'Benson' star Robert Guillaume
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017
Today's busy agenda https://www.benton.org/calendar/2017-10-25
NEWS FROM THE FCC MEETING
FCC Chairman Pai: No Talks With White House About License Challenges
FCC Moves to Promote Investment in 3.5 GHz Band - press release
FCC Undermines Rules Designed to Promote Rural Deployment - Public Knowledge
FCC 3.5 GHZ Vote Gets Divided Reaction [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
Public Knowledge Responds to Flawed FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on 3.5GHz Band [links to Public Knowledge]
AT&T Statement on FCC Proposal to Promote Investment in the 3.5 GHz Spectrum Band [links to AT&T]
FCC Eliminates Main Studio Rule - press release
FCC Minority Laments Loss of Studio Rule [links to TVNewsCheck]
FCC Approves New Rules To Aid in Tracking Threatening Phone Calls - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Seeks Comment on Moving Toward Nationwide Number Portability - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Improves Phone Accessibility for People with Hearing Loss - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Streamlines Part 43 International Reporting Requirements - press release [links to Benton summary]
FCC Proposes to Reduce Broadcaster Reporting Requirements - press release [links to Benton summary]
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
Press Sec Sanders cites ‘real facts’ to show media ‘hostility’ toward President Trump
Department of Justice Backs Challenge to Free Speech Zone [links to Benton summary]
ELECTIONS & MEDIA
Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier
GOP, industry skeptical of new rules for online political ads
Twitter will reveal who's paying for its political ads [links to Benton summary]
News Media Alliance: Google, Facebook Business Models Fuel Fake News [links to Benton summary]
Political Typology Reveals Deep Fissures on the Right and Left - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
FCC Likely To Use Thanksgiving Holiday To Hide Its Unpopular Plan To Kill Net Neutrality [links to Tech Dirt]
Ad Group Recommends That AT&T Tweak Fiber Claims [links to Multichannel News]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Sens introduce surveillance reform bill [links to Benton summary]
Trump Administration Plans a New Cybersecurity Strategy [links to Benton summary]
SEC ignored years of warnings about cybersecurity before massive breach [links to Washington Post]
Microsoft drops lawsuit after DOJ move to limit gag orders on tech companies [links to Hill, The]
The entire global financial system depends on GPS, and it’s shockingly vulnerable to attack [links to Quartz]
Anyone can track you with $1,000 of online ads [links to Benton summary]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Hurricane Maria Communications Status Report for Oct. 24 [links to Federal Communications Commission]
CONTENT
Most Netflix customers don’t pay for other streaming services. But Hulu and HBO Now subscribers do. [links to Vox]
PragerU sues Google, YouTube for 'censoring' conservative videos [links to Hill, The]
Facebook has no plans to make newsfeed changes worldwide [links to Hill, The]
Information Technology Industry Council: AI Policy Principles [links to Information Technology Industry Council]
TELECOM
Jails pocket up to 60 percent of what inmates pay for phone calls [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
T-Mobile/Sprint would be ‘dominant spectrum holder’ in much of US: Mosaik [links to Fierce]
Smartphones are getting more expensive around the world [links to Benton summary]
OWNERSHIP
Amazon could be responsible for nearly half of U.S. e-commerce sales in 2017 [links to Vox]
The 21st-century Hollywood: how Silicon Valley became the world’s trend capital [links to Guardian, The]
JOURNALISM
‘They were just following me and giving me sugar’: Results from focus groups in four US cities - Tow Center research
Tech attempts to heal local scars [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Study: Readers are hungry for news feed transparency [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
What do ordinary people think fake news is? Poor journalism and political propaganda. [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
A new project will keep stories alive when journalists are killed [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
Jezebel, Leading Voice on Feminist Issues, Names New Top Editor [links to New York Times]
The Trace, a gun-focused news outlet on what it takes to cover firearms credibly [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
EDUCATION
When classroom technology impedes student learning [links to American Enterprise Institute]
LABOR
Bridging the ‘information gap’ to boost economic opportunity - AEI op-ed [links to Benton summary]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Congress opens probe into FBI’s handling of Clinton e-mail investigation
President Trump set for 14th Fox interview since taking office [links to Hill, The]
POLICYMAKERS
Sen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Will Not Seek Re-Election in 2018
Rep Jeff Duncan (R-SC) Joins House Commerce Committee [links to House of Representatives Commerce Committee]
COMPANY NEWS
AT&T Profit Falls on Shrinking TV Subscription, Wireless Phone Businesses [links to Wall Street Journal]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
UK lawmakers ask Facebook about Russia-linked Brexit activity [links to Hill, The]
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FCC MEETING
PAI: NO TALKS WITH WHITE HOUSE ABOUT LICENSE CHALLENGES
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he has not talked to the White House about his response to the President's tweets about challenging broadcast licenses. President Donald Trump, unhappy with an NBC News story be branded fake and fiction, had tweeted that someone ought to challenge the licenses and they should be revoked, "if necessary." Chairman Pai was asked repeatedly about the issue in a press conference following the FCC meeting Oct 24. Asked if the President or White House had reached out to him on the license challenge issue, Pai said no. The chairman was asked about why it took him so long to respond to the President's tweets. Chairman Pai countered that he responded the first time he was asked, which response had been to reiterate that he supports the First Amendment, that the FCC is an independent agency, and to say that the FCC can't pull a license over the content of a newscast, no matter who asked it to. Chairman Pai said that his independence as a regulator was clear and suggested that the focus on his response was politically motivated. "I understand that those who oppose my agenda would like me to be distracted by the controversy of the day," he said. The chairman would not say whether he thought the President's threats had had a chilling effect on the First Amendment, sticking with a regulator's answer that he was going to apply the facts and the law and make the appropriate decision. The FCC can actually pull a license over content in specific circumstances, but those don't include what news stories are covered or how they are covered.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-no-talks-white-house-about-license-challenges | Broadcasting&Cable
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FCC MOVES TO PROMOTE INVESTMENT IN 3.5 GHZ BAND
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission proposed revisions to its rules in the 3.5 GHz band to promote investment, keep up with technological advancements, and maintain US leadership in the deployment of next-generation services. In particular, the FCC seeks comment on changes to the rules governing the second service tier, known as Priority Access Licenses, of the band’s novel three-tier framework. These changes include longer license terms with the possibility of renewal; larger geographic license areas; and modifications to the rules governing license auctions, secondary market transactions, and certain technical criteria. These changes to the licensing and technical rules in the band could help increase incentives for investment, encourage more efficient spectrum use, and promote robust network deployments in both urban and rural communities. Additionally, over the past few years, it has become clear that the 3.5 GHz band will be a core component of 5G network deployments, with several countries moving forward with policies that will make this band available for such services. These rule changes will facilitate the implementation of 5G networks in this band and accelerate deployment of a promising new generation of wireless technologies for all Americans
benton.org/headlines/fcc-moves-promote-investment-35-ghz-band | Federal Communications Commission | Multichannel News | telecompetitor
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FCC UNDERMINES RULES ON RURAL DEPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: Public Knowledge, AUTHOR: Phillip Berenbroick]
Oct 24, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will undo years of the FCC’s work to improve wireless deployments in rural areas, close the digital divide, and promote spectrum use by a wide range of users with diverse and innovative business models in the 150 megahertz between 3550-3700 MHz (the 3.5 GHz Band or Band). Adopting the NPRM is the first step to undermining the FCC’s work in the 3.5 GHz Band, and represents a rare lose-lose-lose scenario in spectrum policy making. The draft NPRM explores expanding the geographic size of 3.5 GHz Band Priority Access Licenses (PALs) from the size of census tracts to Partial Economic Areas (PEAs), extending the license term from three years to 10 years, and to making PALs renewable. Currently, it appears the Commission (thanks to FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn) may have resisted its worst impulses and walked back its draft proposal to license all PALs by PEA. However, If eventually adopted as the licensing scheme for the 3.5 GHz Band, the NPRM’s proposals would make licenses unaffordable for rural broadband providers seeking to serve targeted, unserved communities, and other innovative wireless uses (e.g., an Internet of Things network on a corporate campus or distribution warehouse, or a wireless network to serve an airport, shopping center, arena, or stadium), and make it unlikely that the 3.5 GHz Band is actually put to use closing the digital divide in rural America.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-approves-35-ghz-nprm-undermines-rules-designed-promote-rural-deployment | Public Knowledge
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FCC ELIMINATES MAIN STUDIO RULE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission eliminated the broadcast main studio rule. The Order retains the requirement that stations maintain a local or toll-free telephone number to ensure consumers have ready access to their local stations. The main studio rule, adopted nearly 80 years ago, currently requires each AM radio, FM radio, and television broadcast station to have a main studio located in or near its local community. The rule was implemented to facilitate input from community members and the station’s participation in community activities. The Commission recognizes that today the public can access information via broadcasters’ online public file, and stations and community members can interact directly through alternative means such as e-mail, social media, and the telephone. Given this, the Commission found that requiring broadcasters to maintain a main studio is outdated and unnecessarily burdensome. Elimination of the main studio rule should produce substantial cost-saving benefits for broadcasters that can be directed toward such things as programming, equipment upgrades, newsgathering, and other services that benefit consumers. It will also make it easier for broadcasters to prevent stations in small towns from going dark and to launch new stations in rural areas.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-eliminates-main-studio-rule | Federal Communications Commission | B&C | Washington Post | The Hill
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
PRES SEC SANDERS ON MEDIA HOSTILITY TOWARD TRUMP
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Erik Wemple]
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doesn’t like the media’s tone these days. “I’ve never been attacked more, questioned more. I was called a liar by a major network in an official statement, I’ve been called outrageous things on air, and it goes unquestioned, no pushback,” said Sanders. “I do think that there is a greater sense of hostility that I’ve seen in this administration than in previous, and I think that you see that reflected in the numbers, in the coverage,” said Sanders, who cited a study showing that 93 percent of the coverage was negative and 7 percent positive. Indeed, studies have shown overwhelmingly negative coverage of President Donald Trump in the mainstream media. “If you compare that to the first nine months of the the Obama administration, it was 40-60, so for people to pretend like there isn’t a greater sense of hostility toward this administration, I think, would be to ignore real facts.”
benton.org/headlines/press-sec-sanders-cites-real-facts-show-media-hostility-toward-president-trump | Washington Post
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ELECTIONS & MEDIA
CLINTON CAMPAIGN, DNC PAID FOR RESEARCH THAT LED TO RUSSIA DOSSIER
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Adam Entous, Devlin Barret, Rosalind Helderman]
The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about Donald Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, apparently. Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research. After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the US intelligence community, apparently. Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained the firm in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Prior to that agreement, Fusion GPS’s research into Trump was funded by a still unknown Republican client during the GOP primary. The Clinton campaign and the DNC through the law firm continued to fund Fusion GPS’s research through the end of October 2016, days before Election Day.
benton.org/headlines/clinton-campaign-dnc-paid-research-led-russia-dossier | Washington Post
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GOP, INDUSTRY SKEPTICAL OF NEW RULES FOR ONLINE POLITICAL ADS
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Ali Breland]
Republicans and the advertising industry at a hearing Oct 24 criticized proposals to expand disclosure rules on online political ads amid revelations Russian actors used social media platforms to influence the 2016 election. Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Technology that new rules would unduly burden digital publishers. “One of the problems I have with the Honest Ads Act is its placing the burden on smaller publishers that don’t have the financial wherewithal to shoulder that burden,” he said, referring to legislation offered in the Senate that would impose new regulations on web companies. Rep Paul Mitchell (R-MI) blasted the idea of holding companies like Facebook and Google to the same rules as other media over political ads. “On the internet post, the provider, the intermediary is not responsible for it. They didn’t write it. They didn’t hire them, they didn’t determine who they are, yet you want to hold them to the same standard as your newspaper, which is an entirely different format,” he said. Rep Mitchell said new rules would infringe on free speech.
benton.org/headlines/gop-industry-skeptical-new-rules-online-political-ads | Hill, The
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JOURNALISM
RESULTS FROM FOCUS GROUPS IN FOUR US CITIES
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Pete Brown, Andrea Wenzel, Meritxell Roca-Sales]
As more and more people get at least some of their news from social platforms, this study showcases perspectives on what the increasingly distributed environment looks like in day-to-day media lives. Drawing from thirteen focus groups conducted in four cities across the United States, we sample voices of residents who reflect on their news habits, the influence of algorithms, local news, brands, privacy concerns, and what all this means for journalistic business models. While our overall study complicates any notion of a singular audience with singular wants, it offered insights from varied perspectives that may be of value for both publishers and platforms:
Publishers and platforms interested in rebuilding and maintaining relationships of trust with audiences should invest in media literacy that includes a) skills for verifying brands, b) algorithm literacy, and c) privacy literacy. Effectively tackling these areas will require a shift in attitude and strategy for platform companies—reluctant companies should note the risk of losing users alienated by the opacity of their operations. However, it must be noted that algorithmic transparency is required before algorithmic literacy can be achieved.
Platforms should note that strategies to prolong engagement by exposing users to perspectives only with which they agree may backfire as some people turn away from platforms due to perceived echo chambers.
Additional research is needed to monitor existing efforts to increase the visibility of local news on social platforms, though there is likely a need for platform companies to do more in addressing this critical element of the news ecosystem.
Platforms and other stakeholders committed to verification should take note of public skepticism regarding quick fixes to the challenge of fake news and the nuance required to not only address “imposter content” and “fabricated content,” but also the absence or presence of partisan content.
Publishers should approach business models such as native advertising and sponsored links with caution given their potential to jeopardize relationships of trust with readers. However, additional research and a dedicated study of audience attitudes toward journalistic business models would be valuable.
benton.org/headlines/they-were-just-following-me-and-giving-me-sugar-results-focus-groups-four-us-cities | Columbia Journalism Review
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GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CONGRESS OPENS PROBE INTO FBI’S HANDLING OF CLINTON E-MAIL INVESTIGATION
[SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: David Kravets]
Two House committees announced that they would conduct a joint probe into the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation. The Clinton investigation concluded with no charges being levied against the former secretary of state who was running for president under the Democratic ticket. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said in a joint statement that they are unsatisfied with how the probe into Clinton's private e-mail server concluded. Among other things, the chairmen want to know why the bureau publicly said it was investigating Clinton while keeping silent that it was looking into President Donald Trump's campaign associates and their connections to Russia. "Our justice system is represented by a blind-folded woman holding a set of scales. Those scales do not tip to the right or the left; they do not recognize wealth, power, or social status," Chairmen Goodlatte and Gowdy said in a joint statement. "The impartiality of our justice system is the bedrock of our republic, and our fellow citizens must have confidence in its objectivity, independence, and evenhandedness. The law is the most equalizing force in this country. No entity or individual is exempt from oversight."
benton.org/headlines/congress-opens-probe-fbis-handling-clinton-e-mail-investigation | Ars Technica | Press release
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POLICYMAKERS
SEN FLAKE WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION
[SOURCE: NPR, AUTHOR:
Sen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said that he will not seek re-election in 2018. He said, "there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party." Sen Flake decried the current coarse tone of American politics in a speech on the Senate floor. "We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country — the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms, and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth or decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have all been elected to serve," Flake said. Sen Flake introduced a resolution to invalidate the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules back in March, which was ultimately passed.
benton.org/headlines/sen-jeff-flake-r-az-trump-critic-will-not-seek-re-election-2018 | NPR | Washington Post | The Hill | Vox
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