December 2016

Likely and Behind the Scenes Changes at the FCC

[Commentary] It should come as no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission will substantially change its regulatory approach, wingspan and philosophy under a President-elect Donald Trump appointed Chairman. One can readily predict that the new FCC will largely undo what has transpired in previous years. However, that conclusion warrants greater calibration. As a threshold matter, the new senior managers at the FCC will have to establish new broad themes and missions. They have several options, some of which will limit how deregulatory and libertarian the Commission can proceed. Several ways forward come to mind:

1) Channeling Trump Populism—the FCC can execute President Trump’s mission of standing up to cronyism and rent seeking, even when it harms traditional constituencies and stakeholders.
2) What’s Good for Incumbents is Good for America—the FCC can revert to the comfortable and typical bias in favor of incumbents like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and the major broadcast networks.
3) A Libertarian Credo—the FCC can reduce its regulatory wingspan, budget and economic impact by concentrating on limited core statutory mandates, such as spectrum management.
4) Humility—without having the goal of draining the FCC’s pond, senior managers can temper their partisanship and snarkiness by refraining from mission creep.

Tech Groups Offer VP-Elect Pence FCC, FTC Job Descriptions

The high-tech association heads representing what they say is a trillion-dollar economic driver have outlined what they are looking for in the next Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission chair and commissioners, which includes understanding sector as well as the limits of authority, and exercising some "regulatory humility."

That came in a letter to VP-elect and Trump transition team leader Mike Pence. They said that "to ensure our government works, we must have people in place with the competencies to get the job done." Here was the job description under the FCC hearing: "We urge that nominees for FCC Commissioner seats understand and appreciate the vital role of competition in the communications sector, the limits of FCC authority across areas of responsibility, and the need for establishing a data-driven evidence base in advance of setting ex ante policies. Nominees should also have knowledge of the communications industry landscape and the role it plays in realizing inter-connected smart communications technologies, as well as an understanding of future technological developments relying on a robust communications infrastructure."

As power shifts in Washington, public broadcasting has allies in key posts

The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States promises sweeping change in Washington (DC), and members of the public broadcasting community are naturally asking what that may mean for us. Let’s start with what hasn’t changed.

Three powerful congressional chairmen who support public broadcasting will continue in their key roles in both the House and Senate. Sen Thad Cochran (R-MI), a champion of public broadcasting since his father served as chairman of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Commission in the 1960s, continues as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen Roy Blunt (R-MO), who has helped us secure funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Ready To Learn and our updated interconnection system, continues as chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Rep Tom Cole (R-OK), who accepted the America’s Public Television Stations’ Champion of Public Broadcasting award at the Public Media Summit earlier in 2016 and has been an effective advocate for our federal funding, continues to lead the House Appropriations subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education. In addition, the Republican majorities in Congress will retain the same leaders.

House passes intelligence bill enhancing efforts against Russia

The House passed an annual intelligence policy authorization bill Nov 30 that includes a provision to increase scrutiny of Russia's attempts to exert covert influence around the world, after the country was accused of meddling in 2016's US presidential election. Tucked into the 93-page unclassified portion of the legislation, approved by a vote of 390-30, is a measure establishing an interagency committee to counter Russian meddling in foreign countries that's often taken the form of media manipulation and spreading disinformation.

Another provision of the bill limits the travel of Russian diplomatic personnel in the US to a maximum of 25 miles from their official posts unless the FBI certifies to Congress that it didn't find evidence of wrongdoing by those individuals. In 2016, independent researchers also found that a Russian propaganda campaign created and spread fake news meant to boost Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Some stories promoting misinformation came from state-funded Russian information services or were spread on social media by Russian sites.

Lawmakers mull US role in AI technology

Lawmakers and experts voiced concerns Nov 30 about America’s future as a leader in artificial intelligence technology. Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) cautioned during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee hearing that the US could lose its spot as a leader in developing AI technology. “Today, the United States is the preeminent leader in developing artificial intelligence. But that could soon change,” warned Sen Cruz. “Ceding leadership in developing artificial intelligence to China, Russia and other foreign governments will not only place the United States at a technological disadvantage, but it could also have implications for national security,” he said in opening remarks. Experts on a panel expressed similar sentiments. “I do think it’s important that we grow our AI workforce quickly,” said Andrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Media Alliance to Trump: Dump Cross-Ownership Rules

The News Media Alliance, whose board members include execs from Gannett, Belo, Cox, The Washington Post, The New York Times and about 2,000 other newspapers/media outlets, has called on President-elect Donald Trump 's transition team to prioritize getting rid of media cross-ownership rules.

In fact, that was the first on a list of things it advised would help foster economic growth and investment. Others included not withholding media credentials from outlets based on the content of their coverage — something candidate Trump did. They also put in a pitch for regular briefings — it has been months since Trump had a press conference, according to CNN — and maintaining a press pool — President-elect Trump early on made some moves without informing the press of his whereabouts. "News can strike at any time and without a pool on site to inform the public about the President’s whereabouts, speculation and fear can prevail," they said.

While We Weren’t Looking, Snapchat Revolutionized Social Networks

Though Snapchat has overtaken Twitter in terms of daily users to become one of the most popular social networks in the world, it has not attracted the media attention that the 140-character platform earns, perhaps because journalists and presidential candidates don’t use it very much.

Snapchat’s news division has become a popular and innovative source of information for young people, but it is rarely mentioned in the hand-wringing over how social media affected the presidential election. Snap, which is based far outside the Silicon Valley bubble, in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles (CA), is pushing radically new ideas about how humans should interact with computers. It is pioneering a model of social networking that feels more intimate and authentic than the Facebook-led ideas that now dominate the online world. Snap’s software and hardware designs, as well as its marketing strategies, are more daring than much of what we’ve seen from tech giants, including Apple.

President Obama Sends Broadcasting Board of Governors Chair Nomination to Senate

President Barack Obama has sent the nomination of Richard Stengel to the Senate to replace Jeff Shell as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. That came as Congress is considering a bill that would abolish the board. Actually, while Stengel succeeds Shell, he would be assuming the unexpired term of Susan McCue, who resigned. That term would expire in August 2017.

Stengel has been the under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs at the State Department since February 2014 and before that was managing editor of Time. Shell's day job is chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. Shell made news last summer when he was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and denied entry into the country despite having a passport and visa, according to BBG. BBG is the independent agency overseeing government-backed international media outlets including VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks

Defense Bill Would Abolish BBG Governing Board

A must-pass defense authorization bill that emerged from a recent House-Senate conference included a provision that would restructure the Broadcasting Board of Governors to concentrate power in a new expanded CEO position, according to the conference report. The bill would eliminate the nine-member board that oversees the Broadcasting Board of Governors and give the CEO new powers. BBG oversees government-backed, nonmilitary international media outlets including VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. That would likely mean a name change since the bipartisan broadcasting board of governors is what is being eliminated.

In testimony before Congress last year, the board chair and the CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, both familiar names in broadcasting and cable circles, asked Congress to give the group's CEO position more power and to allow BBG more flexibility to fund its operations. That CEO is John Lansing, former head of CTAM and Scripps Networks. Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, is board chair. On the eve of the release of the conference report, President Obama was sending his new nominee to chair that nine-member BBG oversight board to the Senate.

Farewell to President Obama, our first digital president

[Commentary] Beginning eight years ago, the Obama Administration embraced a fresh approach to leveraging technology platforms and improved the experience of interacting with government. While leading the White House’s digital technology team, I witnessed the impact of private-sector principles and ideas becoming embedded in government. It was a push to close the digital experience gap between the private and public sectors, embracing the philosophies of open government: Transparency, participation and collaboration.

[Tom Cochran is the chief digital strategist and VP for public sector at Acquia. he was most recently a deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of State.]

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