News

CHICAGO — As part of this week’s YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, Free Press is convening a roundtable discussion with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps on the future of the media — from broadcast to broadband.

WHAT: “A View from Washington: Winning a Better Media for Everyone”
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 2, 2:00 p.m.

WASHINGTON — News reports today indicate that the Bancroft family will accept Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion bid for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal. Media scholar and Free Press President Robert W. McChesney made the following statement:

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission today set the rules governing the auction of the highly valued 700 MHz band of spectrum. The FCC will require the auction winner to use a chunk of the airwaves to build a network where consumers can attach any mobile device and use any application.

WASHINGTON — Consumer groups blasted the Federal Communications Commission today for releasing biased research favoring further media consolidation. In a new report, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Free Press show how the FCC designed a series of studies — released today — to favor lifting the longstanding ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership.

WASHINGTON — Free Press commended Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and his colleagues for introducing legislation to bring broadband competition to communities across the country. Co-sponsored by Sens.

WASHINGTON — Today, Free Press released Shooting the Messenger, a new report that dispels the many myths manufactured by the telecommunications industry to excuse America’s poor broadband performance compared to the rest of the world.

WASHINGTON — Free Press commended the Senate Commerce Committee today for unanimously approving the “Broadband Data Improvement Act” (S. 1492), legislation that would address current gaps in data on the availability, speed and value of U.S. broadband. Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott issued the following statement:

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of public comments supporting Net Neutrality flooded the Federal Communications Commission before the close of the agency’s official inquiry yesterday. In a landslide, well over 95 percent of the comments called for rules that prohibit phone and cable companies from discriminating against Web sites or services.

WASHINGTON — The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has reached a “tentative” agreement to take over Dow Jones Co. for $5 billion.

Robert W. McChesney, president of the media reform group Free Press and Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois, made the following statement:

WASHINGTON — Today, Free Press launched FreetheiPhone.org — a campaign demanding an open, competitive wireless Internet for everyone. Apple’s iPhone — locked into AT&T’s slow, closed network — is a bellweather for the future of mobile Internet.