Free Press Summit

Coalition Forms to Oppose NBCU-Comcast Deal

Stevie Converse — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:00:05 -0400

Full article: Mediaweek
Katy Bachman
A group of 21 businesses and public interest organizations has formed the Coalition for Competition in Media to oppose Comcast's bid to acquire 51 percent of NBC Universal. On its Web site competitioninmedia.org, the organization makes the claim that Comcast's controlling stake in NBCU would give it "unprecedented power nationally and in local cable markets around the country."

Free Press Lays Out Options for Very Big Public Media Trust Fund

Stevie Converse — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:04:17 -0400

Full article: Current
Karen Everhart
Free Press calls for creation of a public broadcasting trust fund and analyzes ways Congress could generate $2.5 billion a year for support of public broadcasting. That's about six times CPB's present annual appropriation of $420 million.

Clyburn Seeks Hearings on Comcast-NBC

Stevie Converse — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:17:31 -0400

Full article: TV Newscheck
Harry A. Jessell
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called for public hearings "outside of Beltway" on Comcast's proposed takeover of NBC Universal. Such hearings will force the FCC to see up-close how Americans feel about the merger, the Democrat said at a conference sponsored by Free Press, an advocacy group opposed to undue media consolidation.

Success on Net Neutrality

Stevie Converse — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:21:55 -0400

Full article: Alternet
Laura Flanders
Score another for a free and open Internet. The rapid-response organizing done online by public interest organizations was integral to this campaign. And it worked. The new regulations not done and dusted as they say, but so far so good.

FCC Plan Raises Broadcasters' Alarm, Wireless Cheer

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:05:27 -0400

Full article: Bloomberg News
Todd Shields
The U.S. plan to expand high-speed Internet service might come at a cost to broadcasters and that may signal a fight when lawmakers are asked to help turn television airwaves over to wireless competitors.

Comcast Fancast Expands Broadband Services

Stevie Converse — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:39:25 -0500

Full article: San Francisco Chronicle
Ryan Kim
Comcast introduced an on-demand service that allows cable TV and broadband subscribers to view many programs from a PC outside the home. Nonpartisan media reform organization Free Press criticized the rollout of Xfinity TV, saying it will only continue the cable industry's grip on content available only through paid services.

Major U.S. ISPs Want Low-End Broadband Standards

Stevie Converse — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:25:12 -0400

Full article: Internet News
Kenneth Corbin
The nation's largest ISPs have asked the Federal Communications Commission to set a relatively low baseline standard for broadband speed, in stark contrast to the recommendations of some advocacy groups.

Groups Urge FCC to Treat Broadband as Telecom Service

Stevie Converse — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:28:07 -0400

Full article: Congress Daily
David Hatch
Consumer advocates are urging the FCC to reclassify high-speed Internet as a telecom service, a major change that would have sweeping implications for cable and phone providers of broadband.

Free Press: Solutions for the Changing Media

Stevie Converse — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:08:46 -0400

Full article: Examiner.com
Christine Cube
Free Press held a summit about media policies for the digital age. Media reform activists, broadband insiders and watchdogs, media lawyers and creatives came together in support of a national broadband plan that will help "save" journalism and also reach the 40 percent of Americans who currently are not plugged into high-speed broadband.

Journalism Is a Public Service

Stevie Converse — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:33:01 -0400

Full article: Tell Somebody
In a recent interview, Free Press Senior Program Director Craig Aaron discusses the state of journalism, the future of the FCC and the recent <em>Free Press Summit: Changing Media</em>. (Audio 51:52)