September 2009

Network Neutrality back in spotlight for debate

The debate over network neutrality has reignited as many large broadband providers such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon Communications have decided not to apply for stimulus funds. "These debates are always moved forward when an event like this happens," said Harold Feld, legal director at Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group that supports Net neutrality legislation. "The debate around the stimulus funding helped focus attention on the issue." Network neutrality, in general, refers to the concept that Internet users should have unfettered access to content and services. In other words, service providers should not be allowed to either impede or favor access to particular sites or applications. Most supporters agree that there should be two exceptions to this. One is that service providers should be able to block unlawful content like child pornography. And they should also be able to provide "reasonable network management."

FCC Heads To Capitol Hill For Hearing Thursday

The House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet plans to hold an oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission Thursday. The hearing will focus on progress of the national broadband plan to bring high-speed Internet to all American homes and businesses. Lawmakers will also review the slow progress of creating a public safety network for emergency first responders. And they plan to quiz the five-member commission about its review of competition in the wireless industry.

House Hearing Will Show FCC's Character

[Commentary] Congress and the public will learn a lot about the Federal Communications Commission tomorrow. All five commissioners are due to testify before the House Communications Subcommittee at a general oversight hearing. It's basically open season for any member of the subcommittee to ask any question about anything the Commission does. This is the time the Commission has to stand firm in defense of a couple of primary principles. Anything less will signal a fatal weakness that this Commission can be rolled by any industry and any industry's friends, as well as by ideological opponents. The principles at stake are an open Internet (Network Neutrality), localism and diversity.

Free Press Sends Letter to FCC, Congress in Support of Mark Lloyd

More than 50 civil rights, public interest and grassroots organizations sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and congressional leaders supporting Mark Lloyd, the associate general counsel and chief diversity officer of the FCC, and the agency's longstanding mission to promote localism, diversity and competition in the media. Lloyd is the latest flashpoint for an issue that has been hot for months, tied to proposed FCC localism initiatives, proposed then Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, that could include local programming advisory boards. Those boards have been viewed by some critics of localism proposals as a back-door version of the Fairness Doctrine, though FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has on several occasions said he would not re-impose the doctrine. That is the doctrine, scrapped by the FCC in 1987, that required broadcasters to actively seek out and air opposing views on issues of public importance. Its demise helped give rise to conservative talk radio.

What Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh Are Really Afraid Of

[Commentary] Can you smell the fear? Switch on cable news or tune in to talk radio and it comes wafting in. Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck has bottled his own scent. Lou Dobbs' fear gives off a distinct undertone of racial intolerance. And Rush Limbaugh takes to the air to spread an odor that's designed to make Americans angry at, well, other Americans. It's a fear that's laced with paranoia, stoked by misinformation and prejudice and fed to millions of people via powerful media. But most of all, it's a fear of the changes that an overwhelming majority of Americans called for when they stepped into voting booths last November. Since then, the old guard has fallen into alignment with old media to hijack the public debate over reform, and vilify reformers as anti-American. And to them the most anti-American notion of the lot is the idea that we need to reform the media itself. The ultimate irony of Beck, Dobbs and Limbaugh is that they couch in populist rhetoric a message that, in its very essence, is anti-populist -- designed to protect the swindle at the core of our media system's failure. And that is why the media's old guard is targeting the idea that this system needs to change. In his media and technology agenda, President Obama took up the cause of reform by committing to "diversity in the ownership of broadcast media," and pledging to "promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints." Obama is right, but he needs to get started on fulfilling that commitment. Winning real change and giving more people a media voice is ultimately the best response we have to fear campaigns.

Why we need a clearer view of both our wars

[Commentary] When a democracy goes to war, its citizens need to know how it is going and what is being done in their name. They have a right to as close an approximation of truth as journalists can deliver, given the limitations. The right to bear witness is part of what you fight for. We have two wars on now, and not enough truth. The chief impediment is the media's own situation -- the vicious advertising recession and the economic upheaval. Going to war is costly and many newsrooms can't do it anymore. But diminishing resources is not the only problem. The military has changed too. The quality of the military-journalist relationship in Iraq got better around 2006 under the command of General David Petraeus, who wanted officers talking to the press, partly as a way to explain his approach to counterinsurgency. But the window has closed.

With science journalism in retreat, universities try new strategy for informing the public

Concerned that journalism's economic problems are reducing Americans' understanding of science, medicine and other research, 35 of the nation's top universities on Tuesday announced they will feed their own accounts of their discoveries directly to top news sites on the Internet. Under the plan, the universities have formed what is essentially their own nonprofit wire service, called Futurity, to provide articles to popular Web sites such as Yahoo News and Google News, along with MySpace and Twitter. Participating universities include Princeton, Yale, Duke, the University of Chicago and UC-Irvine. Every week, each sends several news releases and articles written by university staff members to an editor at the University of Rochester. The editor then highlights stories to showcase the research.

Newspapers a Distant Fourth as America's News Source

Americans still turn to mainstream media to get their news -- but that doesn't mean newspapers are anywhere near their primary source, a survey released Wednesday finds. Television is far and away the principal medium Americans use to learn about and follow major news stories, according to the 2009 State of the First Amendment national survey conducted by the First Amendment Center. TV was the first source for news for nearly half -- 49% -- of the survey respondents. Far behind were Internet, the first source for 15%; radio at 13% -- and then newspapers at 10%. And while newspapers position themselves as the in-depth medium to follow up on stories, TV still dominates when Americans went next-day stories. Some 48% of Americans polled said TV is their primary source for follow-up reports, with the Internet next at 29%, and newspapers well behind at 9%. For all the talk about new social media, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter and similar sites were each named by just 1% of respondents as their primary source of news.

Broadband Internet Service Helping Create a Rural Digital Economy

During the past two decades, the Internet has grown rapidly, joining telephones, televisions, and cars as a common necessity and becoming an integral part of the economy. Rural America has shared in the growth of the Internet economy as more business, government, and personal activities have gone online. In 2007, 71 percent of the rural population used the Internet, and 55 percent of farms reported using the Internet for business purposes. As the Internet economy has evolved, more online applications require higher data transmission rates. The low transmission capability and speed of dial-up Internet service severely limit access to content-dense applications and websites. As a result, broadband Internet access has become a necessity for those wishing to benefit from the Internet's full economic potential. An ERS study found that investment in rural broadband Internet access seems to lead to a more competitive rural economy and rural economic growth, helping create a rural digital economy. Comparing the economic growth of counties with broadband access in 2000 with that of otherwise similar counties without broadband suggests that broadband availability helped spur the formation of new businesses and increased the growth of existing firms.

An Open Apology To Public Interest Broadband Advocates

[Commentary] Daily called out America for its do-nothing attitude towards broadband policy, criticizing both those that'd rather see little done and may fight against progress, as well as those that aspire to achieve great progress but often don't have specific plans for reaching their goals. His criticism of public interest broadband advocates was swiftly denounced and refuted by a series of comments, which forced him to reconsider what he wrote and thereby realize that he'd made a big mistake. Namely, he forgot to acknowledge the tremendous amount of great things being done by community broadband activists across this country today on a whole range of issues, from protecting consumers, to spurring adoption and use, to getting the networks we need built. Not to mention the many good ideas that have fallen by the wayside over the years as America failed to realize the importance of having a national broadband strategy. "I cannot state strongly enough how much I appreciate, admire, and aspire to emulate the many public interest broadband advocates that have been working tirelessly for years on these issues that I'll admit to being a relative neophyte on."

Benton

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