Press Release

Benton Foundation Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss announced that former Federal Communications Commissioner and Acting Chair Mignon L. Clyburn has joined the foundation’s Board of Directors effective January 1, 2019. 

Nominated by President Barack Obama, Clyburn served as an FCC Commissioner from August 2009 until June 2018, and as Acting FCC Chair from May 20, 2013 through November 4, 2013. While at the FCC, Clyburn was a champion of diversity in media ownership, an advocate for the reform of Inmate Calling Services, and a staunch defender of a free and open internet.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the Jan Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, 2019. Should the current lapse in funding end before Jan 9, additional items may be added to the tentative agenda:

As the 115th Congress comes to an end, so too has the gambit to invalidate the Federal Communications Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order through the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released the following statement regarding the failure of the effort to use the CRA to overturn the Restoring Internet Freedom Order: “I’m pleased that a strong bipartisan majority of the US House of Representatives declined to reinstate heavy-handed Internet regulation.

To help take the next leap towards a more efficient, accountable, and transparent Federal Communications Commission, I have scoured previous proposals, spoken to interested parties, and considered my own personal experiences, and have prepared a list of ideas designed to improve the Commission's processes for our licensees, practitioners, Commissioners, and, most importantly, American consumers. It's now time to publicly release these medium, small, and tiny, mostly non-mutually exclusive ideas, and have each produce feedback on its merits or pitfalls.

The Federal Communications Commission has before it applications in the attached appendices that: (1) seek consent to the assignment of certain television broadcast licenses held by subsidiaries of Raycom Media, Inc. (Raycom) to a subsidiary of Gray Television, Inc.

Many small communities across the country struggle to bring advanced broadband to their residents. What they lack in size, they often make up with diversity of their economies, populations, geography, and technology providers. Public-private partnerships (PPP) can help local government and businesses pool their resources and technical expertise to deliver cutting-edge services to citizens.

I thank my Democratic colleagues for their support in electing me Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. There is no better committee in Congress, and I am so fortunate to have the support of my colleagues in leading this committee in the 116th Congress. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to build a stronger economy, create more good-paying jobs and protect consumers from skyrocketing costs.

A coalition of 22 consumer and public health advocacy groups led by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and sanction Google for the deceptive marketing of apps for young children.

Gov Ralph Northam (D-VA) announced his proposed budget will feature major investments in Virginia in support of broadband infrastructure, the first installment of a historic commitment to expanding access to all unserved Virginians. The governor’s proposal would increase funding for the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI), a program that incentivizes internet service providers to expand their service to Virginians that are unserved, to $50 million in Fiscal Year 2020. The funding would be a significant increase to the $4 million already appropriated on an annual basis.

The US Senate unanimously passed the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act. The bipartisan legislation will ensure more people receive relevant emergency alerts on their mobile phones, televisions, and radios, explore new ways of alerting the public through online video and audio streaming services, track and study false alerts when they occur, and improve the way states plan for emergency alerts. “When a missile alert went out across Hawai‘i in January, some people never got the message on their phones, while others missed it on their TVs and radios.