CBS Evening News Anchor Norah O'Donnell told a virtual gala audience Wednesday that in an age of the 24-hour news cycle, where people can't even agree on facts, journalists have to focus on being a steady hand. "It is vital that journalists provide information, not affirmation," she said.

O'Donnell provided that advice in her acceptance speech for the Media Institute's Freedom of Speech award, which was given out at the virtual gala Wednesday night (Oct. 20). O'Donnell weighed in from her Evening News set in Washington.

Information is power, she said, something instilled in her by her parents. She said that truth was at the heart of the award she was receiving. The award cited O'Donnell for her "journalistic accomplishments in furtherance of free speech and a free press. It was presented by Gayle King, co-host of CBS Mornings.

Quoting from a predecessor to her Evening News anchor perch, the iconic Walter Cronkite, O'Donnell said: "Journalism is what we need to make democracy work."

It is a motto she lives by and shares with others, but one whose spirit predated Cronkite by a couple of hundred years. She pointed out that the Founding Fathers thought press freedom so important that they made it the very first amendment, "not the 11th."

O'Donnell said they clearly recognized the importance of the role of the press in holding the powerful accountable and that she agreed with one of those "Fathers," Thomas Jefferson. If she had to choose between a government and no free press and a free press and no government, she would choose the latter.

She said the country requires a knowledgable electorate and that it is a journalist's job to get answers for them through tough but fair questions in interviews that are not about the interviewer, but about "the person, the audience and the issue at hand."

Facebook wants to see policies adopted that create a “core set of rights” for consumer privacy without creating rules that can be “used to restrict” how personal data is collected and shared, Erin Egan, the company’s chief privacy officer-policy, said Friday (Feb. 19) during a presentation to the Media Institute in Washington.

“Our priority is a comprehensive federal privacy law,” Egan said during the group’s monthly virtual webinar. She said that artificial intelligence will likely play a significant role in establishing privacy policy. And she took a swipe at Apple’s recent comments about use of “tracked” data, voicing concern that such perceptions “will discourage advertising.” 

Also Read: Apple Privacy Labels Draw Hill Flak

“Personalized advertising has real value,” Egan said, adding that she hopes “readers will make that connection.” She added that, “Many policy makers don’t understand the unintended consequences of a ban on targeted advertising.” She said that Facebook is accelerating its educational efforts to help lawmakers understand that perspective. 

Egan’s presentation was a pep talk for media companies and advertisers to convince policy makers about the value of targeted advertising – “how personalized advertising helps businesses and people.” 

She cited several research studies, including an MIT economic analysis that showed social media services are worth $48 per month to users. 

Her focus on the perceived value of personalized advertising emphasized that the young category is in “constant evolution” and that the industry should encourage an “open ad-supported internet” which “protects people’s privacy at the same time.” Describing herself as a lawyer with more than 20 years of advertising law experience, Egan acknowledged that “increased regulation can help,” adding that “we have to increase trust in the systems that support the internet.”

She cited ongoing comments by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling for “comprehensive federal privacy legislation” which, she said “will go a long way to encourage trust in the internet.” 

Also Read: Big Tech CEOs to Testify on Disinformation

In response to a Multichannel News question about Zuckerberg’s planned remarks on this topic when he (along with top Google and Twitter executives) appears before a House Commerce Committee hearing on March 25, Egan said that it’s “too early” to predict what he will say.

Avoiding Legal Fragmentation

She declined to plunge into a question about state-level proposals for data protection, such as legislative plans that have emerged recently in Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Minnesota and other states. Egan noted that privacy laws in the U.S. have “not kept up with the rest of the world,” citing Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, which also requires data localization (storing data within the country of origin).

Given the global e-commerce economy, she explained, these state-by-state and other developments “raise the risk of fragmentation, “which could create a splintered siloed internet” that would restrict the value of online services. 

Egan said that federal data privacy regulations should assure “accountability and reliability” along with considerations for risk assessment. She said that Facebook has invested in technical systems to monitor how the data it collects “flows,” in response to the 2019 Federal Trade Commission $5 billion settlement over privacy violations. 

Egan said that her company is looking forward to learning details about a proposed new federal agency to deal with digital platform issues, including digital protections. But she said that any such new regulatory group should draw from the expertise and experiences of existing agencies, such as the FTC.

She also pointed out that new technologies raise a vast set of issues affecting privacy. In particular she pointed to artificial intelligence, a growing factor in the privacy dialogue. 

“AI poses really complex questions and challenges,” she said. It will “not be easy” to develop “responsible AI legislation.”

“We don’t want to cut short the ability of AI’s potential with inflexible rules that may not be able to adapt,” Egan added. “We’ll have to spend a lot of time to get it right.”

“We need to go back to the drawing board on Universal Service,” Dr. Nicole Turner-Lee of the Brookings Institution urged policymakers today (October 27), stressing that the value of guaranteed telecommunications access should be based on applications “not just infrastructure.”  She singled out objectives such as “No child left offline” as a way to re-evaluate the goal of the Universal Service agenda, adding that broadband access should be viewed in terms of issues such as food or housing insecurity.  

“We have failed at Universal Service in cases of need,” she said. “We have to migrate money in the U.S. budget to show that broadband is critical to the delivery of education, health” and other vital services, Turner-Lee told the Media Institute’s monthly “luncheon,” now a virtual presentation for Washington telecom and media executives.

Turner-Lee, who is also director of the Center of Technology Innovation at the Brookings think tank, suggested that current pandemic offers a good time for government and institutions to examine the role of platform companies, including whether – or more specifically how – they should be involved in the new Universal Service program, given their expanding role in providing access to applications.  She acknowledged the potential dangers that could arise from the massive amount of data that the platform companies collect and keep about individuals, citing differential treatment on issues such as housing or health care based on that data. 

Although she did not suggest a specific plan for extracting funding from platform companies, she indicated that policymakers should consider such revenue sources. 

“Digital Solutions”

Throughout her Washington career, Turner-Lee has focused on “digital divide” problems, but she told the Media Institute audience that the pandemic has demonstrated that the digital divide is “not binary and is more complicated than we actually thought.”  She urged that the examination be focused on urban/rural “solutions” rather than “divides.”

“We need to think radically and push harder for the kind of economic data that will help us make decisions, such as what technology will work” to solve those challenges, she said.

Touting her upcoming book Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass (Brookings Press, 2021), Turner-Lee cited her research about the pandemic’s effect on education.  She pointed out that underprivileged adults who need a computer for telework are often using the laptops issued to their school-age children for school work.

She also presented preliminary recommendations for a “Technology New Deal,” that will include policies for infrastructure and applications plus input from other community sectors, including banks, retailers and other organizations and groups affected by the impact of unserved and underserved broadband areas.

“We’ve got to rethink what it looks like, including who else has to be added to the ecosystem,” she said, urging that the list of topics should include affordability and a technology plan.

Although Turner-Lee’s presentation was not billed as an official political roadmap for the 2021 Congress and White House, Brookings – like other think tanks - typically rollout policy sessions in during late November and December in preparation for the post-election process.  She steered away from specific policy proposals, but in response to a question about what kind of support is needed to implement the ideas she had described, Turner-Lee uttered a single word: “bipartisan.” 

Former FCC commissioner and acting chair Mignon Clyburn made a case for the "public/private" partnership of regulator/industry as the blueprint for advancing a more diverse and inclusive media landscape.

Clyburn was delivering her virtual acceptance speech at the Media Institute's First Amendment awards ceremony.

She said it was appropriate that she was paired with the night's other honoree, Comcast's David Cohen (who won the American Horizon Award for Comcast's Internet Essentials broadband efforts). 

Related: Clyburn to Head INCOMPAS Connectivity Effort

She said it was fitting that a former FCC commissioner and a former media mogul were sharing the virtual stage--Cohen has stepped back from his day-to-day duties as Comcast's D.C. policy point man--because that pairing reaffirmed that both regulators and industry were needed to connect communities and giving individuals the tools they need to exercise their rights to free expression. 

She called the teaming of regulators, who must be mindful of the public interest, and the power of industry an "incredible public/private partnership" that has provided, among other things, the Universal Service Fund broadband subsidies that help lower-income Americans and hard-to-reach areas get broadband service.

She said that partnership "makes us the envy of the world," but also is a spur to do better. She said it is not always clear what that "better" will be, but the "collaborative, open, free market framework" allows both to work for a "better and more inclusive tomorrow."

Clyburn said that "tomorrow" includes a competitive communications landscape that allows all to participate and thrive. 

Clyburn is currently the principal of MLC Strategies and is on the board of production company Lionsgate.

Two prominent media financial analysts, in separate presentations to two different groups, proclaimed their enthusiasm for broadcasting, cable and traditional media while acknowledging the growth of digital media in a revamped "revenue mix." 

Both analysts said they believe the frenzy over digital delivery is slowing.

"Big advertisers are going back to traditional media because they recognize that their digital advertising is not working out," Marci Ryvicker, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, said at a monthly luncheon of the Media Institute on April 3.

Later that day, Laura Martin of Needham & Co. said, "Digital has sullied its brands" by underperforming. In a presentation to the Women in Cable Telecommunications D.C. chapter, Martin cited the extension of traditional TV brands through TV Everywhere and direct-to-consumer services such as CBS All Access as models for "the resurgence of TV."

Both analysts envision a continuing wave of media mergers, although they offered few predictions about specific deals.

"Everybody's a buyer" in the volatile broadcasting sector, Ryvicker said. She acknowledged the regulatory caps on homes reached may affect short-term growth for the largest companies.

She was bullish on Sinclair because "scale is important."

"They've under-promised and over-delivered," Ryvicker said.

On other topics, Ryvicker cited the recent collaboration of Viacom, Time Warner (Turner) and Fox Networks Group  to form "OpenAP," which will help advertisers target specific audiences. She characterized such moves as valuable. 

Ryvicker also predicted  that 2018 political advertising "will go up" thanks to the volatile campaign situation, and she expects that "cable news channels will continue to have big ratings through this administration."

She singled out Disney's performance on several levels and added that she thinks "NBC is trying to do what Disney did" in focusing on specific audience segments for growth.

Ryvicker described the impact of streaming video bundles as creating "a lot of nervousness and guessing" among investors. She expects that only three aggregators will survive on a broad scale, citing Hulu (largely because of its media ownership), Apple (even though it has no product yet) and Amazon.  

In response to a question, she said that she doesn't expect Apple to buy Disney because it doesn't fit with Apple's agenda to "get a device into every home." But she said that it would be "more dangerous if Apple bought Netflix," which is so well established; she did not elaborate.

"We don't have enough data to know what any of this means," Ryvicker confessed.

Martin, senior analyst, Entertainment & Internet, at Needham & Co. and CEO of Capital Knowledge LLC, cited efforts by Google and Facebook to pivot into video delivery companies, but doubted that they have the ability to reach mass video audiences.  

She said that many of the digital providers (not including Netflix) have one or two million customers compared to the 90 million pay TV users nationwide.

"The feel very 'niche-y' to me," Martin said. 

She acknowledged that customers "want rebundling," and pointed to deals such as the one between Showtime and Netflix as a possible harbinger of future alliances.  

Martin also emphasized the value of live viewing -- including sports and other content. She cited the ongoing "revenue mix shift" as advertising and subscriber fees are adapted to the evolving role of digital and mobile video consumption.

Summing up her outlook on cable, Ryvicker drew a knowing laugh from the Media Institute audience when she reminded it to "disengage the company and its stock."

"People hate Comcast but love Comcast stock," Ryvicker said.

House Energy & Commerce Committee chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) outlined a broad agenda for the committee and its Communications Subcommittee on Tuesday (Feb. 14), with items ranging from legislative action on Title II to a comprehensive examination of FCC and NTIA "reauthorization" to accelerated rural broadband deployment to increased oversight of federal cybersecurity initiatives.

At the monthly luncheon of the Media Institute, Walden (pictured) endorsed the "process reforms" that FCC chairman Ajit Pai (who was in the audience) has already introduced. Walden complimented Pai for successfully doing administratively "what Congress has been trying to do legislatively." He singled out Pai's decisions to revoke recent regulations over broadcast joint-sales and shared-service agreements and to rescind certain requirements for noncommercial TV ownership reports.

"We want this business to be vibrant and competitive," Walden said, noting that he expects to "see additional deregulation."

"We don't need antiquated rules like cross-ownership," Walden said.

As for the Open Internet rules, the Commerce chairman said, "Republicans are open to legislative solutions" and that net-neutrality decisions "should be done legislatively." But he acknowledged "it will take time" to develop new procedures, saying, "We have draft legislation" in the works.  

Walden did not respond to queries about a timetable for the congressional review. He chastised the previous FCC leadership's "over-reach" in the Open Internet process.

Although he glazed over his agenda for what he called a long-overdue comprehensive reauthorization of both the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Walden said he believes the FCC should be restored to its five-member level (currently the agency has only three Commissioners).

"The Commission should be filled out, the sooner the better," Walden insisted.

On the broader issue of a comprehensive update to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Walden said he "resists the notion that it will be one bill," preferring to "look at this in modules" affecting various industries, he said, emphasizing that Communications Subcommittee chair Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will lead the group's decisions on a rewrite.

"If the marketplace can handle [conditions], it should," Walden said. 

Walden called deployment of rural broadband a top priority on the Committee's communications agenda, pulling in examples of the need for wireless broadband. In particular, he emphasized the need to "lower the cost of broadband development."

He told a homespun tale of the need for such capabilities coming up this summer, on Aug. 27: the date of a total solar eclipse where a prime viewing area will be in small towns within his central Oregon district. Walden said there is almost no wireless capability for a stretch of nearly 30 miles around the eclipse epicenter. Then he wondered aloud, looking directly at Pai,  if he "only knew someone who had administrative authority to require coverage in that region." (At that point, Pai jokingly stood up and started to walk away from his table, to the gleeful laughter of the audience.)

Regarding cybersecurity, Walden indicated that the Commerce Committee will examine the ways in which various agencies monitor activities within their sectors to avoid duplication. Citing the threats to power utilities as well as commercial and communications facilities, Walden vowed to work with industry and to "incentivize" the entire ecosystem to prepare for possible digital assaults.

"We don't need every agency to grab a piece of cybersecurity," he added.  "The goals should be how to share information and avoid cyberattacks."

An omnibus update of the Telecommuncations Act, rather than piecemeal revisions, may become a high priority in the 115th Congress, according to top staff members of the Senate and House Commerce committees involved with the issue. 

At the Media Institute's monthly luncheon on Tuesday (Dec. 6), Republican and Democratic staffers agreed that substantial preparatory work has been done during the past three years, and many members would like to see a "comprehensive" update emerge, although none would predict a timetable or the eventual shape of the legislation.

"It's not so much what industry [wants], but what's good for consumers," said David Goldman, Democratic counsel for the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Kelsey Guyselman, Republican counsel to the same committee, pointed out that incoming E&C chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and his predecessor Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) are "very optimistic" because of their ongoing reviews of issues. She said Walden has put it "at the top of his priority list."

"We've spent time on individual pieces," Guyselman said, but cautioned that a decision to proceed won't happen "until Members get a better sense of what has to be done."

In a wide-ranging discussion entitled "What's Ahead for Communications in the Next Congress?" moderated by Media Institute chairman and long-time communications attorney Richard Wiley, the bipartisan staff panel responded with varying perspectives on working with the "new" FCC next year.

Wiley asked if Congress would initiate a rare Congressional Review Act (CRA) to examine the FCC's controversial privacy proposal. Guyselman said that the House committee is "not to the point of making that decision."

The panel also grappled with Wiley's questions about ownership rules, with an inconclusive remark summarizing views about cross-ownership restrictions.  

"The media landscape has changed so much" that Congress should continue to "look at modernizing" laws, Guyselman said.

As for broadband expansion, the panelists agreed that congressional support is likely,  possibly to be included in the promised "infrastructure" plan that President-elect Trump is expected to introduce.

David Quinalty, Republican policy director for communications and telecom on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, pointed out that the committee's chairman, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), also sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which will be involved in such infrastructure decisions. Quinalty contended that Thune's perspective would be useful in determining infrastructure support plans.

John Branscome, his Democratic counterpart on the committee staff, agreed that broadband will be part of the infrastructure discussion, particularly for rural areas.

Quinalty also dangled the possibility that FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat whose term will end later this month, could be approved for another term; but he acknowledged that time is a critical factor as the clock ticks down on the 114th Congress.

Related: Groups Want FCC's Rosenworcel Out, Then Back In

On a more realistic topic Quinalty indicated that the Senate committee will continue its examination of net neutrality.

"We're having internal conversations about procedures," Quinalty said, adding that "just by having a White House that is less likely to veto" a congressional action doesn't mean that the committee will push any particular policy.

An audience question about the Internet of Things, drones, self-driving cars, sensors and other fast-developing technologies brought an answer from Quinalty that the Senate committee may be better equipped to handle any necessary legislation since its name and mandate includes "Commerce, Science and Technology" whereas its House counterpart is focused on Energy and Commerce.

He described these "disruptive technologies" as "blurring the lines" of Congress's traditional designated powers, which he expects will persist, even as more communications facilities come to market.

The panel ducked questions about antitrust actions, such as the looming AT&T-Time Warner merger plan. And a query about the current spectrum auction triggered a response that deferred to the FCC's established process.