New York Community Media Alliance is proud to bring you this first in a series of blogs and reports on media policy-related issues. The initiative is part of a partnership between NYCMA, G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism and New America Media in a media policy fellowship sponsored by The Media Consortium. We will publish a series of news and in-depth articles on media policy issues, connecting the dots between policy, product and community that will be produced over the next three months. We hope to bring into renewed focus issues such as net neutrality, broadband access, censorship on the Internet, and cell phone price gouging. We want to promote awareness and debate on policies that touch our everyday lives so much and yet are so grossly under-reported.
Here is the link to the latest issue of "The Wavelength," a biweekly blog by Eric K. Arnold. The blog will feature stories produced by independent media outlets participating in The Media Consortium's media policy reporting fellowship as well as stories from other Media Consortium members. They will highlight the latest trends and developments in national media policy.
This week's The Wavelength covers the latest news about the NYT's paywall, the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, ISP donations to Congress, a Canadian law banning media falsehoods, and a global study on women in media. It features reporting from:
- Mother Jones
- Truthout
- Colorlines.com
- Free Press
- Inter Press Service
- Yes! Magazine
An interesting brief is about Jamilah King's story about AT & T-T Mobile deal's impact on the ethnic, minorities and communities of colors. Jamilah says:
The disappearance of T-Mobile, whose low-cost plans offering unlimited data appealed to low-income wireless users, could have a huge impact on communities of color who rely on unrestricted text and web plans, especially those who don't own computers.
She says the digital divide separating under-served communities from customers who can afford higher fees will almost certainly widen after the deal is completed. This could have a devastating ripple effect on everything from people who use phones for business to people who use phones for social networking — and may affect African Americans, Latinos, and immigrant populations disproportionately.
Also interesting is a peep into a report by Inter Press Service's Andrea Lunt on a study of women in news media. Lunt says the study shows that gender inequality in the media sphere has been institutionalized. The good news is that the gap appears to be closing, especially at the executive level, where women have more than doubled their presence in the past fifteen years. Here is the link to the latest issue of The Wavelength.
The maiden issue of the blog came on March 21st and carried stories such as AT&T's announcement to buy telecomm giant T-Mobile and the House of Representative's vote to end federal funding for National Public Radio.
Of special note is an AlterNet story by David Rosen and Bruce Kushnick that detailed sneaky, unethical, and possibly illegal telecom tactics, the most recent of which is "ramming." The story reveals that an estimated 80 percent of phone company customers have been overcharged or are on plans they did not need or even order.
In his summary of the story, Eric Arnold writes:
These practices are insidious because modern telephone bills are so cryptic that it's not easy for even the most astute customer to figure out they've been duped.
Click on "The Wavelength" link for the maiden issue.
