Lauren Frayer

Sinclair warned its viewers about the media’s ‘fake news.’ Now it’s about to take over some of the nation’s biggest stations.

Two months before May 8's announcement that Sinclair Broadcast Group would pay $3.9 billion for Tribune Media and add to its dominance as the nation’s largest owner of local TV stations, a top executive at Sinclair beamed a short commentary piece to many of the company’s 173 stations. In the segment, which looks like it belongs in a newscast, Sinclair vice president for news Scott Livingston stands before a wall of video monitors and warns that “some members of the national media are using their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think.” He accuses the national media of publishing “fake news stories” — a direct echo of President Donald Trump’s frequent complaint — and then asks viewers to visit the station’s website to share “content concerns.” The piece was a “must-run,” meaning news directors and station managers from Baltimore (MD) to Seattle (WA) had to find room for it.

Local TV stations rank high in public trust, and that is partly because they avoid delving into divisive topics such as national politics, said Harry A. Jessell, editor of TVNewsCheck. Sinclair executives such as Livingtston see it differently, Jessell said. They believe they are pushing back against what they see as a liberal bias in most news programming. Livingston “sees himself like an old-fashioned newspaper publisher, one with a point of view,” Jessell said.

Speaker Ryan: Unmasking of Trump associates seems politicized

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) says he thinks the unmasking of associates of President Donald Trump by officials appears to have been politicized. Unmasking refers to restoring a US citizen’s name in intelligence surveillance reports. American citizens' names are redacted from such reports when incidentally collected during foreign surveillance. Speaker Ryan said unmasking information and then leaking it to the media is a crime. “That is a crime. And so that is taking classified information, unclassifying it, and leaking it out. That is something somebody in the Obama administration decided to do,” Speaker Ryan said.

FBI Director Comey misstated key Clinton e-mail evidence at hearing

Apparently, FBI Director James Comey overstated key findings involving the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation during testimony to Congress recently. In defending the probe, Director Comey offered seemingly new details to underscore the seriousness of the situation FBI agents faced last fall when they discovered thousands of Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s e-mails on the computer of her husband, Anthony Weiner. “Somehow, her e-mails were being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, including classified information,” Director Comey said, adding later, “His then-spouse Huma Abedin appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding e-mails to him for him I think to print out for her so she could then deliver them to the secretary of state.” At another point in the testimony, Comey said Abedin “forwarded hundreds and thousands of e-mails, some of which contain classified information.’’

Neither of those statements is accurate, apparently. The inquiry found that Abedin did occasionally forward e-mails to her husband for printing, but it was a far smaller number than Director Comey described, and it wasn’t a “regular practice.”

RTDNA Research: The business of TV news

This is the fourth of nine installments for 2017 in a series of reports developed from Radio Television Digital News Association's (RTDNA) annual survey of newsrooms across the United States. The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that 2016 marked an extraordinary year for the local TV news business. At 65.7%, newsroom profitability tied the highest level (with 2013) since 1996. Elections are still good news for local TV, and almost every category of station went up in profitability during 2016. Every market size rose except the smallest, which pretty much held its own. Staff sizes were all up except 11 to 20. ABC and CBS affiliates went up; NBC held steady; Fox affiliates dropped about 6 points.

FCC Announces Membership of Two Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee Working Groups: Model Code for Municipalities and Model Code for States

This Public Notice serves as notice that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has appointed members to serve on two Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) working groups, Model Code for Municipalities and Model Code for States.The members of these working groups are listed in Appendix A.

The selection of members for other BDAC working groups is in progress, and final selections for these groups will be announced at a later date. The BDAC is organized under, and operates in accordance with, the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The BDAC’s mission is to provide advice and recommendations to the Commission on how to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet access.

Comcast and Charter Communications Forge Wireless Alliance

As more consumers “cut the cord” on traditional cable television, businesses selling those services are responding by offering a wider range of products, hoping to retain customers. Comcast and Charter Communications amplified that trend, announcing that they would team up to offer cellular telephone and data services in the United States, entering a ferociously competitive market.

The two companies had already said they would offer wireless services, and they most likely hope to use their combined scale to negotiate agreements with suppliers and take advantage of a network of Wi-Fi hot spots that the companies have built for customers in their service areas. “Both of our companies have regional wireless businesses using the same 4G LTE network, and by working together, our goal is to create even better experiences for our customers,” said Brian Roberts, the Comcast chairman and chief executive. Comcast is expected to soon begin offering its new Xfinity Mobile wireless service for existing broadband customers. The company also bought $1.7 billion in wireless spectrum at a Federal Communications Commission auction in April, to help ramp up its service. Charter has said it plans to offer wireless service in 2018.

Why a Cable Deal is Bad for the Phone Industry

[Commentary] The first wireless deal after a government-imposed hiatus is bad news for the biggest carriers and could scramble the likely outcomes of other anticipated combinations.

Cable operators Comcast and Charter Communications said they would form a year-long partnership to expand their wireless offerings. The deal signals the two companies are serious about expanding into the industry. It also ensures that the two biggest cable companies will work together—and not bid against one another—when it comes to wireless deals. For Comcast and Charter, which are more peers than rivals because their coverage areas don’t overlap, teaming up makes sense. It will allow them to integrate their networks of Wi-Fi hot spots, which cover about 80% of the country, according to New Street Research. This should help them offer better service to subscribers and considerably lower the cost of running wireless networks on Verizon Communications’ airwaves. The partnership could also signal a desire for a deeper relationship between the two cable giants—even possibly a merger down the line. The success of the venture would make things much worse for the industry’s two giants, Verizon and AT&T , which are already losing subscribers to T-Mobile US and Sprint amid a bruising price war.

Showcasing the Inaugural Charles Benton Next Generation Engagement Award Winners

[Commentary] Local governments are leading the way to implement innovative, forward-looking civic technology programs that narrow the digital divide and make cities more livable. But for all the impressive initiatives out there, many brilliant ideas never get off the ground for lack of resources. So last year, with support from the Democracy Fund and Benton Foundation, Next Century Cities launched the Charles Benton Next Generation Engagement Award. The competitive civic innovation prize invited cities to propose out-of-the-box solutions to local challenges. Last August, after an extensive review process, our team of expert judges – including Benton Foundation Executive Director Adrianne Furniss – chose three finalists: Austin (TX), Raleigh (NC), and Louisville (KY). Each received a seed grant to launch their local civic technology or digital inclusion program. Next Century Cities staff worked with the cities to put the grant to work and get their programs up and running.
[Todd O’Boyle is Deputy Director of Next Century Cities]

Statement by FCC CIO on Denial-of-Service Attack on FCC Comment System

Beginning on May 7 at midnight, our analysis reveals that the Federal Communications Commission was subject to multiple distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDos). These were deliberate attempts by external actors to bombard the FCC’s comment system with a high amount of traffic to our commercial cloud host. These actors were not attempting to file comments themselves; rather they made it difficult for legitimate commenters to access and file with the FCC.

While the comment system remained up and running the entire time, these DDoS events tied up the servers and prevented them from responding to people attempting to submit comments. We have worked with our commercial partners to address this situation and will continue to monitor developments going forward.

The Truth About Net Neutrality and Infrastructure Investment

It’s essential to the future of network neutrality that we shed some light (and truth) on the baseless arguments being made regarding Title II and broadband investment.

Fact: Internet service providers have no plans to decrease investment in their infrastructure. ISPs have been reporting to investors that investment is up, up, up! Verizon’s CFO, Fancis Shammo, told investors that reclassification to Title II “does not influence the way we invest.” Similarly, Sprint stated that it would “continue to invest in data networks regardless of whether they are regulated by Title II, Section 706, or some other light touch regulatory regime.” In 2016, AT&T reassured their investors that they would “remain one of the largest investors in the United States.” As technologies change and reliance on the internet only continues to strengthen, ISPs know the value in continued investment.
Fact: Investment has actually increased since the adoption of the Open Internet Order.

The Antidote to Authoritarianism

[Commentary] The open internet has decentralized the media and allowed black activists in a modern movement against police and state violence to bypass discriminatory media gatekeepers and reveal the extent of the state’s abuse. When ordinary people capture shocking video footage of police officers fatally shooting black citizens, for example, it is more difficult for Americans to ignore the realities of racial injustice.

Technology has always been a double-edged sword for black people in America and beyond. On the one hand, it can pose a grave threat; on the other, great opportunity. Our survival, and our democracy, requires us to reject high-tech policing and usher in the strongest net neutrality rules available. The open internet can represent the future of digital democracy, or we can use technology to continue encoding inequality into our modern world.

[Malkia Cyril is the founder and executive director of the Center for Media Justice.]

Trump's FCC chief is right to roll back net neutrality rule

[Commentary] Title II regulations have come at the expense of consumer benefits. Until earlier in 2017, under the guise of network neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission was investigating wireless companies for providing service plans that allowed unlimited streaming using certain platforms. The practice is sometimes called “zero rating” and it allows consumers to get some data, such as music and videos, without it counting toward their data caps. Most consumers would call that a benefit. Chairman Ajit Pai ended the investigation, and predictably major carriers began announcing new unlimited data plans.

When the government stops meddling, freedom and competition abound and the consumer benefits. To top it all off, the disruption caused by Title II was completely unnecessary. The rules were premised not on actual harms or market failures, but on potential harms that might materialize. This mindset of preemption plays on fear. It is the opposite of permissionless innovation and highlights federal bureaucrats’ tendency to overreach. In this case, they believe regulations developed for 1930s monopolies are appropriate to rule the technology of the future. Those who truly care about an open internet and increasing broadband deployment, innovative technologies and services, competition and consumer choice, will be happy to see the end of Title II.

[Paige Agostin is a senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity.]

NTIA Celebrates Vital Role of Digital Inclusion Programs

The week of May 8, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is joining communities, organizations and broadband advocates in recognizing Digital Inclusion Week and the important work being done by digital inclusion programs across the country. NTIA's BroadbandUSA program offers guidance, assistance and resources to help build the capacity of digital inclusion programs. A few highlights:

In March, New Orleans launched the Digital Equity Challenge to seek solutions for increasing technology use in its underrepresented communities. BroadbandUSA supported the City of New Orleans Office of Information Technology and Innovation by sharing information about federal broadband data sources and connecting New Orleans to other cities that had developed similar initiatives.

The Virgin Islands Next Generation Network (link is external) (ViNGN) recently purchased a mobile computer lab to expand its training and outreach programs throughout the United States Virgin Islands. BroadbandUSA shared best practices from other rural broadband programs, including the use of mobile labs, with ViNGN.

In 2016, BroadbandUSA collaborated with the National Resource Network, the International City/County Management Association, and the cities of Chattanooga (TN), Gonzales (CA), Greensboro (NC), New Orleans (LA), Springfield (MO), and Youngstown (OH) to produce the resource guide, "Access and Inclusion in the Digital Age (link is external)." The guide was designed to support communities of all sizes as they work to improve their digital inclusion strategies.

Sprint, i-wireless kill joint venture agreement, will continue separately with Lifeline

Sprint terminated its plan to merge its Assurance Wireless brand with i-wireless’ Access Wireless business. “Sprint and i-wireless made the mutual decision to terminate the joint venture agreement and will instead continue to operate as stand-alone Lifeline service providers,” Sprint said. “Moving forward, i-wireless will continue to operate as a Sprint MVNO.”

On its website, Assurance Wireless currently offers customers who qualify for Lifeline a free Android smartphone, 350 free minutes, unlimited free texts and 500 MB of free data each month. Almost exactly a year ago, Sprint announced it would merge its Assurance Wireless brand with i-wireless’ Access Wireless, in a tie-up of Lifeline service providers. Under the agreement, Sprint would have owned 70% of the new business, which would have operated under the name i-wireless. I-wireless was to own the remaining 30%, and i-wireless founder and CEO Paul McAleese was to lead the combined business, which would have operated on Sprint's network.

Governor Cooper's (D-NC) Strong Proposal for Broadband Expansion

Gov Roy Cooper’s (R-NC) Common Ground Solutions budget included $20 million to improve internet access and service to households and businesses in underserved areas of North Carolina. Of that $20 million, $14.5 million would create a grant program to help local governments partnering with private providers and utility cooperatives complete ‘last mile’ broadband projects.

Newly released information from the Broadband Infrastructure Office identified at least 16 last-mile and middle-mile broadband projects across the state that could compete for this funding. If approved, these projects could provide needed internet access to thousands of North Carolinians and spur economic development. “Broadband access is a must for economic success in our rural communities,” said Gov Cooper. “We have already seen how access to high-speed internet has allowed business in rural areas to thrive. We cannot deprive rural North Carolinians of this vital tool for competition in a global marketplace.”

What a billboard means for your Internet privacy

An internet privacy group has taken out a billboard in Phoenix criticizing Sen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) for pushing a bill earlier in 2017 critics say pulls back some federal online privacy rules. The group is called Fight for the Future and has taken out billboards aimed at lawmakers who voted to pull back on some internet privacy rules passed during the Obama administration. It contends actions could allow internet and wireless providers such as AT&T, Comcast, Cox Communications, CenturyLink, and Verizon collect, market and sell consumers' internet data, critics contend. They also worry about providers directing users' internet searches. Sen Flake contends the repeal bill was aimed at pulling back on a regulatory overreach by the Federal Communications Commission and does not weaken privacy laws. Flake worries about the FCC being too aggressive with internet regulations. The anti-Flake billboard is at Baseline Road and Interstate 10 in Phoenix.

Supreme Court asked to rule if cops need warrant for cell-site data

On May 11, the Supreme Court will meet privately to discuss the controversial privacy question of whether the authorities need a court warrant to force mobile phone companies to divulge their customers' cell site data. This data shows where you were (according to a cell tower) and when you made a call. This information can paint a canvas of one's whereabouts, yet it's not constitutionally protected material because it's viewed as an ordinary business record held by the telcos.

Courts have largely interpreted this to mean that the authorities can get the data without probable-cause court warrants. There are five cases on the high court's conference list in which cell-site data, obtained without a probable-cause warrant from a judge, was instrumental for the authorities to prosecute for armed robbery, drug running, and illegal possession of weapons. The defendants are asking the court to revisit the so-called third-party doctrine—a legal theory that allows authorities to obtain private information on people if that information is considered a normal business record voluntarily given to and held by a third party. In this case, the data is deemed a business record of the mobile phone companies, which are required to disclose it as part of government investigations.

Open Internet Process: Then and Now

In 2014, Commissioner Ajit Pai gave some advice to the Federal Communications Commission when it adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking on network neutrality. Will Chairman Pai take Commissioner Pai's advice?

Commissioner Pai’s Advice (2014): “A dispute this fundamental is not for us, five unelected individuals, to decide. Instead, it should be resolved by the people’s elected representatives, those who choose the direction of government — and those whom the American people can hold accountable for that choice.”
Chairman Pai’s Actions (2017): "Moving forward with action at the FCC, with only three Commissioners."
Chairman Pai's Advice (2014): “I recommended that the Commission seek guidance from Congress instead of plowing ahead yet again on its own.”
Chairman Pai's Actions (2017): "Deciding the FCC is the appropriate venue, instead of waiting for Congress to act."

Rep Eshoo and Others: FCC Should Hold 'RT' to Transparency Standards

On the same day the Senate is grilling former Obama and Trump Administration officials about Russian interference in US elections, a group of Democratic Reps has asked the Federal Communications Commission to apply transparency requirements to RT (formerly Russia Today) broadcasts delivered over the airwaves. RT broadcasts from Washington (DC) studios. While it lists 19 cable systems, satellite operator Dish, Roku, Google and Apple apps, IPTV outlets and a lot of hotel channels, the only terrestrial outlet identified is MHz4 in Washington, one of a suite of noncommercial digital subchannels of WNVC and WNVT, although their spectrum was sold in the FCC inventive auction and will be going off the air soon, according to what they told the FCC.

The legislators said they were not looking to chill speech, just identify it. They asked whether the FCC's sponsorship rules should apply to foreign-state-sponsored channels. The letter comes following a January report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence finding that RT played a propaganda role in Russia's efforts to influence the election outcome. The letter was spearheaded by former House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo (D-CA).

America’s growing news deserts

As local newspapers have closed across the country, more and more communities are left with no daily local news outlet at all. Rural America isn’t the only place local news is disappearing. It’s also drying up in urban areas around the country.

In search of a local news solution

[Commentary] This issue of the Columbia Journalism Review is about what has happened—and likely will happen next—to one of America’s great national institutions, its local press. Just as the local-news financial picture seems more daunting than ever, new energy is building to address the problem. Is it fixable, or are America’s local newsrooms going away for good? What are the implications for open records, for accountability—for our democracy? This issue of CJR is one step toward answering those questions.

Could Sinclair launch a Fox News rival?

The Sinclair-Tribune deal has set tongues wagging in Washington (DC) as to whether Sinclair, a Maryland-based television station owner that has often pushed right-leaning programming, will try to position itself as a rival to Fox News.

The Washington Post reported in December that during the 2016 campaign, news stories and features favorable to then-candidate Donald Trump or challenging Democrat Hillary Clinton were distributed to Sinclair stations on a “must-run” basis. Earlier that month, POLITICO reported that the president's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, told business executives the campaign had struck a deal with Sinclair for better media coverage, a characterization Sinclair disputed. The group also recently hired Boris Epshteyn, a White House aide who oversaw Trump's television surrogate operation, as chief political analyst. Given those recent decisions, many in Washington wonder if Sinclair has its sights set on Fox News.

Trump’s new rules will let Sinclair gobble up Tribune

For the moment, the fate of the Sinclair-Tribune deal rests in the hands of the Federal Communications Commission as well as the nation’s antitrust regulators. As with any merger of this size, the government has the ability to review and block the merger, permit it to proceed as proposed, or require Sinclair and Tribune to make certain changes in order for them to proceed.

Already, though, Sinclair has benefited greatly from the Federal Communications Commission: Under its Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, the agency has relaxed media ownership rules, beginning with a change in the way some stations are counted toward a company’s national footprint. That deregulatory move made Sinclair’s bid for Tribune fathomable, analysts have said. During the 2016 election, Sinclair stations appeared to have great access to the presidential candidate. While the company claimed it was not playing favorites, President Trump’s closest aide, Jared Kushner, said in December that Sinclair had actually struck a deal with Trump’s campaign with respect to its coverage. (Sinclair said the deal never happened.) Months later, Sinclair snapped up Boris Epsteyn, one of Trump’s spokespeople in the White House, as a chief political analyst.

The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

[Commentary] A new commodity spawns a lucrative, fast-growing industry, prompting antitrust regulators to step in to restrain those who control its flow. A century ago, the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants that deal in data, the oil of the digital era.

These titans—Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—look unstoppable. They are the five most valuable listed firms in the world. Internet companies’ control of data gives them enormous power. Old ways of thinking about competition, devised in the era of oil, look outdated in what has come to be called the “data economy”. A new approach is needed. Rebooting antitrust for the information age will not be easy. It will entail new risks: more data sharing, for instance, could threaten privacy. But if governments don’t want a data economy dominated by a few giants, they will need to act soon.