Media Policy

Restrictive media policies can curtail access to the content we do have through the infrastructure we currently have in place. There are clear roles for funders to play in helping to address media policy issues and GFEM works to keep funders abreast of the constantly shifting media policy environment.

The Media Policy Working Group (MPWG) was created to raise awareness and build knowledge about key issues in media policy within the broader philanthropic community. Our aim is to engage and educate grantmakers across fields about the ever-changing media policy and communications policy landscape, as well as foster collaboration among interested donors in support of targeted activities to help advance the media policy field. MPWG activities include a quarterly teleconference and periodic phone briefings on timely issues in addition to quarterly updates in the GFEM newsletter. MPWG also partners with other funder affinity groups to organize media policy-related sessions at national gatherings. Membership is open to grantmakers working in and outside the U.S. with an interest in learning and sharing grantmaking experiences about media policy in the public interest. If you would like to join the MPWG please contact jperlstein (at) gfem (dot) org.

Spectrum Crisis, Hyperbole or Quest for Market Control?

[Source: Benton Foundation, by Kevin Taglang, April 20, 2012]
Fueled in no small part by a Congressional hearing, the need for more spectrum devoted to wireless telecommunications services was a big topic this week. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint say ...

Susan Crawford Keynote at TNW2012

[Source: The Next Web, by Martin Bryant, May 1, 2012]
High-speed Internet should be a utility like water, open to all and carrying all data neutrally. That’s what Internet policy visionary Susan Crawford believes, and she wants us all to join ...

CISPA: Necessary Protection or Invasion of Privacy?

[Source: Marketplace, by John Moe, April 17, 2012]
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, is either a welcome resource in preventing cyber attacks or a troubling invasion of privacy, depending who you ask. The bill passed ...

Media Access Project Shutting Down

[Source: Radio & Television Business Report, by Dave Seyler, April 3, 2012]
MAP was more than just a media watchdog – it was a public interest law firm that went to court to fight for the public in cases involving the media in general and the First Amendment and ...

Washington Crams Before Spring Break

[Source: The Benton Foundation, by Kevin Taglang, March 30, 2012]
With a two-week Spring Recess looming, Washington communications policymakers were busy this week.

Open vs. Closed: What Kind of Internet Do We Want?

[Source: GigaOm, by Mathew Ingram, March 23, 2012]
If you step back far enough, beyond the ever-present Facebook vs. Google or apps vs. browser debates , what you see is a tug-of-war that has been going on ever since the internet first started to ...

The House GOP Plan to Gut the FCC

[Source: Wired, by Susan Crawford, March 22, 2012]
[Opinion] When President Clinton used an electronic pen to sign the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the country assumed that he was unleashing tremendous telecom competition that would help ...

Public Ownership of Networks Can Solve Broadband Policy Fights

[Source: Community Broadband Networks, by Eric Null, February 19, 2012]
Eric Null is a third-year law student at Cardozo Law School in New York City. He is passionate about corporate and intellectual property law, as well as technology and telecommunications policy.

Broadcasting, Disclosure and Democracy

[Source: The Benton Foundation, by Kevin Taglang, February 10, 2012]
When we speak of “wireless” these days, we’re talking about cell phones and other devices we use on the go – many enabled with mobile broadband. But the term wireless first came into use about 100 ...

Since the FCC No Longer Listens, AT&T Tries Congress

[Source: GigaOm, by Stacey Higginbotham, February 9, 2012]
The payroll extension tax before Congress has two surprisingly technical segments related to mobile broadband that raise big mobile broadband questions — namely, will the FCC be allowed to set ...