Press Release

[Commentary] President Donald Trump is again attacking the media Aug 7, and his broadsides carry a newly ominous edge: He is both faulting the media for allegedly downplaying the size and intensity of support from his base and accusing them of trying to deliberately weaken that support for him. "The Trump base is far bigger & stronger than ever before (despite some phony Fake News polling). Look at rallies in Penn, Iowa, Ohio......" "Hard to believe that with 24/7 #Fake News on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NYTIMES & WAPO, the Trump base is getting stronger!" the President tweeted.

Because President Trump is undermining our democratic norms and processes in so many ways, it is often easy to focus on each of them in isolation, rather than as part of the same larger story. But, taken together, they point to a possible climax in which Trump, cornered by revelations unearthed by Robert S. Mueller III’s probe and by ongoing media scrutiny, seeks to rally his supporters behind the idea that this outcome represents not the imposition of accountability by functioning civic institutions, but rather an effort to steal the election from him — and from them.

Recently, Civis Analytics released a competition poll that shows broad, bipartisan opposition to the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner. The poll found that “[t]he proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner is opposed by 64 percent of Americans, including 65 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Republicans, and 63 percent of Independents.” The poll further revealed that “[a] large majority (83 percent) of Americans also believe that ‘mergers among media companies or internet service providers will raise costs for consumers.’”

The following can be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Counsel at Public Knowledge: “We believe that a consolidated media landscape threatens to reduce the diversity of viewpoints Americans have access to, and consolidation tends to drive up prices for consumers. The public appears to agree. As the government continues to review the proposed AT&T merger with Time Warner, and Sinclair’s proposed purchase of Tribune, it is critical that the antitrust principles and communications policies explicitly designed to prevent price gouging and designed to promote diversity of viewpoints are strictly enforced.”

Eleven House Commerce Committee Democratic Reps submitted public comments on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to roll back network neutrality regulations stating that the proposal fundamentally and profoundly run counter to the law. The lawmakers wrote that the FCC’s proposal misstates the distinction Congress made in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 between telecommunications services and information services.

The Committee Democrats also wrote that the proposal ignores the most critical issues affecting our country today—priorities such as free speech and democracy, small businesses, jobs and economic development, and privacy. Instead, the Commission narrowly focused on a single ill-conceived measure of broadband investment to the exclusion of all others. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to undo the rules "impermissibly ignores the Commission’s core mandate to fully consider the public interest before taking action," violating the commission's obligations under the Communications Act, the Democrats wrote in an FCC filing opposing Pai's plan. The lawmakers also questioned Pai's independence from President Donald Trump.

The FCC comment was submitted by House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Joe Kennedy III (D-MA).

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) wrote to Republican Committee leaders with a list of eight additional witnesses that they say should be added for the full committee hearing on the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality hearing. The two Democratic Committee leaders wrote that it is the responsibility of the Minority to balance the panel of witnesses at hearings before the committee. Reps Pallone and Doyle have selected the following individuals to be invited to testify:

Jonathan Jackson is a co-founder and the Head of Corporate Branding for Blavity.
Ruth Livier is an actress, writer, and doctoral student who is a pioneer in the fight for equal representation in media.
Jesse Vollmar is co-founder and CEO of FarmLogs,
Myrna Morales is an expert in library science in Boston.
Johari Farrar is a performer with the Truthworker Theater Company.
Brandi Collins is the Senior Campaign Director for Media and Economic Justice at Color of Change.
Steven Renderos is the Organizing Director at the Center for Media Justice.
Bryan Mercer is the Executive Director of Media Mobilizing Project.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released the following statement regarding unanimous U.S. Senate passage of Kari’s Law Act of 2017: “I am pleased that the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Kari’s Law. This legislation will help ensure that every call to 911 directly connects those in need with those who can help. I also commend Hank Hunt, Kari's father, for channeling his pain into a passion for change. Thanks to his efforts and those of many others, Americans will one day be able to call 911 and reach first responders without having to dial an access code. I hope that this critical public safety measure will soon become law.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the agency has chosen Jim Balaguer to serve as deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs.

Since 2010, Balaguer has served as an associate director and senior legislative analyst in the Office of Legislative Affairs, where he was the primary liaison to Congress on wireline issues, including universal service, broadband adoption, and the Internet Protocol transition. Prior to his most recent position, Balaguer served in several roles in the Office of Legislative Affairs as lead liaison on consumer protection issues, including telemarketing policy, caller ID spoofing, and disability access policy, as well as tribal telecom and international communications issues. He began his FCC career in the former Enforcement Division of the bureau that is now known as the Wireline Competition Bureau. Balaguer received an MA from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and a BA from Loyola University in Maryland.

On August 3, the Senate confirmed 63 presidential nominees by unanimous consent. Nine fall under the jurisdictional responsibility of the Senate Commerce Committee including Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to be members of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr’s term expires on June 30, 2018. Although FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has also been re-nominated for a new term, the Senate has not acted on that nomination.

On August 3, the passed the following technology and telecommunications bills:

1. S. 19, Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless Act (MOBILE NOW Act), Legislation to increase spectrum availability for next-generation gigabit wireless services and foster broadband deployment. Sponsors: Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Bill Nelson (D-FL)
2. S. 96, Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2017, Legislation to require the FCC to establish quality and reliability standards for rural phone networks. Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Thune (R-SD), Jon Tester (D-MT)
3. S. 123, Kari’s Law Act of 2017, Legislation initiated after the murder of Kari Hunt in a hotel in Marshall, Texas, when Hunt’s daughter tried to call 911 but was unsuccessful due to a required “9” prefix on the hotel phone. This legislation bans the requirement of a prefix when dialing 911 for assistance. Sponsors: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-SD), Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
4. S. 134, Spoofing Prevention Act of 2017, Legislation to stop the transmission of misleading or inaccurate caller ID information, including such calls and text messages originating overseas. Sponsors: Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO)
5. S. 174, Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2017, Legislation to require the FCC to condense duplicative reports on competition in the telecommunications market into one comprehensive report released every two years. Sponsors: Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
6. S. 88, Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (DIGIT Act), Legislation to bring together private sector and government entities to assess the needs of the Internet of Things (IoT) and study the readiness of government to support the IoT. Sponsors: Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)

[Commentary] Journalists are facing the challenge of covering one of the most unusual and unreliable governments in modern history: President Donald Trump disseminates lies, twisted facts, and changes in policy in real time through his Twitter account. His advisors send contradictory messages on sensitive national topics and change policies at the last minute, surprising even Cabinet members. Federal data vanishes from the “thin cloud” on matters such as climate change and the environment. Despite—or perhaps because of—all of this, investigative journalism is flourishing and growing as it did during the Watergate days. However, this time, journalists are much better equipped for finding the truth independently, thanks to data and technology. The challenge for journalists is to thoroughly and selectively grasp the power of technology while upholding the profession’s core journalistic mission. To that end, the Columbia Journalism School is launching a Master of Science in Data Journalism that we hope will advance data journalism education and contribute to building the next generation of newsroom leaders.

[Giannina Segnini is director of the Master of Science in Data Journalism program at the Columbia Journalism School.]

[Commentary] Sinclair provided pro-Trump coverage throughout the presidential campaign, and continues to employ surrogates like its chief political strategist Boris Epshteyn, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign whose pro-White House commentaries air regularly. Sinclair is reaping the rewards for its service to President Trump — and preparing to blanket the country with coverage promoting his agenda.

While Sinclair bills itself as a “local” news company, the organization actually is known for sending “must-run” segments out to affiliates, requiring them to air pieces that are far-right leaning and completely unrelated to local communities. And yet the silencing of local issues and dismantling of local news production isn’t even the worst of Sinclair’s authoritarian practices. Every night Sinclair affiliates are forced to run a segment called the “Terrorism Alert Desk.” One recent report focused on French legislation against burkinis, a type of modesty swimsuit worn by some Muslim women. What does swimwear have to do with terrorism? This isn’t news. It’s propaganda designed to incite fear and hatred — the same kind that Donald Trump and others like him regularly peddle to amass power and wealth while destroying Black, Brown, LGBTQ and Muslim lives. What can we do? Speak up now: Tell the FCC to keep current rules in place and keep Sinclair’s racist, Islamophobic trash off the local news.