The Knight Foundation has taken a lead in funding grants for promising new ideas for journalism, in particular those that exploit opportunities in digital media and are local in focus. The Knight News Challenge Grant is providing $2.74 million in funding to twelve projects that aim to inform specific geographic communities. The winners were announced […]
The Federal Communications Commission is commissioning nine economic studies on the state of the media industry, and numbers five and six couldn’t come too soon as far as I’m concerned. Here they are: Study 5: Quantity of radio news and public affairs programming provided and audience for radio news programming as a function of local […]
The National Federation of Community Broadcasters just wrapped up its annual conference this past weekend in St. Paul, MN. The NFCB has been a true anchor in the community radio movement, both supporting individual stations and advocating on their behalf in DC. This year the FCC actually graced the conference, with Commissioner Mingon Clyburn giving […]
Last week AT&T announced that new smartphone customers will no longer be eligible for the unlimited data plans that current customers enjoy. Instead, two somewhat less expensive plans will be available. For $15 new customers may download 200 MB of data per month, with a charge of $15 for every additional 200 GB over the […]
The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing its media ownership rules again. That ordeal took up quite a bit of public bandwidth over the last decade, especially after former FCC Chair Michael Powell proposed scotching most of them. Now we’re back to square one, with the Commission launching a Notice of Inquiry about its current ownership […]
Free Press has a provocative new report on the state of public media and how to more adequately fund it. Many of the reform group’s proposals involve siphoning income from commercial station advertising revenue or Federal Communications Commission spectrum auctions. I’ve got an overview of the document up on Ars Technica, which has generated quite […]
A gaggle of major Internet content companies say they support the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed new net neutrality rules, and the signers of their letter include Sony Electronics. “This framework will ensure that consumers have access to an open Internet, one that would preserve a level playing field for all participants,” they write. “And it […]
If it’s possible to have a crush on a radio station, then I have a crush on WFMU. The eclectic, freeform non-commercial New Jersey community radio station was an innovator in online streaming, offering on-demand show archives years before the word podcast was ever coined. In 2007 the station initiated the Free Music Archive as […]
With ace-consolidator Randy Michaels at the helm of Tribune Company it looks like he’s having a jolly good time installing his old Clear Channel pals into top positions at the bankrupt newspaper and broadcast company. On Monday Tribune announced that ex-Clear Channel CFO Jerry Kersting is now president of Tribune’s broadcasting division. This was followed […]
As Paul reported earlier today, the FCC just announced the names of 26 groups to be awarded new full power non-commercial educational FM radio licenses. As was the case back in February, when 57 licenses were awarded, college radio is poorly represented amongst all of the applicants and winners (PDF). Not having the funding of […]
