A look at the various media used to reach and inform voters during elections -- as well as the impact of new media and media ownership on elections.
Elections and Media
Another campaign, another outrage over ‘free phones’
Former President Donald Trump questioned who was paying for the phones of illegal aliens, suggesting that the federal government is handing out high-quality cellphones to migrants as part of its purported efforts to flood the country with immigrants. This is the latest iteration of the political right’s frustration with the idea that the government (and, particularly, an incumbent Democratic president) is spending money on frivolous giveaways (in their estimation) to poor people of color. The government does have a program in which people seeking asylum are given mobile devices.
Trump Threatens to Investigate Comcast For 'Treason' if Reelected
Former President Donald Trump said that if he's reelected, Comcast will be "thoroughly scrutinized" for the "one-side [sic] viscous coverage" of its NBC News unit, "particular [sic] MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee)." Further, Trump said MSNBC should be investigated for "Country-Threatening Treason," and also threatened to pull its broadcast license.
Texans to vote on statewide broadband funding in November
Texas could have nearly $5 billion directed toward expanding broadband availability statewide if voters approve a state constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. Texas will receive more than $3.3 billion in federal money—more than any other state—to help expand broadband access.
Study Debunks Social Media, Finds Face-To-Face Dominates Brand Conversations, Albeit Politically
For all the stock that brands and their agencies put on the value of consumer mentions in social media, it actually ranks relatively low among the modes of communication people use to express their sentiment about brands to others.
DeSantis’ new campaign deputy was part of massive anti-net neutrality campaign that used dead people to spam the FCC
A GOP consultant set to be the next deputy campaign manager for presidential hopeful Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was part of the infamous astroturfing campaign against net neutrality. Ethan Eilon, who Bloomberg reported is being promoted by Gov.
President Joe Biden wanted Gigi Sohn to fix America’s internet — what went wrong?
Nearly 500 days had passed since President Joe Biden first picked Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] to become the third Democrat to the nation’s top telecommunications regulator, and she was nowhere closer to confirmation than when her name was first announced in October 2021.
What Is It That We Want?
Congress is dysfunctional. The courts are a bad and dangerous joke. Independent government agencies are on the cusp of being dismantled. The Administration’s agenda is largely blocked. Companies large and small have pillaged the economy and jacked up prices that impose real pain on American consumers, long after economic circumstances can justify it. The media, which have a solemn obligation to give us real news and information, choose instead to blanket us with infotainment and trifle that divert our attention from the real problems that are undermining our democracy.
How AI will turbocharge misinformation—and what we can do about it
Attention-grabbing warnings of artificial intelligence's existential threats have eclipsed what many experts and researchers say is a much more imminent risk: A near-certain rise in misinformation. The struggle to separate fact from fiction online didn't start with the rise of generative AI — but the red-hot new technology promises to make misinformation more abundant and more compelling. By some estimates, AI-generated content
Threads poses rare threat to Twitter's political monopoly
Meta’s new microblogging app Threads is emerging as a potential threat to Twitter’s lock on politicians and political observers seeking real-time news and debate. Most Twitter competitors have struggled to match the size and bipartisanship of its user base, but Threads is garnering significant participation from both parties.