Reporting

Northeastern University’s John Kwoka made waves in 2015 with research showing mergers approved in the US over the past 20 years led to higher consumer prices. The economics professor now has a new book on how Congress and the antitrust agencies can improve merger reviews.

The Federal Communications Commission has made efforts to keep Americans connected to the internet during the coronavirus pandemic, but experts say its controversial decision to repeal net neutrality rules has handicapped the agency from doing more. The most high-profile action has been having internet service providers (ISPs) and telephone providers sign a pledge to keep people connected. The FCC’s pledge serves as a good example of what position the agency’s net neutrality repeal has put them in during the coronavirus pandemic, experts say.

There's been a sweeping change across the United States’ biggest wireless carriers. Over the past decade, the leaders of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T oversaw a shift from simplistic feature phones into the era of smartphones and streaming. After early iPhones and Android devices strained their cellular networks, the major carriers gradually evolved their infrastructure to provide the robust, nationwide LTE coverage on offer today.

News organizations have long hoped that tech platforms would pay them for news. Now regulators abroad are moving to make that happen. A report by Australian regulators left little doubt about what they see as the cause of local journalism’s demise — the near-monopolistic power of Google and Facebook.

Rural broadband provider Windstream Holdings Inc. is closer to exiting from chapter 11 under a proposal that would allow hedge-fund manager Elliott Management Corp. and other investors to buy the bulk of the company’s equity out of bankruptcy while wiping out most junior debt.

The sudden shift to remote learning has exposed cracks in today's digital teaching strategies, as parents and teachers struggle with the challenges of recreating the classroom experience online. Demand for ed tech services has surged, as has interest in training for teachers to work online. To prepare for the fall, school districts should vet and limit which products they use, says Josh Golin, executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

Senate Republican leaders, under pressure from President Donald Trump to install an ally who would dictate more favorable news coverage of his administration, are moving to swiftly confirm a conservative filmmaker to lead the independent agency in charge of state-funded media outlets.

Wilson's (NC) community broadband, Greenlight, has stepped in to help teachers in the wake of COVID-19. Greenlight laid more than 3,000 feet of fiber optic cable to connect students and teachers and has added 150 new customers since the outbreak started. And they've seen outbound traffic skyrocket. Between Feb and April, outbound traffic increased by 23 percent in the 9 o'clock hour and 44 percent at noon. This is likely due to the rise of online conference calls.

The mounting human death toll and unfolding financial calamity of the current pandemic is one thing. But the ripple effects will last for years—and given the country’s bumbled handling of the virus itself, it seems an open question whether we’re in a strong position to respond and confront what comes after it. The US's ongoing, disastrous response to the pandemic—by almost any measure one of the worst in the developed world—is sending a clear message to other countries that the U.S.

Since the 2016 election attack by Russia, public attention has focused on cyberattacks. The risk is getting only worse: The more wired everyday society becomes, the more reliant it is on interlocking technology systems that were never designed with security in mind. The increasing complexity and interconnectedness of the various networks that power everyday life increases the chances of what Jason Matheny calls a “digital flubber” incident—the possibility of an autonomous system working as intended, yet spiraling and cascading with unintended and unforeseen consequences.