By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 10-16-19 With the dissenting vote of Democrat Geoffrey Starks joining that of Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel earlier in the day, the FCC has now voted 3-2 to approve the T-Mobile-Sprint merger. The Republican majority had voted earlier to approve, giving the deal the necessary votes, but the Democrats had [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 10-8-19 FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks says only when the FCC and the nation does more to diversify media voices can broadcasting be said to uphold its responsibilities to the First Amendment and a free press. That was the gist of his speech at The Media Institute's annual Free [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Martin v. Rollins. The brief argued that the First Amendment protects the right to gather and publish news on matters of public interest – including the activities of government officials [...]
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks To Deliver Keynote Address FOR RELEASE: October 4, 2019 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., October 4, 2019 – The Media Institute will bestow awards on Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., publisher and CEO of The Washington Post, and Caroline Beasley, CEO of Beasley Media Group, LLC, at [...]
Participated in a letter (with the Reporters Committee and other news media organizations) sent to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. The letter requested that the Court provide live audio access to oral argument in a number of upcoming cases regarding nondiscrimination and the DACA immigration plan, citing strong nationwide interest [...]
By Anick Jesdanun, AP, washingtonpost.com, 10-3-19 U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other U.S., U.K. and Australian officials are pressing Facebook to give authorities a way to read encrypted messages sent by ordinary users, re-igniting tensions between tech companies and law enforcement. Facebook’s WhatsApp already uses so-called end-to-end encryption, which locks up messages so that [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the New York Appellate Division, First Department, in Rainbow v. WPIX. The case involved a media outlet that misidentified a public school teacher accused of bullying. The teacher, Starlight Rainbow, appealed after the trial court ruled in favor of the [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 10-1-19 In a victory for ISPs, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has unanimously upheld most of the Republican-led FCC's deregulation of Internet access in the 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom (RIF) order. The court said the FCC was reasonable in reclassifying [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 9-23-19 Washington was abuzz Monday (Sept. 23) after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated the FCC's most recent effort to deregulate broadcast ownership, which the FCC under various, usually Republican, chairs, has been trying to do for most of the past two decades. The [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Court of Appeal, State of California in Becerra v. Superior Court for the City and County of San Francisco. This is a California Public Records Act (CPRA) case in which the First Amendment Coalition and KQED submitted a CPRA [...]