Various media-related groups were extending a hand online for "Giving Tuesday," hoping it came back with some money in it.
Giving Tuesday follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday consumption-based days to promote a day of giving, according to Wikipedia, which itself was posting a banner seeking donations for the nonprofit online encyclopedia.
The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council sent out an email asking for donations in its mission to "promote diverse entrepreneurship and bridge the digital divide." Among other things, it is challenging in court the FCC Quadrennial Media Ownership review for not doing enough for diversity, including not extending a cable related procurement diversity requirement to all sectors.
Also putting out the call was the Free State Foundation, the free market think tank that focuses on communications and copyright issues, including battling efforts to reclassify ISPs as common carriers and the FCC's set-top box proposal. Free State is marking its tenth anniversary this year.
Public Knowledge, in its e-mail Tuesday, said it needed the contributions more than ever as it fought for "access to affordable communications tools and creative works for all Americans" and faced a new threat from a new Administration. "The new political environment represents a threat to net neutrality and the technology issues we have all fought so hard to protect," it said.
The group said that with the help of those donations it would continue to fight for set-top box reform and against more media mergers.
