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
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/fcc-official-logo-tn_651.jpg?itok=LnT45-vs)
Recommendations and Best Practices to Prevent Digital Discrimination and Promote Digital Equity
The findings from the three Communications Equity and Diversity Council working groups offer guidance to states and localities seeking to prohibit “digital discrimination” in broadband deployment, adoption, and use, as well as in the contracting and grants processes for funds related to forthcoming broadband infrastructure.
Biden Administration To Give More Than $2.9 Million in Internet for All Grant to Long Beach City College
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded Long Beach City College, a Hispanic Serving Institution in California, $2,999,978 as part of the Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program. Long Beach City College (LBCC)'s Student Technology and Resources (STAR) program will address equity gaps created by historically marginalized students' lack of access to internet broadband and technology.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/NTIA%20logo_13.png?itok=0TFmvxfu)
NTIA's Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives Identifies Barriers, Helps Close the Digital Divide
This report, mandated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, details the work of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives (OMBI) in expanding access and identifying barriers to high-speed internet service for students, faculty, and staff at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBU), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) and within anchor communities. Examples of OMBI’s key 2021-2022 accomplishments highlighted in the report include:
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/NTIA%20logo_9.png?itok=nWvMjSxk)
Biden-Harris Administration Award $10.6 Million in Internet for All Grants to Five Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC).
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/color%20of%20change%20logo.png?itok=oUFCFQAf)
Color Of Change Launches Black Tech Agenda as a Roadmap for Racial Equity in Tech Policy
Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, launched the “Black Tech Agenda." The agenda sets an affirmative vision for how to create tech policy that centers on racial justice and ensures bias and discrimination are rooted out of the digital lives of Black people and everyone. The agenda has 6 pillars that outline real policy solutions for Congress to advance racial equity in Tech:
Valuing Rural Minority Communities: Inclusive Growth, Broadband, and Leadership
Which rural minority communities are growing? What are the strategies behind these growth-oriented communities? Answers to these questions are central to this report; we illuminate inspiring leadership regimes and strategic policy models that are drawing in people and jobs to rural minority communities. We capitalize on a wealth of publicly available administrative data to outline these economies and deconstruct trends in employment, business creation, broadband adoption, and the labor force.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_2_192.png?itok=HLD4UuxL)
Getting a BEAD on Community Asset Mapping
Digital equity is a key promise of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. If successful, the new law will lead to everyone and every community around the country having the connections and skills they need to fully participate in our increasingly digital economy and society. It seems like a tall order.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/NTIA_27.jpg?itok=66JdqAwm)
NTIA Awards Over $146 Million to Expand Broadband Access on Tribal Land in New Mexico
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced over $146 million in funds awarded from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 to Tribal entities in New Mexico. The awards will provide 5 Tribal entities with funds for high-speed internet projects through the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. On August 8, NTIA announced over $51 million in awards to Tribes in the state of Alaska, these awards are another tranche of this vital funding.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/NTIA_26.jpg?itok=v1CYcEhM)
NTIA Announces over $50 Million in Grants to Two Alaska Native Entities
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it has awarded two grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.
Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Adds $1 Billion in Funding from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Alan Davidson announced that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has added $1 billion from President Biden’s Infrastructure investment and Jobs Act to the current Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program funding period, which closes September 1, 2022. NTIA already received more than 300 applications during the application window for over $5 billion in funding requests.