In the digital age, we need universal, affordable broadband

[Commentary] America needs universal, affordable broadband access. Everyone, no matter their age, race, income or neighborhood, should be able to go online to get whatever they want -- video, audio, photos and text -- from anywhere in the world as fast as anyone else can. In the digital age, countries without high-speed broadband will become second-class nations filled with second-class citizens, able to vote but not knowing why they should; able to work but not knowing how to find a job online. This isn't the first time we've faced a need to connect the nation. In the 19th century, we linked East and West with the transcontinental railroad. In the 20th, we linked driver to destination with the United States Interstate Highway System. Today, we need to link people and ideas. Nearly two dozen other nations now rank ahead of the United States in high-speed broadband. That just won't do.

[Newton is vice president of the journalism program at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.]