News

WASHINGTON — Grammy-nominated musician Moby joined today with Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, to demand that Congress reject upcoming legislation that would allow AT&T, Verizon, and other telecommunications giants to take over the Internet.

WASHINGTON — Rock group R.E.M. is joining Moby and a growing list of musicians pushing Congress to protect the Internet from corporate takeover by AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other telecommunications giants.

NEW YORK — Days after the nation’s largest owner of radio stations fired a controversial New York deejay, an alliance of media watchdogs, consumer groups and community organizations called on the Federal Communications Commission to hold Clear Channel Communications accountable for its record of broadcasting racist and hate-filled speech on the public airwaves.

WASHINGTON — As the SavetheInternet.com Coalition passed 500,000 signatures supporting Internet freedom, a pair of key bills protecting Network Neutrality were introduced in Congress and the New York Times wrote a powerful endorsement of this crucial issue.

The New York Times wrote:

WASHINGTON — Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee struck a blow to Internet freedom by voting down a proposal to protect Network Neutrality from attacks by companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast.

WASHINGTON — Free Press today called for Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) to abstain from voting on any bills that could benefit telecom giant AT&T — following news reports of a serious conflict of interest.

WASHINGTON — The SavetheInternet.com Coalition today launched a campaign to defend the free and open Internet from a bill being voted on in the House of Representatives beginning this week.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has launched a formal investigation into growing payola scandal at four of the nation’s largest radio broadcasters. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the FCC has issued “letters of inquiry” seeking documents from Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Entercom Communications and Citadel Broadcasting.

WASHINGTON — The Center for Media Democracy and Free Press today exposed an epidemic of fake news infiltrating local television broadcasts across country. At a press conference in Washington with FCC Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein, the groups called for a crackdown on stations that present corporate-sponsored videos as genuine news to an unsuspecting audience.

WASHINGTON — Four of the nation’s largest radio conglomerates reportedly are negotiating a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission to head off an investigation into programmers taking illegal payments from record companies to play or promote their artists.

Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group, today urged the FCC not to let payola broadcasters off the hook.