BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017
3 years ago, the FCC launched a proceeding on net neutrality – how did that look?
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
The Media Bubble Is Worse Than You Think
House Science Committee Chairman: Americans should 'discount the liberal media' [links to Benton summary]
Millennials don’t like President Trump, but he has successfully warped their view of ‘fake news’ [links to Washington Post]
President Trump Says He Is Cutting Back on Cable TV [links to Atlantic, The]
After outcry by ethics watchdogs, the US State department pulled a story advertising Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort [links to Benton summary]
NETWORK NEUTRALITY
Internet firms gearing up for a fight over network neutrality
Showtime today for Net neutrality: FCC chief to lay out plans for repeal [links to USAToday]
Video: Here is what President Donald Trump may do to Obama's net neutrality laws [links to USAToday]
FCC's Clyburn: Voluntary net neutrality rules won't cut it [links to Benton summary]
Groups urge lawmakers to oppose 'devastating' net neutrality rollback [links to Hill, The]
Net Neutrality, Reclassification and Investment: A Counterfactual Analysis - Phoenix Center analysis [links to Benton summary]
Net Neutrality Violations: A Brief History [links to Free Press]
An inoculation for fevered fact-free internet activism - AEI op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Activists Prepare for Epic Fight Over Trump FCC's Plan to Kill Net Neutrality [links to Vice]
A Wary Tech Sector Is Booming in the Land of Trump - editorial [links to Benton summary]
MORE INTERNET/BROADBAND
AT&T Fiber Deployment in CA Leaves Middle and Low-Income Communities Behind - analysis
AT&T's rollout of broadband serves the rich, shunts mid- and low-income families to the slow lane - editorial [links to Benton summary]
AT&T Targeted Over Alleged Broadband Redlining in Cleveland
Public Knowledge Urges President Trump to Put Americans Before Monopolies as 100 Day Deadline Nears [links to Public Knowledge]
To Jumpstart Broadband Buildout, Let Consumers Decide Who Gets FCC Subsidies - Daily Yonder op-ed [links to Benton summary]
Broadband 'vouchers' won't help rural America connect; so what will? - Daily Yonder op-ed [links to Benton summary]
BROADCASTING/CABLE
Chairman Pai Addresses National Association of Broadcasters - speech
Remarks of FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly 2017 NAB Show Panel "FCC: You're Fired?" - speech
Pai to Congress: Set-Top Docket to Remain Open
Distribution of 2015 Cable Royalty Funds [links to Copyright Royalty Board]
Fox News Faces New Racial Discrimination Lawsuit [links to New York Times]
JOURNALISM
Jimmy Wales goes after fake news with Wikitribune – a crowdfunded site for reporters
The Problem With WikiTribune - press release [links to Benton summary]
Panel tables Breitbart request for congressional press passes [links to Benton summary]
How Trump enables the media’s worst habits [links to Vox]
Robert Siegel Stepping Down As 'All Things Considered' Host In 2018 [links to NPR]
CNN, CBS News capture coveted Peabody awards [links to Hill, The]
Bill O'Reilly plans to turn podcast into 'genuine news program' [links to Politico]
VR for News: The New Reality? [links to University of Oxford]
CONTENT
Google is updating its search to demote fake news [links to Benton summary]
Facebook will suggest more articles for you to read in News Feed to help fight its ‘filter bubble’ [links to Vox]
ACCESSIBILITY
FCC Announces Applicants For Certification To Participate In The National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program [links to Federal Communications Commission]
TELECOM
FCC Fines Company $1M For Violating Slamming, Cramming Rules [links to Federal Communications Commission]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
AT&T announces it will build a fake 5G network [links to Verge, The]
How cellphone carriers learned to stop worrying and love unlimited data [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
Nexstar Sees More Acquisitions Ahead [links to TVNewsCheck]
POLICYMAKERS
How Trump’s Pick for Top Antitrust Cop, Makan Delrahim, May Shape Competition
STORIES FROM ABROAD
In UK, Lords water down push for minimum broadband speed
Hackers have targeted election campaign of French presidential frontrunner Macron, says cyber firm [links to Guardian, The]
Google Makes Push to Get Nearly a Billion Indians Onto The Internet By Enabling Nine indian languages [links to CNN]
This App Lets Iranians Swipe Past Political Propaganda [links to Wired]
Google pushes fake news, hate-speech workshops (and YouTube) on UK teens [links to Ars Technica]
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
MEDIA BUBBLE
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Jack Shafer, Tucker Doherty]
The national media really does work in a bubble, something that wasn’t true as recently as 2008. And the bubble is growing more extreme. Concentrated heavily along the coasts, the bubble is both geographic and political. If you’re a working journalist, odds aren’t just that you work in a pro-Clinton county—odds are that you reside in one of the nation’s most pro-Clinton counties. And you’ve got company: If you’re a typical reader of Politico, chances are you’re a citizen of bubbleville, too. The “media bubble” trope might feel overused by critics of journalism who want to sneer at reporters who live in Brooklyn or California and don’t get the “real America” of southern Ohio or rural Kansas. But these numbers suggest it’s no exaggeration: Not only is the bubble real, but it’s more extreme than you might realize. And it’s driven by deep industry trends.
benton.org/headlines/media-bubble-worse-you-think | Politico
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY
RISISTANCE TO WATERING DOWN NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: ]
Internet companies are readying for a showdown with telecoms and a Republican-controlled government over a policy near and dear to their hearts: network neutrality. Net neutrality basically prevents broadband providers from playing favorites or steering users toward (or away from) particular internet sites. Under rules enacted during the Obama administration, the likes of Comcast and Verizon — which offer their own video services they’d very much like subscribers to use — can’t slow down Netflix, can’t block YouTube, and can’t charge Spotify extra to stream faster than Pandora. Broadband companies hate the net neutrality rules, and they have an ally in new Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai, who has repeatedly called the regulations a mistake. The government may downgrade federal prohibitions on anti-consumer and anticompetitive actions to voluntary commitments by internet service providers. The internet industry, which considers net neutrality essential for its business, isn’t standing still — and it may be keeping some of its most potent tactics in reserve.
benton.org/headlines/internet-firms-gearing-fight-over-network-neutrality | Associated Press
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MORE INTERNET/BROADBAND
DIGITAL DIVIDE IN CA REPORT
[SOURCE: University of California Berkeley, AUTHOR: Eli Moore]
In a first-ever analysis, "AT&T's Digital Divide in California" looks at the deployment of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service in California by the largest telecommunication company in the state. The findings show that the early deployment of the company’s “gigapower” all-fiber service is concentrated in wealthier communities, relegating lower-income neighborhoods to less advanced technologies that offer markedly slower speeds. Drawing on newly-released Federal Communications Commission data, the report highlights income-based disparities in service across 71 percent of California, or 56 California counties in which AT&T provides wireline phone and internet service. The report also reveals 42.8 percent of California households – approximately 4.1 million homes – in AT&T’s network do not have access to high-speed broadband from AT&T as defined by the Federal Communications Commission, which classifies this service as a 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download/3 Mbps upload connection.
benton.org/headlines/att-fiber-deployment-ca-leaves-middle-and-low-income-communities-behind | University of California Berkeley | ars technica
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ATT TRGETED OVER ALLEGED BROADBAND REDLINING IN CLEVELAND
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
AT&T is being targeted with a lawsuit following accusations of broadband digital redlining. Attorney Daryl D. Parks (he represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown) of Florida law firm Parks & Crump and attorney Walter Madison from Akron (OH) are representing families in Cleveland (OH) who allege they have been "severely impacted" by a lack of connectivity and want a meeting with AT&T top brass to talk about it. They are threatening a lawsuit and Parks has written AT&T President Randall Stephenson asking for a meeting April 28 at the AT&T shareholders' meeting in Dallas (TX). Parks said in the letter that the redlining was an invidious practice "copiously" documented by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance report that had irreparably injured his clients. AT&T is trying to get its Time Warner merger through the Department of Justice, an approval that could be complicated by such a suit. In fact, among the threshold Parks talks about in his letter is whether AT&T's behavior is "relevant to its FCC character qualifications or its DOJ competitive qualifications to complete its merger with Time Warner?"
benton.org/headlines/trayvon-martin-attorney-targets-att-over-alleged-broadband-redlining | Broadcasting&Cable | Cleveland.com
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BROADCASTING/CABLE
PAI ADDRESSES NAB
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
The biggest reason I’m bullish about [broadcasting] is that broadcasting’s strengths—its values—are timeless. I’m talking about localism, diversity, and public service. I’ll work aggressively to modernize the Federal Communications Commission’s rules, cut unnecessary red tape, and give broadcasters more flexibility to serve their audiences. [A]t the FCC’s next public meeting on May 18, we will vote on a proposal to start a comprehensive review of the FCC’s media regulations. This morning, I circulated the Public Notice to my fellow Commissioners that would kick off this review. We’ll also explore whether certain rules should be modified to provide regulatory relief to small businesses. And to be clear, while our broadcast regulations will be a critical subject of this proceeding, we will also review rules pertaining to cable and direct broadcast satellite.
benton.org/headlines/chairman-pai-addresses-national-association-broadcasters | Federal Communications Commission | Fierce | B&C | AdWeek | The Wrap
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O'RIELLY 2017 NAB SHOW
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai brings with him a love of broadcasting, a love of small businesses, a love of Kansas, and so much more. His selection may prove the catalyst for the regulatory golden age of our nation’s broadcasters. In the grand scheme, whether to jettison the FCC is not for any of us to ultimately decide. Hearty discussions are important and should continue to be had as they can inform policymakers, in this case
Congress. But the hopes for any real fundamental restructuring of the agency’s duties – or even if it should exist – will require legislation, which has proven difficult to enact for many reasons. In the meantime, the agency can address many of its flaws on its own. Better protecting the airwaves would demonstrate our commitment to a key original obligation. Additionally, reorganizing the internal structure and removing unnecessary burdens on broadcasters would line up nicely with the policy goals of many of us at the Commission. In closing, let me suggest that the new Executive Branch and Legislative Branch provide you with a wonderful opportunity – use it wisely!
benton.org/headlines/remarks-fcc-commissioner-michael-orielly-2017-nab-show-panel-fcc-youre-fired | Federal Communications Commission | B&C
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PAI TO CONGRESS: SET-TOP DOCKET TO REMAIN OPEN
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has told Congress he does not plan to close the set-top box docket, but signaled that was because it could still have some deregulatory legs. That came in a letter released April 21 in the FCC's periodic batch of chairman responses to congressional inquiries. Republican members of the House Commerce Committee had asked Chairman Pai to close the docket after FCC chairman Tom Wheeler was unable to get three Democratic votes for his "unlock the box," then "unlock the app" proposals. Chairman Pai did not support Wheeler's approach and reiterated that in the letter. "I share your goal of promoting a clear, consumer-focused, fair, and competitive regulatory path for video programming delivery," he wrote. "Because I do not believe that the set-top box Order circulated by my immediate predecessor furthered this goal, I have removed it from circulation. As such, it is no longer pending before the Commission, and I do not intend to resurrect it." He said he agreed with closing dockets no longer under active consideration, but that it would be premature to put the set-top item in that category because in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which never got voted, there were unrelated issues teed up, including and in particular, on whether the FCC should eliminate the CableCARD reporting requirement.
benton.org/headlines/pai-congress-set-top-docket-remain-open | Broadcasting&Cable
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JOURNALISM
WIKITRIBUNE
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Greg Williams]
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is set to launch a community-driven online news service in response to the widespread distribution of deliberately misleading information masquerading as news. The project, Wikitribune, will be a hybrid model in which paid journalists will work with a broad network of contributors. “We want to bring some of that fact-based, fact-checking mentality that we know from Wikipedia to news,” Wales says. Wikitribune will be financed through a crowdfunding campaign, launching April 24, that will determine the size of the initial team. Wales describes the core editorial mission of the platform as “facts matter” and intends that the site will be able to support “original reporting and investigative journalism”. “What’s fundamentally interesting is to get money to journalists to go out and research news stories,” Wales says. “One of the things that community guidance can do is to help figure out what do we not know? What are the things we need to know? Then you’ve got a lot of minds thinking about and discussing that this is the piece of the puzzle that needs more research.”
benton.org/headlines/jimmy-wales-goes-after-fake-news-wikitribune-crowdfunded-site-reporters | Wired | ars technica | CNN
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POLICYMAKERS
MAKAN DELRAHIM
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Cecilia Kang]
Makan Delrahim, the nominee for chief antitrust cop at the Justice Department, will have his confirmation hearing April 26. If he is confirmed — and he is expected to be — his philosophies will help shape the corporate competition landscape for the next few years, at a time when mega-mergers like AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. In an interview, Delrahim declined to address AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, which is now undergoing regulatory review, or other large deals, saying he would “examine any matter according to evidence and economic analysis.” But he gave other hints of how he might act as the department’s top antitrust official. Specifically, Delrahim, a former lobbyist, said he would not go after a company just because it was big, and would do so only if there were violations of antitrust law. “Just like any other industry, if there is wrongdoing, we would investigate,” Delrahim said. But “federal laws should not be used as a fishing expedition by government.” He also intimated that he was skeptical of antitrust action against intellectual property rights holders. In a 2007 statement, he had warned that cases that blended intellectual property rights with antitrust enforcement could hamper innovation.
benton.org/headlines/how-trumps-pick-top-antitrust-cop-makan-delrahim-may-shape-competition | New York Times
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STORIES FROM ABROAD
UK BROADBAND SPEEDS
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Nic Fildes]
Peers have dropped a demand for a minimum broadband speed of 30 megabits per second to be a legal requirement, as the Digital Economy Bill is rushed through parliament before the general election. The government has pushed for a “universal service obligation” to be part of the legislation, with a benchmark minimum speed of 10Mbps — far lower than the “superfast” level the House of Lords had been demanding. The government has also dropped a 2020 deadline for that threshold to be introduced. The Lords amended the bill in February to raise the minimum obligatory speed to 30Mbps, saying 10Mbps would “unfit for usage in a very short time”. But both the government and Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, have argued that the universal service obligation should be raised over time and introduced by secondary legislation when deemed appropriate.
benton.org/headlines/uk-lords-water-down-push-minimum-broadband-speed | Financial Times
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