federal communications commission

Lifeline phones should be enhanced to ensure public safety, CCLP urges FCC

By Justin Chapman

Why can't many inexpensive cell phones receive life-saving emergency weather alerts? Why, unlike people in much of the world, can't Americans listen to emergency information broadcasts on their cell phones? These are not accidents or unanticipated consequences. These are the results of policies and decisions by government agencies and the U.S. cell phone industry that should be addressed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Based on a series of meetings with high level participants from government, industry and academia, CCLP filed a comment with the Federal Communications Commission on May 29, 2015, recommending that the FCC ensure that cell phone…

CCLP Washington, DC policy forum: Media Ownership and the Public Interest

By CCLP Staff

The University of Southern California Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and the New America Foundation's Media Policy Initiative present a discussion with industry leaders and top policymakers on media ownership and the public interest. The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 24 from 2:00-4:30 p.m ET at the Newseum in Washington, DC. Webcast:…

NJ Public Television Signs Off; Other PBS, NPR Stations Threatened by Cuts

By Adam Powell

WASHINGTON — While the nation celebrated the holiday weekend of independence, New Jersey's public television network signed off for the last time and many other PBS stations around the US may soon follow suit. The reason: cuts in funding from state governments across the country. As I had written about on the blog last December, NJN has finally come to the end of its broadcasting days. The final New Jersey newscast on NJN was Thursday night. At its end, viewers saw a simple sign, "New Jersey Network. April 5, 1971 – June 30, 2011." As of that night, 130 employees…

Copps offers rebuttal to FCC report on the future of news

By Adam Powell

WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission member Michael J. Copps is calling for reinvigorated federal regulation of broadcasting to encourage more, and more serious journalism. Expanding on his June 9 remarks following the release of the FCC's staff report on the information needs of communities, Copps criticized the report's optimism about the Internet. "What we have gained on the Internet," said Copps (pictured left), "does not match what we have lost" due to cutbacks in newspaper and broadcast newsrooms. And he urged new FCC regulatory initiatives to help create new and strengthened forums for journalism and debate….

USC forum explores new FCC transparency & accountability requirements

By Adam Powell

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission will propose a new "streamlined web system" regulatory regime for broadcasters, requiring licensees to file all information on the Internet in a publicly accessible and searchable form. That promise came from Steven Waldman (pictured left), senior advisor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who spoke at a Washington, D.C. forum organized by USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism to discuss the report, The Information Needs Of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age which was released on June 9. First came the good news: the U.S. is close to having "the best…