media consolidation

As News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch tries to minimize the phone-hacking scandal that has led to several arrests and snared British officials and police in a web of unethical and possibly criminal behavior, U.S. public interest groups and some members of Congress are seizing the opportunity to call attention to the dangers of too much media in too few powerful hands. And a “broadband underclass” is developing in America as some populations soar with the fastest broadband connections available and others plod along with slow or no connections at all.

The FCC released its 450-page assessment on the future of media. Unfortunately, many the report’s recommendations around localism, media consolidation and transparency are contradictory to its analysis. And Sonic’s new 1 Gbps fiber broadband connection with two phone lines for $70 is sure to shake up the broadband market in Sonoma County.

In response to ColorofChange.org's call for advertisers to stop airing commercials on the Glenn Beck Show after Beck's racist remarks, 57 companies have pulled their ads. And an appeals court threw out the FCC's ruling that cable companies couldn't own more than 30 percent of a market. But that doesn't mean that the agency gets to ignore the issue of capping cable ownership.