Gender

Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn was supportive of the National Broadband Plan, but raised concerns about spectrum reclamation which could "further decimate the prospects for women and minority owners" of broadcast outlets.

A coalition of media justice and public interest organizations sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski yesterday, calling on the agency to make increased diversity in the media and broadband communications landscape a top priority.

The mobile phone has been critical to helping solve poverty and promote development around the world. But in many developing nations, this hand-held technological revolution has left behind a large segment of the population: women.

Over the past decade, gay characters have become almost "de rigeur" on television, whether serving as comic foils or dramatic catalysts. Lesbian characters, meanwhile, have been less visible.

The Asian American Justice Center, the Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and the National Conference of Black Mayors are again asking the Federal Communications Commission to move cautiously on Network Neutrality regulation.

The push to increase diversity among showbiz writers remains an uphill battle, a new report concludes. The WGA West's 2009 Hollywood Writers Report finds "little if any" improvement in employment...

New research from the Parents Television Council finds that storylines depicting violence against females are increasing and being shown more graphically and in ways that have not been seen in the history of television.

The Federal Communication Commission's Diversity Committee has recommended that the agency renew its Adarand studies examining market entry barriers to women and minorities, and to make sure that the peer-reviewed studies have sufficient funding so that the result could meet the standards of a reviewing court. The committee also adopted numerous recommendations for the national broadband plan.

Diane Sawyer will succeed Charles Gibson as the anchor of ABC's "World News."

The Federal Communications Commission released its latest report on telephone subscribership levels in the United States. The telephone subscribership penetration rate in the US was 95.6% -- this is the highest reported rate since data collection began in November 1983.