY YOUR EMERGENCY CALL MIGHT NOT BE ANSWERED
[SOURCE: Scripps News, AUTHOR: Mark Greenblatt]
Experts and government officials say 911 systems across the country are dangerously outdated and putting lives at risk, while 911 fees consumers pay on monthly phone bills to maintain and upgrade the systems are often diverted by states for other uses. In fact, Scripps found that two dozen states were named “diverters” by the Federal Communications Commission at least once from 2008-2015, and some were repeat offenders. Experts warn that the nation’s antiquated patchwork of 911 systems is an easy target for hackers who want to wreak havoc and criminals who want to hijack 911 and demand a ransom.
benton.org/headlines/why-your-emergency-call-might-not-be-answered | Scripps News
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SECURITY/PRIVACY
DIGITAL PRIVACY TO COME UNDER SUPREME COURTS SCRUTINY
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Peter Henning]
The House of Representatives adopted the Email Privacy Act in February to modernize the protections afforded electronic communications that would require obtaining a search warrant in almost every case. That proposal met resistance in the Senate in 2016 when Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then a senator from Alabama, sought to add a provision allowing law enforcement to skip the warrant requirement in emergency situations. Whether the legislation can get through the current Senate is an open question, and it is not clear whether President Donald Trump would sign off if the Justice Department opposes the bill. That may mean the Supreme Court will have to establish the broad parameters of digital privacy while Congress tries to deal with the intricacies of a world of electronic communication that continues to evolve rapidly. Devices connected to the internet, from cellphones to watches to personal training trackers that facilitate our personal habits and communications, are a fact of daily life, and the Supreme Court will have to start drawing clear lines around what types of electronic information are — and are not — protected by the Fourth Amendment. Simply asserting that there is a right to privacy does not provide much help in determining how far that protection should extend in a digital world.
benton.org/headlines/digital-privacy-come-under-supreme-courts-scrutiny | New York Times
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
LIFELINE ACTION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
In a letter to Universal Service Administration Company CEO Vickie Robinson, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai responded to a recent Government Accountability Office report on potential waste, fraud and abuse in the FCC’s Lifeline program and additional internal FCC investigations. “In light of these investigations and their findings, I believe immediate action is warranted.” He called on USAC to implement safeguards in six areas to ensure Universal Service Fund monies are not used by “unscrupulous eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs)”:
Audit the ten ETCs with the highest number of potential ineligible Lifeline subscribers
Review a sampling of Lifeline subscribers each month to determine if they are eligible
Require ETCs to verify Lifeline subscribers’ eligibility and de-enroll any subscribers who are not eligible
Refer ETC abuses to the FCC’s Office of Inspector General for possible civil or criminal action
For addresses with 500 or more Lifeline subscribers, require ETCs to de-enroll subscribers who cannot verify their address and confirm they are “independent economic households” from other Lifeline subscribers -- and, on a quarterly basis, review in a similar way a sampling of addresses with 25 or more subscribers
Recapture improper payments associated with de-enrolled Lifeline subscribers
Explore automating the process of detecting oversubscribed addresses
Step up efforts to identify “phantom,” deceased and duplicate subscribers, de-enroll them, and prosecute ETCs who collect USF funds for serving these fictitious customers
Require Lifeline sales agents to register with USAC, block new subscribers enrolled by sales agents who are registering too many customers, and stepping up prosecution of fraudulent sales agents.
Chairman Pai asked USAC to report to him on implementation of these safeguards by August 8, 2017.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-orders-immediate-action-lifeline-waste-fraud-and-abuse | Federal Communications Commission
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POLICYMAKERS & LOBBYING
SECRETIVE REAMS TO ROLL BACK REGULATIONS
[SOURCE: ProPublica, AUTHOR: Robert Faturechi, Danielle Ivory]
President Donald Trump entered office pledging to cut red tape, and within weeks, he ordered his administration to assemble teams to aggressively scale back government regulations. But the effort — a signature theme in Trump’s populist campaign for the White House — is being conducted in large part out of public view and often by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts. Most government agencies have declined to disclose information about their deregulation teams. But ProPublica and The New York Times identified 71 appointees, including 28 with potential conflicts, through interviews, public records and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Some appointees are reviewing rules their previous employers sought to weaken or kill, and at least two may be positioned to profit if certain regulations are undone. The appointees include lawyers who have represented businesses in cases against government regulators, staff members of political dark money groups, employees of industry-funded organizations opposed to environmental rules and at least three people who were registered to lobby the agencies they now work for.
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-has-secretive-teams-roll-back-regulations-led-hires-deep-industry-ties | ProPublica | more
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INSIDE GOOGLES ACADEMIC INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Brody Mullins, Jack Nicas]
Google operates a little-known program to harness the brain power of university researchers to help sway opinion and public policy, cultivating financial relationships with professors at campuses from Harvard University to the University of California, Berkeley. Over the past decade, Google has helped finance hundreds of research papers to defend against regulatory challenges of its market dominance, paying stipends of $5,000 to $400,000, The Wall Street Journal found.
Some researchers share their papers before publication and let Google give suggestions, according to thousands of pages of e-mails obtained by the Journal in public-records requests of more than a dozen university professors. The professors don’t always reveal Google’s backing in their research, and few disclosed the financial ties in subsequent articles on the same or similar topics. The funding of favorable campus research to support Google’s Washington, D.C.-based lobbying operation is part of a behind-the-scenes push in Silicon Valley to influence decision makers. The operation is an example of how lobbying has escaped the confines of Washington’s regulated environment and is increasingly difficult to spot.
benton.org/headlines/paying-professors-inside-googles-academic-influence-campaign | Wall Street Journal
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PAI ANNOUNCES PELKEY AS PRESS SEC
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he has appointed Tina Pelkey as Press Secretary for the Chairman. Pelkey will report to the director of the FCC’s Office of Media Relations. Pelkey most recently served as senior vice president at Black Rock Group, focusing on strategic communications and public affairs. She previously worked in Brussels, Belgium, for Weber Shandwick, a global public relations firm. Prior to that, she worked at DCI Group and served as national press secretary for Senator John Cornyn of Texas. Pelkey is a native of Lenexa (KS) and a graduate of the University of Kansas with degrees in journalism and political science.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-pai-announces-pelkey-press-secretary | Federal Communications Commission
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