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News of the movement for January 3, 2013 |
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One of the greatest assaults to our democracy today is the extreme accretion of media power into just a handful of corporate CEOs. If you think the situation couldn't get worse, think again. Obama Administration Seeks to Strengthen Rupert Murdoch
President Obama's FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski proposed relaxing media ownership rules to allow Rupert Murdoch to buy the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. This is part of a larger pattern -- media consolidation is one of the many structural problems that Obama promised to deal with. And indeed, this is the real arena where the battle over free speech is being fought. Corporate control over our communications infrastructure is the free speech question of our time. After 10 Years of Delay, the FCC Begins to Address Unjust Phone Rates for Prisoners
Families pay up to around $20 for just a 15-minute call with a loved one in prison. Perhaps that is about to change. Senate Confirms Clyburn to Full FCC Term
The Senate approved the renomination of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, this time for a full five-year term retroactive to July 1, 2012, when her current term expired.
Why Congress' Digital Archive for Text Messages Is Such a Bad Idea
Text me. Wait, don't. Not anything too private anyway. That's because if a new proposal is approved by the Senate, each and every SMS message you send will be stored in a digital archive by your phone provider. Why, you ask? It's all in the name of law enforcement being able to use your messages as evidence to catch bad guys and solve cases. And it's also a government-sponsored privacy nightmare come to reality. Ubuntu Phone OS Announced, First Devices Shipping in Early 2014
As already teased and promised, today Canonical is taking the wraps off the mobile version of Ubuntu, which is built around the existing Android kernel and drivers, but doesn't use a Java Virtual Machine and promises to use "the full power of the phone."
European ISPs Investigated for Slowing YouTube
Several European ISPs, some of which operate YouTube competitors, are under investigation by European regulators for intentially slowing down YouTube traffic. AT&T's ham-fisted plan to try and impose troll tolls on content operators (which truly started the Net Neutrality debate here) has over time seeped into the consciousness of European telcos, which went so far recently as to try and have a new tax imposed on content companies at the U.N. China Tightens Up Censorship of Internet Sites
For years, China’s Internet nannies turned the other cheek to a loophole in their vast online censorship apparatus. Anyone who wanted access to blocked overseas websites like Twitter, Facebook and the New York Times just needed to download foreign software called a virtual private network to circumvent the Great Firewall. BuzzFeed Announces $20 Million in New Financing
BuzzFeed, the social news website that was one of the media industry darlings of 2012, began the new year by announcing that it had raised nearly $20 million in new financing from its investors. 30 Years Ago the Internet as We Know It Was Born
Thirty years ago this week the modern Internet became operational as the U.S. military flipped the switch on TCP/IP, but the move to the protocol stack was nearly killed at birth.
In the 2012 election, Denver broadcasters accepted an avalanche of political ads and the attendant windfall of revenue. Where did that money go, and what happens next time? NPR Announces Three Appointments
An NPR release says Michele Norris is returning from her leave of absence next month to take on “an expanded new role” as a host and special correspondent and that Audie Cornish will stay on as co-host of All Things Considered. Seven Publishing Trends That Will Define 2013
When you look back at it, 2012 was a stupendous year for news and magazine publishing. We witnessed the emergence of several paradigm-altering trends -- from micropublishing to micropayments -- that will be consolidated and built on in the year ahead. Not one of these trends is enough to save magazine or news publishing by itself, but the combination of them all certainly makes the space more lively and dynamic. Even with glum news about plummeting circulations and evaporating ad dollars, the months ahead promise to be among the most exciting in digital publishing in years.
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Register today for the 2013 National Conference for Media Reform! Join thousands of activists, media makers, journalists, technologists and artists flocking to Denver for this can't-miss event.
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