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  2. December 2017

December 2017

Good Journalism Won't Be Enough

[Commentary]  It is time to discard the perception of “good journalism” as being enough. Whether newsrooms want to acknowledge it or not, there’s a substantial disconnect between them and the public on the role of journalism in our communities and for our democracy. Ignoring that disconnect will not make it go away. Instead, let 2018 be the year that journalism starts by listening and believing that people do actually, deeply care about quality news and information.

President Trump congratulated Murdoch on Disney purchase of Fox assets

President Donald Trump called to congratulate 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch on Dec 14 following the announcement that Disney will buy most of Fox for more than $50 billion. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president is hopeful about the deal's effects on job creation.  "The president spoke with Rupert Murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal and thinks that, to use one of the president's favorite words, that this could be a great thing for jobs," she said.  "And he certainly looks forward to and is hoping to see a lot more of those created."

FCC Opens Review of National Broadcast TV Ownership Cap

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking initiating a comprehensive review of the national television audience reach cap, including the so-called UHF discount used by broadcasters to determine compliance with the cap. The national cap limits entities from owning or controlling television stations that, together, reach more than 39 percent of the television households in the country. The Commission’s last review of this rule occurred when the video marketplace looked very different and most Americans had fewer options for watching video programming.

FCC Proposes Modernizing Pay TV Subscriber Notification Rules

The Federal Communications Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that explores ways to enable pay-tv providers (multichannel video programming distributors in regulatoryspeak), such as cable and satellite providers, to communicate with their subscribers in more efficient and less costly ways. Specifically, the Notice proposes to allow cable operators to send general written notices to subscribers by email, as long as they use a verified email address and comply with other consumer safeguards.

How to Spot the End of Net Neutrality

Now that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under chairman Ajit Pai has officially repealed net neutrality rules that have been in effect since 2015, the question becomes: Will the web really change?  Experts say that, if net neutrality norms do start to erode, it will probably happen incrementally, in ways that may be hard to recognize at first.  Here's what consumers should watch for. 

With FCC’s net neutrality ruling, the US could lose its lead in online consumer protection

[Commentary] As the US continues to debate whether to embrace internet freedom, the world is doing so already, with many countries imposing even stronger rules than the ones the Federal Communications Commission did away with. Other countries are facing similar dilemmas about how to deal with today’s digital realities, and are slowly and individually contributing to a patchwork of laws that differ from country to country.

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