February 2012
3 posts
WatchBill O’Reilly says the “true causes of poverty” are “poor education, addiction, irresponsible behavior, and laziness.” But really, what more do we expect from this guy?
O’Reilly thinks that not only was Mitt Romney justified in his remark that Romney doesn’t care about the very poor, but the poor are poor for reasons entirely of their own making!
8 tags
In Racially Charged Political Climate, Fairfax...
Vandals caused $60,000 worth of damage to a mosque under construction in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Chantilly, VA but the Fairfax County Police Department doesn’t think it was a hate crime. They can’t be serious. Amid all the vitriolic speech occurring in the media and on the campaign trail, how could FCPD officials have possibly thought this was a sound conclusion? The Fairfax County...
4 tags
FCC Denies MMTC XM Sirius Petition
Remember when the Sirius-XM merger was approved back in 2008? Part of the deal was that Sirius XM would lease 8% of its channels to “diverse” content programmers. The FCC thought this was a great idea, but required Sirius XM to ignore race as a factor in determining who should get to program the channels.
The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) petitioned the FCC...
January 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Tim Wise on the Tangible Effects of Subtle Racism
Most—if not all—courts would deem the racial effects that Tim Wise describes as being too attenuated. But they are the very effects that constitute the modern racism we tolerate.
There are other ignored linkages. The other day, a friend of mine, who is African-American, told me that upon dropping her daughter off at school, a white administrator told the daughter that her hair is “just like a...
Tech Companies to People of Color Worldwide:... →
For underprivileged people of color, the message from Western companies has ALWAYS been, “Take your pick: poverty or abuse.” Chinese workers are being subjected to deplorable working conditions as foreign manufacturers seek to churn out iPads and other products. So for technology companies, the policy comes down to this: don’t hire minorities in the U.S. and abuse them...
December 2011
6 posts
25 tags
Can Community Colleges Change the Way We Think...
Believe it or not, some high school graduates not bound for four-year colleges still want to pursue higher education. But our system of higher education has other plans in mind for these students. In the United States, if you don’t attend a four-year college immediately after high school, you essentially become red meat for employers seeking low-wage workers (if you’re fortunate enough to find a...
10 tags
One Occupy Protester Changes the Live News Model
This brilliant young man is going to use quadrocopters to shoot overhead footage of OWS protests. While traditional news copters can be restricted, any altitude at 400 feet or below is not restricted, FAA airspace. Both the quadrocopters and the smartphones are wireless technologies. In the context of social engagement to address disparities that minorities are disproportionately affected...
"Progressives?": Race Baiting and the Digital...
“One of the surest signs of the Philistine is his reverence for the superior tastes of those who put him down.”
-Pauline Kael
What is to blame for digital age inequality? The digital divide behind door number one? Or the digital divide behind door number two? These seem like silly questions. That’s because they are. But no matter what the reason is, some advocates always manage to find a way...
Jazz Has Endured, Can Public Media?
The FCC’s media ownership rules have never resulted in commercial programming that fully reflects local communities. Local newscasts make up only a small portion of local radio and television broadcast schedules. The vast majority of other programming is national, network programming and syndicated shows. While radio stations have more of a “local feel” than television, their most popular news...
November 2011
1 post
Wireless Taxes: Why You Don't Have $10 for Lunch...
“This tax, that tax, what do they all mean? Well, I guess I have to pay them if I want to keep this phone.” Sound familiar?
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2011, which would freeze any increases in state and local taxes on wireless services. Now that the House has passed its version of the bill, the Senate should follow suit and pass this...
October 2011
3 posts
Will McDonald's TV be Good for African-Americans?
McDonald’s announced today that it will launch an HDTV station in its restaurants. The stations will feature local content. The channel is expected to reach 18 to 20 million customers per month. A recent study shows that predominantly African-American communities have an average of 2.4 McDonald’s restaurants per square mile, compared to 1.5 restaurants in predominantly white...
September 2011
5 posts
Radio One Flips to Jack-FM in Columbus, but Keeps...
Radio One flipped to free-form “Jack-FM” in Columbus, OH, but kept Tom Joyner on in mornings. They’re playing Rolling Stones/Satisfaction now. Other artists include Nirvana, Gin Blossoms, and Young MC. I wonder if another owner would have kept TJ on in mornings with this format. If history is any guide, the answer is, “no.” (Although Radio One is hurting right now and...
STEM and Play: What the Old Geeks' Network Doesn't...
“There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.” - Maria, from Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” (1927)
“Do what you love and success will follow.” That is standard advice in any number of self-help books. But too few students are inspired to love science, technology, engineering and math (“STEM”). These students end up pursuing liberal arts...
August 2011
2 posts
This is Inner City ...
“[T]he market shapes programming to a tremendous extent. Members of minority groups who own licenses might be thought, like other owners, to seek to broadcast programs that will attract and retain audiences, rather than programs that reflect the owner’s tastes and preferences.” - From Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s Dissenting Opinion in Metro Broadcasting Inc. v. FCC, 497 U.S....
Blacks and Latinos in "Mad Men": Art or Artifice?
I have a thing for New York City nostalgia. That is why I was excited to learn a couple of weeks ago that Netflix began streaming all four seasons of Mad Men, which I still had not seen. I had heard testimonials of its keen story line, exquisite production, and distinguished cast. I could not wait to see what the hoopla was about. After watching just one episode, now I know.
The opening scene...
July 2011
3 posts
1 tag
What Happens When You Offend the Wrong People
It took a hacking scandal across the pond for the U.S. government to investigate News Corporation—a company that has repeatedly skirted past U.S. media ownership rules and unapologetically fueled hatred against every person of color under the sun.
The News Corporation hacking scandal comes on the heels of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ July 7th decision in Prometheus Project v. FCC...
NBCU to Handle NHL Ad Sales
NHL will never have to worry that Comcast will pull NBC’s signal during a retransmission consent impasse—Comcast owns the broadcast network and NBCU has some skin in the game. No other other broadcast network has this kind of leverage. However, I doubt other MVPDs would be satisfied with self-regulation in lieu of an entire revamping of the retransmission consent rules—...
Esquire Magazine Loves Governor Wallace (Anyway)
Really @esquiremag? There’s a reason why George Wallace makes it “Good to Be an American Man?” See http://t.co/VEN2F4S at #34.
June 2011
2 posts
Video Games and Children of Color: There is More...
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a California law banning the sale of video games to children may disproportionately harm minority children, but it was not surprising in light of the Court’s First Amendment doctrine or the Roberts court’s business-friendly stance on corporate speech. For minority children, video games present more than one compelling interest state laws should seek to...
Allied Media 2011: What Was Right and What Was...
This past weekend, I got to attend the 2011 Allied Media Conference in Detroit. Since 1999, media change agents have convened at the Allied Media conference to discuss strategies for using media to enhance grassroots advocacy and to promote independent media. Designed to mash up ideas and generate healthy dialogue, it is one of the few—if not, the only—media conferences of its kind. But...
March 2011
1 post
Crime and the FCC
“It wasn’t a problem until it was in Iowa or on Wall Street where there are hardly any black people.”
-Furious Styles, as played by Laurence Fishburne in Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Media and technology policy leaders must become anti-poverty advocates. As the first anniversary of the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan passes, determining whether the Plan is actually...
February 2011
3 posts
Public Broadcasting, Rush Limbaugh and Doritos
“I hope that you do not mean to suggest that it is the job of the federal government, through the Federal Communications Commission, to determine the content that is available for Americans to consume,” wrote Rep. Joe Barton of Texas to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps last December. Now we know Mr. Barton wants it to be this Congress’ job.
To the beneficiaries of the vastly conservative...
Rural broadband disparities should not trump...
If the overall unemployment rate were anywhere near what it is for African-Americans and Hispanics, the policy debates happening in Washington would be a lot different. The FCC announced today, for example, that its broadband subsidy program (known as USF) would focus on bringing high-speed Internet to rural areas. While this is a noble objective—many rural areas are among the hardest hit...
How to Define "Broadband Social Justice"
The key net neutrality issue for people who have not adopted broadband is not whether they should be “for or against” it. The net neutrality debate itself has become a broadband adoption barrier. The latest vitriolic exchange (see here, here, and here), between James Rucker, who heads up Color of Change, a Silicon Valley-based advocacy organization, and Congressman Bobby Rush, who...
January 2011
1 post
When Can We Start Working Together Again?
“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.”
-James Baldwin
Leading progressive organizations were noticeably absent from the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council’s Second Annual Broadband and Social Justice Summit in Washington, D.C. today. Organizations including Free Press, the...
December 2010
1 post
At the FCC, Empiricism Gives Way to Politics in...
“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
-René Descartes
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed a set of rules designed to protect an open Internet. But its inquiry was far from complete. Lacking throughout the record was an empirical, data-driven analysis of what net...
June 2010
1 post
Blogging While Brown
It was so great to see so many folks here in D.C. at the Blogging While Brown conference. This town has a bad reputation for being navigable only by those with the closest ties to the people in power. It’s inspiring to see the “people in power” being redefined, even in the face of palpable push back from entrenched interests. Congrats to the entire BWB crew and thanks to...
May 2010
17 posts
Why talking about media ownership at Stanford is a... →
The biggest barrier to entry for media entrepreneurs is access to capital. But where did the FCC choose to hold a media ownership hearing? Stanford University. Is there a lack of capital in Palo Alto and at Stanford I wasn’t aware of?
The FCC should muster up some bravery and approach media ownership issues on the margins. Hold a media ownership hearing in Camden, NJ and see what they...
Keeping the Wordwide Net Open →
“Human history is replete with stories of nations in conflict but it is rare for a huge national government to do battle with an influential global business firm. The tale of China versus Google is something new, and it threatens to upset many existing arrangements necessary to maintaining peaceful relationships among people. As a conflict between a government with a 14% share of the...
Michelle Obama's 10 Childhood Obesity Prevention... →
GWU's Trashy Meal Plan
Just downstairs from George Washington University, which boasts the highest tuition in the US, a man eats pizza from a Foggy Bottom Metro station trash can. The hard heels of passersby slide off the down escalator, echoing from the hexagon tile floors.
Progressives v. Kagan Supporters
Supporters of Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination say, “Of course she’s qualified, she went to Harvard! And she was a DEAN there! Who cares if she has a deplorable record on minority hiring? Who cares if she doesn’t have judicial experience?” People who label themselves Progressives say, “What’s her record? We don’t know because she has no...
FCC Says Broadband To Poor/Remote Areas Will Cost... →
Myths v. Realities About Elena Kagan →
Kagan's Goldman Ties and Minority Hiring Record at... →
Elena Kagan’s ties to Goldman Sachs and her record of not hiring minorities at Harvard are being scrutinized by the left. (p. 2)
Obama to Nominate Harvard Law School Grad for... →
Northwestern Law School alum Justice Stevens’ seat will be offered to Elena Kagan, Harvard Law School grad and former HLS Dean. That would bring the 9-justice Court to 5 Harvards, 3 Yales, and 1 Columbia.
Bob Herbert: Bloody Urban Landscape →
People often behave in line with the stereotypes assigned to them. We need much more data on the nexus between media portrayals and real world behavior. I know … no shit Sherlock.
FCC General Counsel Anticipates Unanimous SCOTUS... →
Relying on the Supreme Court’s Brand X decision, Austin Schlick, General Counsel of the FCC, concluded that not only will the Commission’s approach of applying the most consumer-centric sections of Title II to broadband appease the majority of the Brand X court, it will also appease the dissenters (including Justice Scalia). In fact … Title II remix was SCALIA’S IDEA! ...
Weigh in Now on the Future of Media →
Your comments on the Future of Media, what it should look like, and how they should be regulated, are due TODAY by 11:59PM.
Chairman Genachowski's Statement on His "Narrowly... →
The new regulations will:
Recognize the transmission component of broadband access service—and only this component—as a telecommunications service;
Apply only a handful of provisions of Title II (Sections 201, 202, 208, 222, 254, and 255) that, prior to the Comcast decision, were widely believed to be within the Commission’s purview for broadband;
Simultaneously renounce—that is, forbear...
FCC to Treat ISPs Like Phone Cos., With a Few... →
The FCC this morning detailed its plans to bring broadband under its direct jurisdiction. ISPs will essentially be treated the same way as phone companies, with a few big exceptions.
Yahoo Refuses To Disclose Diversity Stats →