Labor

The Women Media Center’s annual examination found that, at 20 of the nation’s top news outlets, men produced 62.3 percent of news reports analyzed during a studied period while women produced 37.7 percent of news reports. That WMC “Divided 2017” analysis showed hardly any progress since the WMC’s previous “Divided” report, when women produced 37.3 percent of news.

US negotiators will push for a series of protectionist measures at negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement the week of Feb 26. The Rust Belt needs a better connection to the rest of the world. To make it in the digital economy, the first step is to plug in. Nearly 40 percent of residents in the rural US remain without access to broadband.

It is great to be joined by the innovators, educators, and advocates on the roundtable—all of whom are focused on developing a strong tech workforce here in Mississippi. I welcome the chance to participate in today’s event and learn from their perspectives.  When I think about broadband, I think about the jobs and opportunities it creates for millions of Americans around the country. It’s one of the reasons I’m focused in my role at the FCC on policies that will promote broadband deployment.

A coalition of top public broadcast organizations formally withdrew a recommendation that the Federal Communications Commission ease equal employment opportunity requirements for public stations. America’s Public Television Stations, National Public Radio, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service recommended the review in a joint response to the commission’s request for comments on its agenda to modernize media regulations. After supporters of the EEO rules objected last week, the organizations formally withdrew it.

The U.S. technology industry has grown into one of America's most powerful and prestigious business sectors, now including 4 of the 5 most valuable companies in the world. But as the United States becomes a more diverse country overall, tech has increasingly come under fire for its striking lack of diversity. Even the most sincere efforts to fix the problem face one big obstacle, however: There are frustratingly few corporate policies that have been shown to work, over the long term, to improve diversity.

More than 50 protesters demonstrated outside the annual Oscar nominees luncheon at the Beverly Hilton to protest the under-representation of Latinos in the film industry.

In this bulletin, I aim to quantify the relationship between higher broadband speeds (10 Mbps versus 25 Mbps) and the growth rates in important economic outcomes in U.S. counties including jobs, personal income, and labor earnings. Doing so exposes the potential for severe selection bias in studies of broadband’s economic impact, which is addressed in this study using Coarsened Exact Matching. Once balanced, the data reveal no economic payoff from the 15 Mbps speed difference between the years 2013 and 2015.

Communications Workers of America members at AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have created a national network of union and non-union workers organizing to "protect good jobs and quality customer service." According to CWA, hundreds are meeting in Orlando (FL) Jan 30 to strategize about changing the industry "from within." That coincided with a planned demonstration in front of AT&T and Verizon stores there by wireless workers in support of AT&T Wireless employees in the Southeast currently trying to negotiate a new contract.