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.

Third Circuit Remands Newspaper-Broadcast Rule Change to FCC

[Source: Broadcasting & Cable, by John Eggerton, July 7, 2011]
Upholds Decision Not to Loosen Other Regs

FCC Competition Report Says Nothing With A Lot of Data

[Source: GigaOm, by Stacey Higginbotham, June 27, 2011]
Sometimes it’s not what you say but what you don’t say that matters, and in today’s release of its annual wireless competition report (PDF link), the silence of the Federal Communications ...

High Tech Investors Slam Hollywood, Blast Internet Censorship Bill

[Source: ars technica, by Timothy B. Lee, June 24, 2011]
The battle lines over online copyright enforcement sharpened on Thursday when dozens of prominent high-tech entrepreneurs and investors signed a letter urging members of Congress to reject the ...

More Reactions to FCC Report: Critics Split on Whether Government Should Do More or Less

[Source: Columbia Journalism Review, by Joel Meares, June 13, 2011]
The FCC released its staff report, “Information Needs of Communities," last Thursday and industry and advocacy groups were quick to weigh-in—despite the report being a hefty 475 pages (if you ...

Against the Rules? No 4G Tethering Apps for Verizon Phones

[Source: ArsTechnica, by Matthew Lasar, June 7, 2011]
Tethering—connecting your mobile phone to some other device for broadband access—could become the next battlefront at the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Division.

The National Broadband Map’s Rural Fairy Tale

[Source: Special to Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media, by Sarah Armour-Jones, May 31, 2011]
As a rural resident I know firsthand how unconnected rural areas are when it comes to high-speed Internet, and how much rural America is missing out on the economic, educational, healthcare, civic ...

NHMC and NiLP File Petition to Deny AT&T's Acquisition of T-Mobile

[Source: National Hispanic Media Coalition, May 31, 2011]
Washington, D.C. - Today, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) filed a petition to deny AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile at the ...

MAP to Challenge AT&T/T-Mobile Merger

[Source: Media Access Project, May 31, 2011]
The following is the text of the summary of the Petition to Deny the applications for assignment of control of T-Mobile USA to AT&T Mobility.  Media Access Project will file the petition ...

US Still Hasn't Gotten Its Act Together on Broadband Deployment

[Source: ArsTechnica, by Matthew Lasar, May 24, 2011]
The Federal Communications Commission is sticking to its guns when it comes to the state of high speed Internet deployment in the United States.

Why Is Media Justice Such a Hard Fight? See: Meredith Atwell Baker

[Source: ColorLines, by Jamilah King, May 19, 2011]
It’s been over a week since Republican FCC Commissioner Meredith Atwell Baker announced that she’s jumping ship to take a high-profile job as a top lobbyist with NBC Universal, just months after ...