BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017
Today's Events
COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY
President Trump says poll about fake news, published by ‘dishonest’ Politico, is real news [links to Benton summary]
Hopes Dim for Congressional Russia Inquiries as Parties Clash [links to New York Times]
Eugene Volokh: Freedom of expression on campus: An overview of some recent surveys [links to Washington Post]
Tightening Political Ad Disclosure Rules May Not Curb 'Fake News,' Interactive Advertising Bureau Says [links to Benton summary]
CONTENT
Rep Pallone: Google, Facebook, Twitter Content Treatment Not 'Neutral'
Facebook moving non-promoted posts out of news feed in trial
Margaret Sullivan: When Facebook and Google are ‘weaponized,’ the victim is reality [links to Washington Post]
Why the Fact-Checking at Facebook Needs to Be Checked [links to New York Times]
Russia’s Favored Outlet Is an Online News Giant. YouTube Helped. [links to New York Times]
Social media site favored by 'alt-right' drops Google lawsuit [links to Benton summary]
INTERNET/BROADBAND
California rural broadband bill signed by Gov Brown
A Legislative Solution For Net Neutrality May Be Close - Forbes op-ed
Craig Settles: Bill Would Prevent Public Networks in Michigan [links to Daily Yonder]
OWNERSHIP
President Trump’s FCC could make ‘fake news’ harder to combat - Newsmax Media op-ed
How Big Tech Became A Bipartisan Whipping Boy [links to Wired]
AT&T, Time Warner extend merger deadline amid pending DOJ approval [links to Benton summary]
T-Mobile, Sprint show signs of impending merger [links to Benton summary]
Can Alphabet’s Jigsaw Solve Google’s Most Vexing Problems? [links to Benton summary]
Cisco to Buy BroadSoft for $1.7 Billion [links to Wall Street Journal]
SECURITY/PRIVACY
Justice Department moves to end routine gag orders on tech firms [links to Washington Post]
FTC Provides Additional Guidance on COPPA and Voice Recordings - press release [links to Benton summary]
FBI Couldn't Access Nearly 7,000 Devices Because of Encryption [links to Benton summary]
Op-ed: When It Comes to Surveillance, Watch the Watchmen [links to New York Times]
Kaspersky Lab to open antivirus software to outside review [links to Associated Press]
The Reaper IoT Botnet has already Infected a Million Networks [links to Wired]
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
FirstNet Will Deal Directly With Tribal Nations [links to Benton summary]
Hurricane Maria Communications Status Report for Oct. 23 [links to Federal Communications Commission]
Ranking global cities on public safety innovation [links to Brookings]
ACCESSIBILITY
Remarks of Commissioner Clyburn, Accessibility Innovations Expo - speech [links to Benton summary]
WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
With Smart Farm Technology, Individual Plants Now Generate Data, Requiring Good Rural Broadband Coverage [links to telecompetitor]
Verizon CFO: Mobile 5G ‘not a 2018 activity’ [links to Fierce]
JOURNALISM
Journalism’s Broken Business Model Won’t Be Solved by Billionaires [links to Benton summary]
New Investigative Website Fights Rich And Powerful ‘Who Call the Shots’ [links to Huffington Post]
CNN mocks President Trump with 'facts first' ads [links to Hill, The]
COMMUNITY MEDIA
Bringing the ‘Public’ Back to Public Media - Media Shift op-ed
LABOR
In Camden, Bridging the Skills Gap Means More than Tech Training [links to Benton summary]
GOVERNMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
Police turn body cams into tools for public relations, not accountability [links to Columbia Journalism Review]
LOBBYING
Amazon, Facebook and Google beef up lobbying spending [links to Benton summary]
COMPANY NEWS
T-Mobile Skirts Merger Issue as Customer Base Grows [links to Wall Street Journal]
POLICYMAKERS
NAACP Elects New President, Will Assume More Political Non-Profit Tax Status [links to National Public Radio]
STORIES FROM ABROAD
Russian Radio Journalist Is Stabbed, Renewing Fears of Attacks on News Media [links to New York Times]
In Joke Few Find Funny, Czech President Waves Fake Gun Marked ‘For Journalists’ [links to Huffington Post]
Russian Journalist Stabbed, Renewing Fears of Attacks on Media [links to New York Times]
Is China building a voice database to identify its citizens? [links to Fast Company]
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CONTENT
PALLONE: GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, TWITTER CONTENT TREATMENT NOT 'NEUTRAL'
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
House Commerce Committing Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) says top edge player online content management policies are not "neutral," a charge that comes as the network neutrality debate continues to rage on. “With a goal of ad clicks or driving page views, these companies’ policies are not neutral; they actively shape content on the web," said Ranking Member Pallone. That came in a request for a meeting with representatives of those edge giants about how they police content on their sites as social media's role in fake news and Russian election meddling becomes grows as a focus of Hill attention. It also is a response to reports of vague, confusing, and inconsistently applied content guidelines. Usually, ISPs have been targeted for net neutrality criticisms, but increasingly edge providers are at least at the edges of the conversation on Capitol Hill, and Pallone, along with the committee Democrats of which he is the leader, is clearly trying to include tech companies in conversations about their role in net neutrality and the First Amendment going forward.
benton.org/headlines/rep-pallone-google-facebook-twitter-content-treatment-not-neutral | Broadcasting&Cable | The Hill
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FACEBOOK MOVING NON-PROMOTED POSTS OUT OF NEWS FEED IN TRIAL
[SOURCE: The Guardian, AUTHOR: Alex Hern]
Facebook is testing a major change that would shift non-promoted posts out of its news feed, a move that could be catastrophic for publishers relying on the social network for their audience. A new system being trialled in six countries including Slovakia, Serbia and Sri Lanka sees almost all non-promoted posts shifted over to a secondary feed, leaving the main feed focused entirely on original content from friends, and advertisements. The change has seen users’ engagement with Facebook pages drop precipitously, by 60% to 80% . If replicated more broadly, such a change would destroy many smaller publishers, as well as larger ones with an outsized reliance on social media referrals for visitors.
benton.org/headlines/facebook-moving-non-promoted-posts-out-news-feed-trial | Guardian, The | Adweek | Vox | The Hill
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INTERNET/BROADBAND
CALIFORNIA RURAL BROADBAND LAW
[SOURCE: Record-Bee, AUTHOR: ]
Among hundreds of bills signed into law on Oct 22 by Gov Jerry Brown (D-CA) was the rural broadband measure championed by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D — Winters), Several past efforts to increase funding to close the Digital Divide were intensely opposed by the largest telecommunications and cable companies. After a three-year stalemate, this bill represents a cooperative effort between legislators of both houses and both parties, consumer advocates, and representatives from the telecommunications and cable industries to invest in broadband access and rural development. The California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) is a state program aimed at closing the Digital Divide. The CASF does not depend upon General Fund dollars, but instead is funded by a small, existing surcharge on in-state phone bills. The current goal of this program is to incentivize the expansion of broadband infrastructure to 98% of California households. AB 1665 expands this goal to 98% of households in every geographic region of the state. This new goal creates a target that cannot be achieved by serving urban and suburban areas alone; it will ensure broadband infrastructure projects funded by AB 1665 are focused in rural California. The law will take effect beginning January 1, 2018.
benton.org/headlines/california-rural-broadband-bill-signed-gov-brown | Record-Bee
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A LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION FOR NET NEUTRALITY MAY BE CLOSE
[SOURCE: Forbes, AUTHOR: Larry Downes]
[Commentary] It might seem that the prospects for a return to strong bi-partisan Internet policy, which began during the Clinton Administration, are no better now. There’s been no visible movement, for example, on a simple but effective compromise bill offered by senior Republicans in 2015. According to its sponsors, it remains on the table. But the stakes are about to get higher. The Federal Communications Commission is likely to vote before year-end to undo much of the Commission’s 2015 order reclassifying broadband Internet service providers as public utilities, an order which, almost as an after-thought, included the agency’s third attempt at network neutrality rules that could pass legal muster. Added urgency may help the stars align for serious negotiations in Congress. For one thing, an inevitable legal challenge to the upcoming order will go nowhere. Though it may take a year or more to work its way through the courts, the FCC’s undo of its earlier order will almost certainly be upheld. The time for a straightforward, uncontroversial legislative solution is now—not after the pro-utility advocates lose in court in another year or more, and not after another few turns of FCC Chairmen flipping the switch again and again. The net neutrality bill introduced in 2015--before the FCC needlessly reversed twenty years of bi-partisan policy--remains the best starting point we have. Assuming, that is, that Congress really wants to solve this problem once and for all.
[Larry Downes is the Project Director at Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy.]
benton.org/headlines/legislative-solution-net-neutrality-may-be-close | Forbes
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OWNERSHIP
TRUMPS FCC COULD MAKE 'FAKE NEWS' HARDER TO COMBAT
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christopher Ruddy]
[Commentary] Many Democrats have decried this Federal Communications Commission decision benefiting Sinclair, a conservative broadcaster with ties to Breitbart News. And while some conservatives are cheering the deal, the implications of FCC actions are troubling for most. The nonsensical decision to reinstitute the UHF discount will also open the door for NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox to buy local TV stations reaching more than 70 percent of US homes. Anyone who understands how these big media companies operate can see the danger. By owning local stations, the New York-based media networks could dictate local news coverage. With the planned elimination of the local studio rule, they will have a green light to do so. Before approving the Sinclair merger, the FCC has a duty to engage in a comprehensive and open media-ownership proceeding — one that seeks public comment and input from Congress. Anything less raises questions about impartiality and jeopardizes the integrity of the commission. Eliminating ownership rules that have served us well for more than 30 years is a momentous change. The American people must play a role in that decision.
[Christopher Ruddy is chief executive of Newsmax Media.]
benton.org/headlines/president-trumps-fcc-could-make-fake-news-harder-combat | Washington Post
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COMMUNITY MEDIA
BRINGING THE 'PUBLIC' BACK TO PUBLIC MEDIA
[SOURCE: Media Shift, AUTHOR: Sarah Alvarez]
[Commentary] In Nov it will be 50 years since the Public Broadcasting Act, steeped in the Great Society idealism of President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, became law. The act turned programming like “Sesame Street,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” into true public goods. Now, on the silver anniversary of the act, it’s completely plausible that the Trump Administration might celebrate by making good on their threats to defund as much of the public broadcasting apparatus as they can. While it’s unlikely NPR and PBS want this to happen, they have been preparing for a future without government money for a long time. The biggest stations have figured out how to bring in money without sacrificing quality. Still, the shift away from public money in public broadcasting has caused significant collateral damage: Public media, maybe unintentionally, now strives to serve an elite audience instead of an expansive and inclusive vision of the “public.” The hope is that more affluent audiences can be counted on to add to their closet full of pledge drive tote bags when the time comes. This is the same audience commercial news organizations look for so they can buy things advertisers sell. These target consumers have more news than they need. Perversely, that means even the most thought-provoking public media is used more for entertainment that anything else. I worry if we continue to ignore the information needs of news consumers representing a wide swath of economic and demographic realities, we will deserve any loss of relevance we experience.
[Sarah Alvarez is the founder of Outlier Media, a data journalism service delivering high value information to low income news consumers in Detroit via SMS.]
benton.org/headlines/bringing-public-back-public-media | Media Shift
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