2020 Communications Forum Speakers
Below is a list of the representatives from government and the communications industry who have been featured speakers at The Media Institute’s Communications Forum luncheons:
December 15, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai gave a wide-ranging presentation looking back on the Commission’s accomplishments during his four years as Chairman and looking ahead to issues the Commission will face. The most pressing need, he told a virtual Communications Forum luncheon crowd on Dec. 15, is a fundamental reassessment of the media marketplace.
November 23, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
Pat LaPlatney, President and Co-CEO of Gray Television, discussed trends in political ad spending at a virtual Communications Forum luncheon on Nov. 23. Broadcasters garnered slightly more than half of the record amount spent on political ads during the recent election cycle, he said.
October 27, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, shared her vision for closing the digital divide at a virtual Communications Forum luncheon on Oct. 27. She proposed a “New Deal for Broadband” that would include updates to the Universal Service and E-Rate programs.
September 21, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
Political analyst Charlie Cook offered an information-packed tour de force of the November elections when he addressed the Institute’s virtual Communications Forum luncheon on Sept. 21. Luncheon sponsors were treated to his predictions on winners and losers based on his exhaustive analyses of polling data and years of experience.
August 27, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
Media Institute Distinguished Fellow Stuart Brotman discussed how privacy restrictions in Europe and California, plus the COVID-19 pandemic, have formed a “perfect storm” for digital privacy policy in the United States. He drew from his new book, “Privacy’s Perfect Storm: Digital Policy for Post-Pandemic Times” at a Virtual Communications Forum luncheon on Aug. 27.
June 30, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
Davis Hebert, director and senior high yield analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, discussed the economics of the media, cable, and telecom sectors during the pandemic and possible long-term effects into 2021. He was the featured speaker at The Media Institute’s first-ever Virtual Communications Forum luncheon on June 30, 2020.
February 5, 2020, Luncheon Speaker
Makan Delrahim, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Justice Dept., commented on developments in the Sprint and T-Mobile merger settlement and the challenge by a group of state attorneys general at a Communications Forum luncheon at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5. The well-attended event kicked off the Institute’s 2020 luncheon series.