• Tucked Away in the Political Files

    Candace Clement
    March 30, 2012

    There’s a lot of buzz about all the corporate money that has poured into politics since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and related court decisions lifted nearly all limitations on political spending. But there’s a lot less talk about where that money — estimated to number in the billions this year — is going: into the pockets of the media.

  • Making Community Radio a Reality

    Candace Clement
    March 21, 2012

    This is the story of what happens after a bill becomes a law.

    In this case it is the story of the Local Community Radio Act. Or as we like to call it, “The Little Bill That Could (Even When It Seemed Like It Couldn’t).”

  • Senators to FCC: We Need Transparency Now

    Candace Clement
    February 23, 2012

    Primary season is in full swing and voters are being inundated with political advertising. Finding out who actually paid for all these ads is no easy task. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling ushered in a new era of deep-pocketed donors and gave them cover under innocuously named third-party groups and Super PACs.

    But yesterday eight senators sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski in response to the agency’s effort to increase transparency for television viewers in an election year. The group expressed full support for the agency’s proposal to require TV stations to place their public and political files online.

  • Transparency Is Not a Four-Letter Word

    Candace Clement
    November 2, 2011

    Everyone loves transparency. (For me, it brings to mind those “The More You Know” public service announcements). And as FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn put it at October’s FCC open meeting, “Disclosure and transparency: words that inspire confidence, increase the public’s trust and convey good faith. We’re seeing, hearing and focusing more and more each day on ways to enhance these efforts in both our public- and private-sector engagement.”

  • Victories of People-Powered Lobbying

    Candace Clement
    September 1, 2011

    It’s easy to feel overpowered when you go up against the big guys. But with power in numbers and the facts on your side, it is possible for the little guys to win out over the big ones. Wednesday morning was one of those moments.

    The Department of Justice filed suit early Wednesday to block the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile — a huge victory for the public interest. Despite the army of lobbyists that AT&T employs, the arguments against this merger and the facts to support them won out. The voices of everyday people who reject the combination of higher prices and fewer choices in the wireless market have come one step closer to victory.

  • Victories of People-Powered Lobbying

    Candace Clement
    September 1, 2011

    It’s easy to feel overpowered when you go up against the big guys. But with power in numbers and the facts on your side, it is possible for the little guys to win out over the big ones. Wednesday morning was one of those moments.

  • 'He Signed You, Bill. Now You're a Law.'

    Candace Clement
    January 5, 2011

    Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed the Local Community Radio Act into law.

  • Community Radio is Bipartisan. Really.

    Candace Clement
    November 17, 2010

    The 111th Congress only has a scant few days remaining before the doors shut and their legacy is complete. Seems like a good time to really get down to some of this “bipartisan” business that we’ve been hearing so much about.

  • CPB's New Initiative: Local Journalism Centers

    Candace Clement
    March 31, 2010

    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has a pretty simple proposal for how to counter the decline in local journalism that has hit communities across the country: invest in local reporting.

    Last Thursday, the CPB announced that it’s investing $10.5 million to create seven “Local Journalism Centers” across the country – multimedia hubs that will cover local issues.

  • What Journalists Should Learn From the Paparazzi

    Candace Clement
    March 17, 2010

    It took me years of searching, but I think I finally found the aggressive, audacious, uncompromising media our democracy needs.

    While channel-surfing the other day, I came across a fresh-faced, young reporter for a cable network aggressively following an important person around an airport and refusing to let up with his questions. The unwilling interviewee grew angry, suddenly snapping and shouting at the reporter to leave him alone.

    “Do you think you’re immune to questions?” the reporter shouted back repeatedly.

    I was speechless. “Do you think you’re immune to questions?” It was perfect—such a simple and powerful question.

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