Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Gov Jim Justice (R-WV) joined representatives from Facebook for an annuncement regarding Facebook’s plans to build a fiber optic cable that will run through parts of West Virginia. The project is expected to begin in 2019 and will result in an approximate 275-mile route in West Virginia, providing the state with enhanced fiber optic connectivity. “Today’s announcement with Facebook is an important step toward ensuring our state has the critical infrastructure to support broadband deployment, and I know it will help so many in our state, especially the rural communities that are unserved," said Sen Capito. The construction, which is expected to last roughly 18 to 24 months, will begin in Ashburn (VA) and end in Columbus (OH) connecting two major internet exchanges. As a result of the project, broadband providers will be able to expand middle-mile networks into communities along the route, and it will establish West Virginia as a preferred route for fiber backbone construction.

In Jan, Gov Phil Bryant (R-MS) signed off on a bill by the Mississippi Legislature that gave  approval for electric cooperatives in the state to provide broadband internet service. The Mississippi Broadband Enabling Act, however, was just the first step. The co-ops must now find ways to fund such projects.  Michael Callahan, CEO of Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi, said getting the co-ops to expand into internet service will be a “tough process.” “We’re doing our due diligence,” he said. “We’re all looking at this, spending money on surveys, doing studies, talking to consultants ... we understand there’s a need. But we can’t escape the law of economics. We have to build a business plan that stands up to lenders loaning money and we can pay it back over time without putting our members at risk. That’s our primary purpose, to serve our electric customers. But I’m proud to say all 25 distribution companies in the state are looking at this.”

The President Donald Trump re-election campaign sparked widespread confusion inside the Trump administration and the cellular wireless industry March 1 when it advocated for a nationwide "wholesale" 5G network, which is 180 degrees from official White House policy. The Trump campaign is now walking back the statement from Kayleigh McEnany, national press secretary for Trump’s 2020 campaign, saying they did not intend to set new policy. McEnany said, "The White House sets the policy on 5G and all issues. Naturally, the campaign fully supports the president’s priorities and his policy agenda. There is no daylight between the White House and the campaign." Apparently, 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale has been arguing for an "open wholesale market with a privatized company that is not a carrier" because he believes it would be politically advntageous to Trump in 2020. "A 5G network that connected rural America to high-speed internet would increase turnout and let the president talk directly to rural Americans," an anonymous source added, paraphrasing Parscale's private views. 

The National Security Agency has quietly shut down a system that analyzes logs of Americans’ domestic calls and texts, according to a senior Republican congressional aide, halting a program that has touched off disputes about privacy and the rule of law since the Sept. 11 attacks. The agency has not used the system in months, and the Trump administration might not ask Congress to renew its legal authority, which is set to expire at the end of the year, according to the aide, Luke Murry, the House minority leader’s national security adviser.

An investigation reveals in detail how Tea-Party connected conservative activists used the appearance of local newspapers to promote messages paid for or supported by outside or undisclosed interests. Steve Gill, for example, is the political editor of the Tennessee Star, but he also owns a media consulting company that at least one candidate and one Political Action Committee (PAC) paid before receiving positive coverage in the Tennessee Star. Several Star writers have in the past or currently work for PACs or political campaigns that they write about, without disclosing that fact. Though its owners claim that the Tennessee Star is funded by advertising revenue, it appears to be supported by wealthy benefactors. Whatever the Tennessee Star is, it is not a local newspaper producing transparent journalism.

Gill, Michael Patrick Leahy, and Christina Botteri have been expanding their version of journalism to other battleground states in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. They are, they say, co-founders of a new, Delaware-registered company, Star News Digital Media, Inc., whose explicit strategy is to target battleground states with conservative news. So far, Leahy, Gill, and Botteri have added The Ohio Star and The Minnesota Sun to their network of purportedly local newspapers. These papers are effective carbon copies of the Tennessee Star.