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.

Reactions to the DoJ Suit Blocking Proposed AT&T/ T-Mobile Merger

[Source: by Josh Stearns, September 1, 2011]
Round up of reactions to the DOJ filing to block the AT&T / T-Mobile merger. Compiled and shared by Josh Stearns, Associate Program Director at Free Press.

BART and the New Era of Censorship

[Source: The Huffington Post, by Timothy Karr, August 18, 2011]
I have spent most of the week poring over news stories, blogs and commentary on last week's decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit officials to shut off cell-phone service to quash planned protests on ...

New Information on AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Proves It's About Eliminating Competition, Jobs

[Source: AlterNet, by Sarah Jaffe, August 16, 2011]
AT&T claims its purchase of T-Mobile will create jobs - but history shows it's far more likely to eliminate them. The announcement that AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile was met with ...

Broadband Data Caps - Roundup of News from the Benton Foundation

[Source: Benton Foundation, August 5, 2011]
AT&T announced this week that, starting October 1, it will curb browsing speeds for its heaviest users on unlimited wireless data plans to cope with surging data traffic. Customers on an ...

Proposed Legislation Could Put White-Space Plans in Jeopardy

[Source: Fierce Broadband Wireless, by Lynnette Luna, July 24, 2011]
A new spectrum bill making its way through Congress proposes that any spectrum made available for commercial use--including unlicensed spectrum--be auctioned.

Scandal Stirs U.S. Debate on Big Media

[Source: The New York Times, by Brian Stelter, July 19, 2011]
Progressive activists and public interest groups have long blasted Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation for political biases. But in recent weeks they have seized on a new and more tangible ...

Wired and Wireless Broadband: What's at Stake for Rural Communities?

[Source: Center for Media Justice, by Amalia Deloney, July 18, 2011]
On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, the Center for Media Justice brought together 20 individuals from 17 organizations across the country to examine the role of wired and wireless broadband access in rural ...

A Growing Digital Divide: Internet Freedom and the Negative Impact of Command-and-Control Networking

[Source: New America Foundation, by Sascha D. Meinrath, James Losey and Benjamin Lennett, July 19, 2011]
There is a growing consensus that communications is a fundamental right. However, achieving digital equality in the broadband age has become considerably more complex than just universal access. ...

How Congress’ Spectrum Bills Hurt the Tech Community

[Source: GigaOm, by Stacey Higginbotham, July 15, 2011]
This week both Republicans and Democrats proposed drafts of mobile spectrum bills that would incent television broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum to be used for mobile broadband. ...

New FCC Rules Could Bring Community Radio to Millions of Americans

[Source: Prometheus Radio Project, July 12, 2011]
Urban areas would benefit from low power stations for the first time On Tuesday morning the Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to create opportunities for low power FM (LPFM) radio ...