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.

This week, the efforts of a New jersey citizen media watchdog group are yielding results in Washington, and local Fox station WWOR is facing some tough questions. The Federal Communications Commission is expanding their investigation of WWOR for allegedly lying to the agency about their local programming and staffing of the Seacaucus, NJ station.

These days, broadcasters don’t lose much sleep over the license renewal process. Once every eight years, stations simply put a postcard in the mail to renew their right to use the public airwaves—what used to be an opportunity for community input and evaluation has become a simple rubberstamp process.

Public media is under attack in Washington, but a new report by Rodney Benson and Matthew Powers of New York University examines how expanding, not cutting, federal funding can actually promote quality, independent journalism.

Public Media and Political Independence: Lessons for the Future of Journalism from Around the World was released Tuesday during a panel discussion that featured several prominent media scholars and journalists.

As we all know, we’re facing difficult decisions in how to deal with our nation’s federal deficit. We’re also in the midst of a journalism crisis. 

Some lawmakers have suggested that now is the opportune time to cut federal funding for public broadcasting, and tomorrow, many may vote to do so. My experience interacting with the public every day suggests this would be a grave mistake.

I have been working for the past six years as a videographer producing content for UNC-TV, North Carolina's state-wide PBS network. The communities we serve depend on us to provide truth in journalism, life changing educational content and crucial information every day.