First Amendment

To celebrate Sunshine week, Free Press volunteers all over the country paid visits to their local media outlets to collect information from their public file. And the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine how to balance the need to protect sensitive government information with the public’s right to know about threats to their health and safety.

Congress voted to keep a portion of unused TV airwaves for unlicensed, which could help providers connect rural areas with high-speed broadband -- but the bill also has a downside. A Chicago city alderman proposed an ordinance that would forbid the Chicago Police Department from shutting down mobile towers, blocking mobile and Web access or jamming signals. Meanwhile, the FCC has halted LightSquared’s wireless plans and a senator from Iowa is holding up two nominees for FCC commissioner.