Public Knowledge
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We Need to Fix the News Media, Not Just Social Media—Part 3
This blog post addresses how the business side of journalism needs to evolve to maintain sustainable news production necessary for a healthy democracy. I discuss the basic business models for supporting journalism that have endured throughout the last few centuries of technological change, how these may be successfully adapted to the 21st Century, and what policies would facilitate the transition to these new models.
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We Need to Fix the News Media, Not Just Social Media—Part 2
Trained reporters play a critical role in identifying news events through following social media. When reporters have both professional training and experience with the organizers and actors on social media they can not only anticipate important news events, but they can also contextualize them for followers and authenticate the raw footage and real-time reporting. Even when considering the crisis of trust and generalized suspicion, it is important to distinguish the nuances.
Public Knowledge Applauds NPRM to Allow Unlicensed Use of 6 GHz Spectrum (Public Knowledge)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Tue, 10/23/2018 - 11:43![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/valentin.jpg?itok=839qIOuW)
Why Rural Communities of Color Are Left Behind: A Call for Intersectional Demographic Broadband Data
Research already shows that existing disparities related to broadband access are not race-neutral. Logically, that means that the analysis of these disparities should also not be race-neutral. Demographic data on broadband deployment is a win-win and will help industry, policy makers, public interest groups, and civil rights organizations create policy solutions that address the digital divide among varied racial groups in rural communities.
Hurricane Michael Aftermath ‘Wake Up Call’ On Deregulating Telecommunications Services
Gov Rick Scott (R-FL) and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai have not taken responsibility for how their radical deregulation of telephone service has contributed to the slow pace of repairs for FL's communications services. In 2011, Gov Scott signed the “Regulatory Reform Act of 2011,” which eliminated virtually all oversight of FL’s residential telephone service.
Google Plus Demonstrates We Can’t Trust Companies to Do the Right Thing (Public Knowledge)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Mon, 10/15/2018 - 14:35![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/public_knowledge_1.png?itok=xTkKn63G)
Advocates Ask FCC Chairman Not To Take Away 5G Spectrum From Rural America
Public Knowledge joined 20 rural advocacy organizations, rural healthcare providers, rural network operators, and public interest advocates (including the Benton Foundation) in a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to preserve the existing Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) rules that enable small providers to offer service in rural areas.
Public Knowledge Applauds Eshoo for Truth-in-Billing Legislation to Empower Consumers (Public Knowledge)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Fri, 09/28/2018 - 15:46Public Knowledge Urges Court Not To Hang Up On Consumers in FCC Lawsuit
Public Knowledge, joined by Greenlining Institute, The Utility Reform Network (TURN), and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA), filed a petitioners’ brief in the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit requesting the Court vacate the Federal Communications Commission’s 2017 Technology Transitions Order, which rolled back consumer protections established in the agency’s 2015 Order.