October 2017

The commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission seemed to act in rapid-fire time this week to approve 5-0 an order aimed at helping hurricane-battered telecom networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But look closer for tensions beneath the surface.

Chairman Ajit Pai shot down ideas from Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (without calling her out by name) in his statement approving the order: "Because what’s needed to help the people of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands right now is action, not a hearing or a report." Rosenworcel in Sept called for public hearings in and a report on hurricane-battered parts of the U.S. to call attention to telecom woes following the storms. She strongly defended those ideas in her own statement Oct 4, saying it “boggles my mind” that the agency can’t make the same commitments it did following Katrina and Sandy. “Mother Nature’s wrath is sure to visit us again,” warned Rosenworcel, Pai’s colleague since they were sworn in together in 2012.

The Supreme Court is setting aside a request to live stream its oral arguments. The attorney for Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. told members of Congress that live streaming even the audio portion of its oral arguments might impact the outcome. "The Chief Justice appreciated and shares your ultimate goal of increasing public transparency and improving public understanding of the Supreme Court," Roberts' attorney, Jeffrey P. Minear, wrote the four members of Congress seeking to have the court's gerrymandering case live streamed in audio. "I am sure you are, however, familiar with the Justices' concerns surrounding the live broadcast or streaming of oral arguments, which could adversely affect the character and quality of the dialogue between the attorneys and Justices. Consequently, the Court is unable to accommodate your request."

Digiday published a story last week suggesting that many major publishers are shifting away from Facebook toward other social platforms to distribute their work. “Facebook loses attention as publishers shift focus to other platforms,” the headline announced. But if publishers are really going cold on Facebook, they have a funny way of showing it. Let’s take CNN, which Digiday reported was “de-emphasizing Facebook” in favor of other platforms.

Far from showing signs of de-emphasizing Facebook, this was the sixth month out of the last seven where the number of Facebook posts surpassed the number made in the previous month. Data collected from CrowdTangle (which is now owned by Facebook) indicates that CNN posted more in September to Facebook than any month in the last two years. If the newsroom resources being dedicated to Facebook are being reeled in, it isn’t reflected in the number of raw posts.