Localism

The Seattle Community Network (SCN) is a volunteer-based, grassroots community nonprofit with a small operating budget (currently averaging $10-$50K in grants, donations, or in-kind contributions per year) that installs and provides internet access for homeless shelters. This post describes the software infrastructure we use to run our network and operations. The solutions detailed here will be most apt for other community networks that feature similar organizational styles and seek to minimize operating costs.

A Digital Divide Simulation exercise convened by Neighborhood Allies with partner organizations, including the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance, coincided with  with the start of Digital Inclusion Week.

The Federal Communications Commission voted to advance its quadrennial regulatory review of its broadcast ownership rules. Through the action, the FCC seeks comment on whether and how the media ownership rules serve the public interest in light of emerging technologies and constantly changing media marketplace conditions.

Local U.S. television news provides citizens with crucial local information, particularly during periods of heightened political, social, or environmental salience. Yet local television news is under increased pressure to consolidate, which may serve to de-localize local news reporting by duplicating news content delivery across local broadcast stations. We employed automated text reuse methods to measure the extent to which local broadcast station pairs duplicated (exact text reuse) each other’s news content. Key findings include:

Community-driven outcomes contracts (CDOCs) focus on advancing social outcomes in Indigenous communities, including in areas such as health, housing, and energy security. Like other outcomes-based financing models, CDOCs aim to attract private capital by linking repayments to investors to the achievement of measurable socially beneficial outcomes. They depart from traditional models, however, in the way in which they define those outcomes and develop solutions. CDOCs’ broad philosophy is to shift money and power into the hands of the communities most affected by social challenges.

Steven Renderos is the executive director of MediaJustice, a national nonprofit based in Oakland, California, that advocates for the technology rights of people of color. What’s one big, underrated idea? "Winning the AI race doesn’t matter if our communities lose. Communities deserve the right to shape what technology does in their lives.

The Federal Communications Commission approved Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global and its subsidiaries, including the ultimate parent company of the CBS network of owned and operated broadcast television stations, by granting a series of applications that transfer FCC licenses and authorizations.

I am mindful of the long-standing role that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has played in supporting educational and cultural programming across the country, particularly in rural and underserved areas. However, Americans are increasingly skeptical of media institutions, with trust in media at historic lows. That reality cannot be ignored.

Public television stations will be “forced to make hard decisions in the weeks and months ahead,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger said after the Senate voted in the middle of the night to approve a bill that cancels all the federal funding for the network and for NPR. Radio and TV stations may need to lay off staffers and cut back on programming.

Indigenous communities throughout North America continue to face the unfortunate reality of being unserved and underserved in terms of internet access. Despite billions of dollars invested in broadband infrastructure over the past few decades, there are still considerable barriers to closing the digital divide in Indigenous communities. The current investments have the potential to make the coming years among the most productive in solving the problem.