Six months into Comcast’s FCC-mandated program to provide low-income households with affordable broadband, communities are finding it difficult to access the offer. And police in Oakland, Calif., arrested seven credentialed journalists during an Occupy protest.

The FCC is considering new rules that would give viewers more information about how broadcasters use the public airwaves. And a new Free Press report explores the dependency between those who control political power and those who control the airwaves — and recommends ways to change this dynamic.

Thanks to the participation of thousands of websites in a well-publicized protest against SOPA and PIPA, the bills finally began making headlines on TV news programs — and changing minds in Congress. And many traditional and new media outlets are sending predominantly male staff on the campaign trail, despite the fact that 53 percent of voters are women.

TV news programs are ignoring controversial legislation that could end the Internet as we know it. And residents of California’s eastern Coachella Valley finally have reporters they can rely on to produce hard-hitting investigative media: youth journalists.

A new book that tells the story of race and the American media has been garnering interest and accolades. The book, co-authored by Free Press’ Joseph Torres, explores how people of color have fought for fair and just treatment from the mainstream media — and are still fighting for it today.

Media Minutes presents its countdown of the year in media. Among the important media stories of 2011: An appeals court ruled against further media consolidation, the Senate slapped down an attempt to kill Net Neutrality and the Occupy movement highlighted police mistreatment of journalists.

Wireless users got an early holiday present this week when the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile collapsed. But Verizon’s proposed spectrum deal with several cable companies is a big lump of coal for consumers. And the 12th annual radio program, Calls from Home, is airing the voices of family members sending holiday greetings to incarcerated loved ones.

A hidden application that can track just about everything users do on their cellphones has been found on several models of AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile Android phones. And people-powered lobbying killed a bill that would have allowed marketers and bill collectors make countless calls to mobile phones – and run up cellphone bills.

Related Stories

Improving the quality of news coverage and presenting a greater range of viewpoints were the main topics of discussion at an FCC hearing in Atlanta. And as more people access news and information via the Internet, are they getting journalism that values diversity, transparency and accountability?

Could it be that the days of rubberstamping mega telecommunications mergers in Washington, D.C. are over? Maybe not, but for AT&T, at least, the hiccups disrupting its plan to purchase wireless competitor T-Mobile just keep coming. And a new expose in Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting’s Extra!