• What Will Gov. Perdue Do?

    Megan Tady
    May 20, 2011

    Update: Gov. Perdue refused to veto the bill, ignoring the voices of her constituents and thousands of others from across the nation who had urged her to stand up for real broadband competition and choice.

    North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue has until midnight to save community broadband in her state, and send a resounding message to the nation that telecom companies don’t dictate politics.

  • Jon Stewart and Fast Moves at the FCC

    Megan Tady
    May 17, 2011

    Yes, Jon Stewart, that was fast. Last night, the Daily Show laid into FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker for taking a job as a Comcast lobbyists soon after approving the controversial Comcast/NBC-Universal merger.

    Baker was nearly lobbying for Comcast before she was officially offered a gig with the company. In January, Baker not only voted to approve the massive media merger, she also chastised the FCC for taking too long to deliberate on the merger. Now, she’s leaving the FCC to take a title she's already earned: senior vice president of government affairs (aka, head lobbyist). 

  • Same Old Song: Another Radio Merger

    Megan Tady
    May 16, 2011

    It's the same old song – both on the radio, and in politics. Another mega media merger is looming. Radio giant Cumulus is attempting to acquire radio giant Citadel, giving Cumulus massive control over the airwaves, and leaving the public with even less choices in programming and music on the radio.

    On Friday, Free Press filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission expressing doubt about the public interest benefits of the merger.

  • Fake News Fines

    Megan Tady
    March 25, 2011

    Television stations have been getting away with airing fake news for far too long. But this week the Federal Communications Commission clamped down on the practice at two stations.

    The FCC fined a pair of television stations for airing commercials masquerading as news segments. These video news releases (VNRs) are advertisements produced to be virtually indistinguishable from news stories and distributed to television news departments, and they violate the FCC’s longstanding “sponsorship identification” rules when they are aired without disclosing their origins.

  • A Dangerous Congressional Overreach on Net Neutrality

    Megan Tady
    March 10, 2011

    Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner testified on Thursday on behalf of the Free Press Action Fund and the SavetheInternet.com coalition before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

  • Media Ownership Rules Go to Court

    Megan Tady
    February 24, 2011

    Remember back in 2007 when the Federal Communications Commission voted to lift the 35-year-old ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership? We do, too. In fact, how could we forget; the impacts of years of media consolidation are all around us as newspapers slash staff and TV stations air fluff.

    We thought the FCC’s decision was so egregious that we took them to court, and today Free Press and the non-profit organization Media Access Project (MAP) are presenting oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

  • More FCC Gifts for Industry as Digital Divide Grows

    Megan Tady
    February 11, 2011

    The holiday season is well over, but the Federal Communications Commission is still handing out gifts to industry. The agency might consider changing its name to the “Federal Concessions Commission.”

  • Will Congress Give Obama the ‘Mubarak Option’?

    Megan Tady
    February 3, 2011

    When millions took to the streets of Egypt last week to protest the Mubarak regime and call for democratic reform, the Egyptian government responded by cutting off Internet access and people’s ability to communicate with one another and the outside world.

  • Audio Podcast: Defending Public Media

    Megan Tady
    January 28, 2011

    Oscar will have plenty to be grouchy about if bills in Congress become law. Three bills are circulating that would cut or even entirely eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting.

    In response to the attacks, public stations across the country have started a campaign called “170 Million Americans” to remind people of the benefits of public media. Jeff Nelson, managing director for public strategies for Minnesota Public Radio, reflects on the potential cuts in this week's podcast of Media Minutes. Listen here.

  • Congress vs. Public Media

    Megan Tady
    January 11, 2011

    Congress is playing politics with a public trust that hundreds of millions of Americans rely on for news, arts and entertainment, and for educational programming for our kids.

    Last week, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) introduced two bills that would cut off federal funding for public broadcasting in America by defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by 2013 and immediately eliminating “certain public radio funding.” The bills mirror earlier efforts by Lamborn to defund all public broadcasting.

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