News

Big Telecom’s best friend in Congress just got a very big promotion.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the arch-conservative Tennessee Republican who has received mountains of campaign cash from the telecom industry, has been chosen by the GOP to lead a key congressional subcommittee with broad jurisdiction over cable, phone and internet issues.

WASHINGTON — Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee selected Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R–Tennessee) to chair the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

The advocacy group Free Press is encouraging public broadcasters to invest their earnings back into local news and information.

A December panel featuring News Voices: New Jersey Director Mike Rispoli advised New Jersey journalists.

Some of America’s biggest cable companies are asking the government to roll back a landmark set of privacy regulations it approved last fall — kicking off an effort by the industry and its allies to dismantle key internet policies of the Obama years.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced his intention to step down from the federal agency on Jan. 20, 2017, at the end of President Barack Obama’s term.

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Free Press released a comprehensive study examining and exposing links between the digital divide and systemic discrimination in America.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, CEOs Randall Stephenson of AT&T and Jeffrey Bewkes of Time Warner testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee about the proposed $107 billion merger of their two communications companies.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission sent letters urging AT&T and Verizon to explain why their programs favoring affiliated video services do not violate the agency’s Net Neutrality rules, which protect internet users against unreasonable discrimination by broadband providers.

Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund launched a campaign to set aside proceeds from the auction of public TV station licenses to strengthen local journalism and community-information projects.