Media Policy

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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.

Viacom to the FCC: Beware the Comcast/NBC Merger

[Source: StopBigMedia.com, by Josh Stearns, December 15, 2010]
Something surprising just happened.One of the world’s largest media giants came out with a long list of concerns about the proposed Comcast/NBC-Universal merger. The LA Times reported this week ...

Piracy Fight Shuts Down Music Blogs

[Source: The New York Times, by Ben Sisario, December 13, 2010]
Thanksgiving Day had barely begun when Kevin Hofman’s BlackBerry buzzed. It was one of the technical operators of OnSmash.com, Mr. Hofman’s popular hip-hop blog, telling him that the site had gone ...

Start-Up Video Company Asks FCC to Improve Open Internet Proposal

[Source: Internet Architecture and Innovation, by Barbara van Schewick, December 10, 2010]
On December 1, the chairman of the FCC proposed a set of rules designed to protect the open Internet. He would like the commission to adopt this proposal at its open meeting on December 21. Since ...

Minority Media Group Takes on Obama Over Comcast-NBC Universal Merger

[Source: The Hill, by Sara Jerome, December 6, 2010]
A minority media group is taking its opposition to the Comcast-NBC Universal merger directly to President Obama, citing his promises to foster diversity and fight corruption.The National Coalition ...

Wireless Gets a Free Pass on Net Neutrality

[Source: ArsTechnica, by Nate Anderson, December 1, 2010]
Throttle away, mobile broadband providers! This morning, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski provided a preview of the network neutrality rules his agency has drafted which will go to a vote on ...

The Money & Media Election Complex

[Source: The Nation, by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney, November 10, 2010]
Like the wizard telling the people of Oz to "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain," Karl Rove used media appearances at the close of the 2010 midterm campaign to dismiss President ...

Bad Timing: Comcast, Netflix, NN, Cable Modems, and NBCU

[Source: Susan Crawford Blog, by Susan Crawford, November 29, 2010]
Comcast, the largest broadband provider, largest pay-TV company, and third-largest telephone company in the country, distributes communications services to more than a third of the ...

Netflix Partner Says Comcast ‘Toll’ Threatens Online Video Delivery

[Source: The New York Times, by Brian Stelter, November 29, 2010]
Level 3 Communications, a central partner in the Netflix online movie service, accused Comcast on Monday of charging a new fee that puts Internet video companies at a competitive ...

Why Broadband Service in the U.S. Is So Awful - And One Step That Could Change It

[Source: Scientific American, by Editorial, October 4, 2010]
The average U.S. household has to pay an exorbitant amount of money for an Internet connection that the rest of the industrial world would find mediocre. According to a recent report by the ...

Media Policy Meets Cultural Policy: Bedtime Stories for the Digital Age

[Source: October 19, 2010]
A Conversation with Michelle Coffey and Helen De Michiel, moderated by Alyce MyattGrantmakers in the Arts Annual ConferenceChicago, ILTuesday, October 19, 2010, 9:30 am