Benton Foundation

Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the search warrant that named Fox News reporter James Rosen as a potential criminal "co-conspirator," a law enforcement official told NBC News.

As American policy makers debate additional measures to pressure President Bashar al-Assad and aid moderate elements of the opposition, they should consider a military cybercampaign to give Syrians the ability to communicate freely online.

Sprint Nextel’s sweetened bid for wireless-network partner Clearwire has failed to persuade opponents to the takeover, raising speculation that the company will have to raise its price again.

Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission has begun to examine complaints by rivals of Google that the Internet giant abused its power in the market for selling online-graphical and video ads.

It’s past time to set the record straight on Lifeline, the essential service to low-income families that has recently suffered fallacious attacks and been mislabeled as the “Obama Phone” program. Recently, political talking heads have falsely and irresponsibly excoriated the FCC’s Lifeline telephone program as a product of the Obama Administration, saying it is focused on giving free cell phones to poor people as a method of garnering their votes. Here are the real facts about this important program.

Benton readers know that predicting who gets picked for leadership spots in Washington is a parlor game of high art. For some time now, the game has included predicting who the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will be. We’ve reported on the speculation in these pages earlier this year. But, more importantly, former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wrote here that more meaningful than “who”, perhaps, are the priorities the President and a new FCC chair set. On May 1, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Tom Wheeler to be the next chairman of the FCC. The FCC has been led for four years by Julius Genachowski who is leaving the commission in mid-May. Wheeler’s confirmation could take some time; President Obama tapped current FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to serve as Interim Chairman until the Senate confirms Wheeler. Commissioner Clyburn will become the first woman to lead the FCC in its (nearly) 80 year history.

Through a web of subsidies called the Universal Service Fund, U.S. telephone subscribers ensure that telecommunications networks are affordable and available in rural areas; that schools, libraries and rural health centers can access basic and advanced services at discounted rates; and low income consumers can still afford basic phone service. This week, a Congressional panel focused on the program that provides discounts on monthly telephone service for eligible low-income consumers to help ensure they have the opportunities and security that telephone service affords, including being able to connect to jobs, family, and 911 services. Although, historically, the low income program has been viewed as a benefit without a vocal constituency, the hearing demonstrated that many consumers rely on support to ensure their connection to vital communications.

People are feeling, in their everyday lives, the ills and harms that media reformers have been predicting would come our way. It’s more than Washington debates or business model theories that fuel their rising discontent. It’s what they live with every day.