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  2. July 2018

July 2018

What we lose when we let President Trump's tweets and insults take over the news

The media needs to stop letting President Donald Trump be its "assignment editor," Vox editor-at-large Ezra Klein says. There is no rule that "every time the president travels somewhere and opens their mouth, they get wall-to-wall coverage for days," Klein said. Rallies by previous presidents hardly attracted the type of attention that President Trump's do, he explained. Yet, when newsrooms scramble to cover PresidentTrump's rallies, such as the one held on July 5 in Montana, other, more important stories may be getting left behind.

Watch Out, CNN: President Trump's Supreme Court Frontrunner Is Bad News for Free Speech

President Donald Trump may go far in living up to his much-ridiculed pledge to open up libel laws to make it easier to sue media outlets. How? Turn no further than Abbas v. Foreign Policy Group, a 2014 decision at the US Appeals Court for the DC Circuit authored by recent Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh. At first blush, the decision looks like a win for libel defendants. In fact, when it came out, many reporters highlighted how Kavanaugh poured cold water on the notion that asking a question could be actionable as defamation by implication.

United Church of Christ to Honor Brunner, Sohn at Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture

Two longtime advocates instrumental in shaping the media justice field will be honored October 11, 2018 at the 36th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture in Washington DC.

Communications Workers Oppose Kavanaugh Nomination

The Communications Workers of America said DC Appeals Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh should not be allowed to join the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh, a judicial conservative who has participated in numerous cases involving communications issues, was tapped by President Donald Trump on July 9 to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is exiting at the end of July.

Sponsor 

Office of Communication, Inc.

United Church of Christ

Date 
Thu, 10/11/2018 - 13:00

Helen Brunner, founding director of the Media Democracy Fund, will deliver this year’s lecture, while Gigi B. Sohn, a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate, will receive the Everett C. Parker Award.


Related Headlines 
United Church of Christ to Honor Brunner, Sohn at Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture
Sponsor 

Schools Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition

Date 
Thu, 07/12/2018 - 16:00 to 17:00

The FCC has opened a Notice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to explore opening up the 2.5-GHz band for wireless broadband. This band is currently used for Education Broadband Services (EBS). SHLB welcomes the NPRM since it has the potential to foster broadband deployment in rural areas and accelerate the deployment of 5G, however we must also consider the impact on educators and the public.

Join us for our next Grow2Gig+ webinar as we explain what EBS is and why you should care, how it relates to 5G, and the implications of the FCC's NPRM.


Sponsor 

Technology Policy Institute 

Date 
Thu, 07/12/2018 - 17:00 to 19:30

The Digital Revolution and the proliferation of digital economy goods and services have been truly astonishing. However, what seems evident in daily life is not reflected in the nation’s GDP statistics. The value of “free goods” companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon produce is not included in GDP, which understates their contribution to economic welfare. As a result, true economic growth is also understated and the rate of inflation overstated. Policy makers rely on these important indicators to formulate monetary and fiscal policy.


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