Media Center

The President rails against “fake news,” but in eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting his budget plan would sever the financial lifeline of scores of public TV and radio stations that are among the most reliable, trusted sources of real news for millions of Americans.

On the eve of the Senate Commerce Committee’s first Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Oversight Hearing of 2017, Common Cause and 170 allied public interest organizations sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune and Ranking Member Bill Nelson calling for the protection of the free and open internet. The letter urges these leaders to support and continue to enforce the 2015 Open Internet Order and to oppose legislative and regulatory actions that would threaten the strong net neutrality rules already in place.

The Trump Administration’s recent Executive Order (EO) on regulations is ill-conceived, unnecessary, and dangerous. The Executive Orders lack meaningful specificity, leaving consumers, advocates and policy makers in the dark. The EO’s “two for one” provision creates an arbitrary mandate to undo time-tested safeguards. Moreover, the “regulatory budget” binds the hands of the policy experts in government who use the best data available to fashion rules in the public interest.

"I am totally convinced the majority of Americans, including many who voted for the new president, strongly favor an open internet and a media ecosystem that is up to the task of informing democracy,”

“Allowing a communications behemoth like AT&T to swallow the Time Warner media empire should be unthinkable. The sorry history of mega mergers shows they run roughshod over the public interest. Further entrenching monopoly harms innovation and drives up prices for consumers. The answer is clear: regulators must say no” said former FCC Commissioner and Common Cause Special Adviser Michael Copps.

Industry-friendly decision harms public interest says former FCC Commissioner and Common Common Cause Adviser Michael Copps