_From NYCwireless board member Joe Plotkin:_
Net Neutrality has been discussed vehemently and extensively on this list, so I urge everyone to watch Bill Moyer’s in-depth examination of this subject. It airs on Channel 13 tomorrow night Wed Oct 18th 9pm. It repeats 1:30am Saturday, October 21st (aka late Fri. night) and 2:00pm Sunday, October 22nd. Set your Tivo’s accordingly.
Additionally, some on this list have challenged the efficacy of the substantial work Bruce Kushnick and TeleTruth have done over the years. Bill Moyer’s team apparently disagrees, as they have made the editorial decision to feature Kushnick’s views and research.
Although I have not yet seen this episode, I believe this show will begin a long overdue, serious journalistic examination of the issues of network access and market power.
*Moyers on America Presents “The Net at Risk”.*
*PBS, (check local listings) Wednesday, October 18, 2006, 9PM, EDT*Teletruth’s Bruce Kushnick and Tom Allibone are featured in “The New Digital Divide” segment.
Moyers on America presents a new, serious investigative analysis of the future of broadband, the Net and media–from municipalities trying to Wi-Fi or rewire their cities, to the large phone companies who claim that they ‘own the net’ or large media concerns who have the power to take control of the information and stories you see and hear.
The program has been divided into four segments.
h3. THE NET AT RISK
“http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/neutrality.html”:1
The debate is hot, the language heady, the metaphors many. Op-ed pages alternately bemoan “The End of the Internet” or curse “Net Neutrality Nonsense.”
h3. THE NEW DIGITAL DIVIDE
“http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/usworld.html”:2
Teletruth is featured. Check out the video–”In Korea and Japan customers are getting 100 Mbps services in both directions for about $40 bucks” – (That’s 100 times faster than America’s DSL services.)
“America’s screwed,” says Bruce Kushnick, a telecom analyst. “I mean, we basically are becoming technologically deficient. We’re close to the dinosaurs compared to what these other countries are going to be developing in the next couple years.”
Other sections include:
h3. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
“http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/community.html”:3
“The Net @ Risk” takes viewers to Lafayette, Louisiana, where residents and officials took on their phone company, BellSouth, and their cable company, Cox Communications, and built their own high-speed fiber network after the firms refused to bring true broadband connections to their community.”
h3. BIG AND BIGGER MEDIA
“http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/bigger.html”:4
“In 1984 the number of companies owning a controlling interest in America’s media was 50 – today that number is six. Critics of media consolidation say it has led to fewer and fewer perspectives being presented–and a marked decrease in local news coverage.”
Teletruth believes America’s digital future is at stake, not to mention the future of the U.S. economy. We are pleased to be part of this important investigative report.
More: Read “Teletruth’s series for Harvard’s Nieman Watchdog project”:5 on telecommunications, the Internet, wireless and broadband.
For more about Teletruth, read “http://www.teletruth.org”:6
[1]http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/neutrality.html
[2]http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/usworld.html
[3]http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/community.html
[4]http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/bigger.html
[5]http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.viewContributor&bioid=130
[6]http://www.teletruth.org
Filed under: Event, Network Neutrality, News, Policy
