The Federal Communications Commission has considered four aspects of diversity: 1) Viewpoint diversity ensures that the public has access to a wide range of diverse and antagonistic opinions and interpretations provided by opportunities for varied groups, entities and individuals to participate in the different phases of the broadcast industry; 2) Outlet diversity is the control of media outlets by a variety of independent owners; 3) Source diversity ensures that the public has access to information and programming from multiple content providers; and 4) Program diversity refers to a variety of programming formats and content.
Diversity
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James Damore sues Google, alleging discrimination against whites and men
The engineer who was fired by Google after he criticized its diversity policies is suing the internet giant, alleging that he and others at Google were harassed over their conservative political views.
The summit highlights how the intersection of media, telecom, and tech policy impacts us all, from the digital elite to our most vulnerable communities. Thought leaders from government, industry, and advocacy groups address the top issues:
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Most adults live in wireless-only households — and where that varies is important
Generally speaking, pollsters are ill advised to ignore cellphone users, if only because they’d be missing half of the country. But there’s another reason that pollsters need to include cell users: The demographics of those with and without access to landlines is stark. Nearly two-thirds of Hispanic adults in the United States live in households that are wireless-only. More than half of black adults and Asian adults do, as well.
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Facebook Job Ads Raise Concerns About Age Discrimination
The ability of advertisers to deliver their message to the precise audience most likely to respond is the cornerstone of Facebook’s business model. But using the system to expose job opportunities only to certain age groups has raised concerns about fairness to older workers. Several experts questioned whether the practice is in keeping with the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which prohibits bias against people 40 or older in hiring or employment.
How Net Neutrality Repeal Could Silence Women And People Of Color
With network neutrality repeal, internet service providers (ISPs) are free to block or throttle any content they don’t like. That could include video, text and images distributed by people whose voices are underrepresented in mainstream society, including women and people of color.
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NHMC Will Challenge the FCC’s Repeal of Net Neutrality Rules That Protect Latinos’ Rights to Speak and Be Heard Online
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is prepared to seek judicial review of the Federal Communications Commission’s Network Neutrality repeal to ensure that Latinos and other marginalized communities continue to have access to an open Internet.
There’s a Gender Gap in Internet Usage. Closing It Would Open Up Opportunities for Everyone
[Commentary] We have all heard about a gap when it comes to participation of women in the tech industry. But the gender gap problem doesn’t stop there. There’s also a shortage of women using some of the industry’s products.
News media offers consistently warped portrayals of black families, study finds
If all you knew about black families was what national news outlets reported, you are likely to think African Americans are overwhelmingly poor, reliant on welfare, absentee fathers and criminals, despite what government data show, a new study says. Major media outlets routinely present a distorted picture of black families — portraying them as dependent and dysfunctional — while white families are more likely to be depicted as sources of social stability, according to the report released Dec 13 by the racial justice organization Color of Change.
A Failure of the Network News Star System
The arrival of hard consequences for these men may have come too late in the news industry, but media organizations are unquestionably leading the national reckoning now underway. For the news business, this is the way it has to be: Its main product, after all, is integrity, which, in the case of the networks, is personified by those who sit behind the desk. Once the audience’s trust is lost, the entire enterprise falls apart.
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Federal Agencies Could Improve Oversight of Equal Employment Opportunity Requirements
This report examines (1) trends in the gender, racial, and ethnic composition of the technology sector workforce; and (2) oversight of technology companies' compliance with equal employment and affirmative action requirements. The estimated percentage of minority technology workers increased from 2005 to 2015, but GAO found that no growth occurred for female and Black workers, whereas Asian and Hispanic workers made statistically significant increases (see figure).