Well Connected - The Center for Public Integrity

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When Lobbying the FCC, Sometimes Less is More

WASHINGTON, August 10, 2007 — In the run-up to a key FCC vote on rules governing the public airwaves, lobbyists logged nearly 600 meetings or conversations with agency officials, an analysis by The Center for Public Integrity reveals. >>

Center Spearheads Efforts to Disclose Broadband Data

Telco Deployment by ZIP Code at Issue in Legislation

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2007 — The Center for Public Integrity's efforts to shed light on local Internet availability are having an impact in the legislative and regulatory debate over broadband. For example, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, last month introduced S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act. The bill would require the FCC to supplement the information it currently collects about broadband deployment with more localized data, including ZIP code plus four digits. >>

Project Item

In Political Contributions, Zell Leans Right and Wife Leans Left

Nearly 70 percent of prospective Tribune Co. owner's donations to Republicans

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 — Samuel Zell, real estate mogul, billionaire and the new owner of the Tribune Co., has dispensed more than $100,000 in political contributions since the 1998 election cycle, the majority of which has supported Republican causes, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records by the Center for Public Integrity. >>

Center's Suit To Get Broadband Data Draws Industry Interest, Comment

AT&T, Verizon Intervene in Center's Suit Against FCC

WASHINGTON, January 19, 2007 — The Center for Public Integrity is leading an effort to find out more about which companies are providing high-speed Internet access throughout the United States so that citizens have a better understanding of their service options. >>

Strains Showing in Longtime Friendship

Telecom firms have supported Rep. Dingell, and until recently, the incoming House committee chairman has supported them

WASHINGTON, November 21, 2006 — With Democrats taking control of Congress in the midterm elections, the 2006 telecommunications overhaul is almost certain to be killed. Democrats are not likely to cooperate with any Republican-led push for the measure in December's post-election session. Despite the wide margin in the House, supporters of the telecom bill doubt they can secure enough votes in the Senate for passage this year. >>

"Well Connected" Telecommunications Project Expands "Media Tracker"

Now tracks political contributions and lobbying from all major telecom, media

WASHINGTON, November 21, 2006 — The Center for Public Integrity's "Well Connected" Telecommunications Project today relaunched an updated and expanded version of its "Media Tracker" database. The freely accessible Internet database now includes political contributions and lobbying expenditures by nearly 300 companies in the telecommunications, media and technology sector. >>

Relaunched Media Tracker Reveals Media Control by ZIP Code

New version plots broadcasting facilities on maps, tells number of broadband providers, examines more than five million records

WASHINGTON, October 17, 2006 — The Center for Public Integrity's "Well Connected" Project on Tuesday released a new version of Media Tracker, a searchable Internet database that allows users to find out who controls the media and telecommunications facilities in their regions. >>

Telephone, TV Industries Fight Battles Up Hill

New company profiles include details of corporate agendas in Washington

WASHINGTON, October 17, 2006 — The Center for Public Integrity's "Well Connected" Project on Tuesday updated 48 profiles in its Media Tracker database. The profiles reveal a multitude of conflicting pressures confronting the top players in telecommunications, broadcast and cable television. >>

Ginger Lew, CEO of the Telecommunication Development Fund, responds

WASHINGTON, January 1, 2006 — TDF response >>

Top Holding Companies

January 1, 2006 — >>

Center improves database searches

January 1, 2006 — >>

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Political patronage rules in state utility commissions

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2005 — When Martin Cohen was appointed head of the Illinois Commerce Commission, the regulatory body that oversees utilities in the state, he joined a very small fraternity. >>

State Utility Commissions Fail Transparency Test

Half of states fail Center survey

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2005 — More than half of the states received a failing grade on making personal financial information of the nation's utility board members available for public inspection, according to a Center for Public Integrity study examining laws in all 50 states. >>

Former Bells Dial Up Big Numbers in Statehouses

SBC is No. 1 in both lobbying and contributions *

WASHINGTON, September 29, 2005 — Telecommunications companies spent $60.3 million on political contributions over six years and a minimum of $83.4 million on lobbying over two years in an attempt to curry favor with elected officials in the states, according to a new Center for Public Integrity analysis. >>

More Cities Offering Wireless Internet Access

Bells call it unfair competition *

WASHINGTON, September 29, 2005 — As a resident of tech-savvy Austin, Texas, Adina Levin enjoys the benefits of widespread wireless Internet access. Austin is one of a number of cities in the nation that has built a system that allows residents to log on to the Internet without worrying about plugging into a phone or cable outlet. Levin wants the rest of the state to have the same advantage. "People really care about it," Levin said of wireless Internet access. "There's a constituency for it." >>

The Cost of Indecency

Big settlements lead to tamer airwaves

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2005 — After a record 2004, the Federal Communications Commission has yet to issue a fine for indecent broadcasting this year, the longest pause in activity since 2001, according to records gathered by the Center for Public Integrity. >>

Two-hundred Channels and Nothing on – Literally

Low-power TV mogul hopes for big payoff

WASHINGTON, February 24, 2005 — In 1982, the Federal Communications Commission created a new broadcast television service designed to provide local and niche programming to rural Americans and urbanites whose special-interest needs were not being met by existing broadcasters. >>

Networks of Influence

The political power of the communications industry

WASHINGTON, October 28, 2004 — A new Center for Public Integrity investigation of campaign contributions, lobbying expenditures and other spending shows that the communications industry has spent $900 million since 1998 to affect election outcomes and influence legislation before Congress and the White House.

With:

The report focuses on the three primary communications industry sectors that control the information pipelines in the United States – broadcasting, cable television and telecommunications. >>

Sinclair Flap Proves Exception to the Rule

Broadcasters split the ticket when it comes to contributions

WASHINGTON, October 28, 2004 — A Center for Public Integrity examination of contributions by broadcasters and their chief lobbying organization, the National Association of Broadcasters, reveals that when it comes to politics, the industry does not play favorites: since 1998, records show, broadcasters have donated $13,528,000 to Democratic candidates and party organizations and $13,391,000 to Republicans. >>

Bells vs. AT&T

Telephone companies spend hundreds of millions to influence policy

WASHINGTON, October 28, 2004 — The four former "Baby Bell" local phone companies and their rivals have spent nearly a half-billion dollars since 1998 in an effort to influence federal telecommunications policy, according to a new Center for Public Integrity investigation. >>

Industry Battles Re-regulation

Cable lobbying climbs by 50 percent

WASHINGTON, October 28, 2004 — The cable television industry has substantially increased the amount it spends to sway opinion in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission since 1998, according to a new Center for Public Integrity analysis. >>

Anatomy of a Lobbying Blitz

Cable industry enlists diverse crowd in high-level influence campaign

WASHINGTON, October 8, 2004 — When a conservative member of Congress floated the idea of allowing consumers to pick what channels they want to pay for rather than have to buy a "bundle" of channels they may never watch, it seemed like a pretty good idea. >>

Baby Bells Paying to Play

Bells paid two-thirds of fines and settlements since Jan. 2000

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2004 — The four regional Bell operating companies remaining from the break-up of AT&T accounted for roughly two-thirds of all Federal Communications Commission fines and settlements paid since January 2000, according to a Center for Public Integrity investigation.

Group Wants Truth in Cell Phone Billing

Wireless firms bill clients $937 million for 'federal recovery fees'

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2004 — An organization of state-designated consumer advocates wants federal regulators to force cellular telephone providers to clear up their billing practices. >>

Indecency on the Air

Shock-radio jock Howard Stern remains 'King of All Fines'

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2004 — The Federal Communications Commission has proposed $4.5 million in fines for broadcast indecency since 1990, with more than half the total assessed to stations that aired shock-radio pioneer Howard Stern. >>

FCC Managers Still Flying Free

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2004 — Since Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell promised seven months ago to "substantially reduce" travel funded by outside sources, the agency has accepted $90,000-worth of free trips, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity. >>

Prepaid Profit Plan for Wireless Companies

Top firms have banked $629 million for service not yet offered

WASHINGTON, October 20, 2003 — The nation's top wireless phone companies have been slipping some mysterious new fees in the bills of their 101 million customers. The fees, which ranged from a nickel to $1.75 per month, were needed primarily to cover the wireless industry's costs for implementing "number portability," a new service that will allow phone users to keep their same number when switching from one wireless company to another. The companies were charging the new fees with the full knowledge and approval of the Federal Communications Commission, the government agency that is supposed to look out for the public on telecommunications issues.

The cost to wireless phone customers: $629 million so far, and still climbing. >>

Big Radio Rules in Small Markets

A few behemoths dominate medium-sized cities throughout the U.S.

WASHINGTON, October 1, 2003 — The greatest concentration of ownership in the radio industry can be found in smaller and medium-sized markets and not in large cities, with broadcast leviathan Clear Channel Communications Inc. by far the most dominant player in America's heartland, according to a new study by the Center for Public Integrity. >>

FCC Dawdled as Radio Grew

How did companies like Clear Channel come to dominate radio markets? Blame FCC inaction

WASHINGTON, October 1, 2003 — The Federal Communications Commission knew as far back as 1998 that the way it measured radio markets was deeply flawed and could lead to the creation of behemoths like Clear Channel Communications, but failed to act in the face of industry pressure and bureaucratic inertia. >>

FCC Plans to Nix Industry-Paid Travel

WASHINGTON, September 2, 2003 — Bowing to pressure from a powerful member of the House Appropriations Committee, the Federal Communications Commission says it plans to largely eliminate its longtime practice of accepting free travel and entertainment from the communication industries it regulates. >>

The FCC's Strange Non-Profit

FCC Chairman Michael Powell runs venture capital firm that claims it's private

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2003 — A quasi-governmental corporation set up to fund telecommunications company start-ups is spending nearly as much on executive salaries and overhead as it is investing in companies, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found. The Telecommunications Development Fund has paid more than $7 million in executive salaries and other expenses while investing only $9.4 million of seed money in start-ups. See the TDF response to the Center report; posted July 3, 2003. >>

Bill would eliminate industry-sponsored travel for FCC

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2003 — A measure introduced by U.S. Sen. John McCain bans industry-sponsored travel by FCC commissioners and staff, according to a statement from the senator's office. >>

FCC votes 3-2 to loosen media rules

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2003 — The Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to dramatically loosen rules that restrict ownership of broadcast outlets. >>

Behind Closed Doors: Top Broadcasters Met 71 Times With FCC Officials

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2003 — The nation's top broadcasters have met behind closed doors with Federal Communications Commission officials more than 70 times to discuss a sweeping set of proposals to relax media ownership rules, the Center for Public Integrity has found. The private sessions included dozens of meetings between broadcasters and the agency's five commissioners and their top advisors. A June 2 vote is scheduled on the controversial proposals, which critics fear will touch off a major new round of media consolidation. FCC officials held five private sessions with Consumers Union and the Media Access Project, the two major consumer groups working on the issue, since the proposals first surfaced eight months ago. (Updated May 30, 2003) >>

Captive Audience

A few big media firms dominate 4 of 5 FCC commissioners' hometowns

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2003 — A new Center report surveying the hometowns of each of the five FCC commissioners by the Center for Public Integrity reveals a heavy concentration of ownership by large, out-of-town media companies in four of them. The report comes 11 days before the FCC decides whether to loosen media ownership rules. >>

On the Road Again—and Again

FCC officials rack up $2.8 million travel tab with industries they regulate.

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2003 — Federal Communications Commission officials have been showered with nearly $2.8 million in travel and entertainment over the past eight years, most of it from the telecommunications and broadcast industries the agency regulates, a new study by the Center for Public Integrity has found. >>

A Penchant for Secrecy

Why is the FCC so determined to keep key data from the public?

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2003 — When the Federal Communications Commission decides on June 2 whether to dramatically loosen restrictions on media ownership, it will be relying largely on analyses based on proprietary databases not freely available to the public. >>

Well Connected: FCC and Industry Maintain Cozy Relationship on Many Levels

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2003 — The three largest local phone companies control 83 percent of home telephone lines. The top two long distance carriers control 67 percent of that market. The four biggest cellular phone companies have 64 percent of the wireless market. The five largest cable companies pipe programming to 74 percent of the cable subscribers nationwide. Those findings come from the Center for Public Integrity's unprecedented examination of the telecommunications industry, the centerpiece of which is a first-of-its-kind, 65,000 record, searchable database containing ownership information on virtually every radio station, television station, cable television system and telephone company in America. For the full report and database visit the Well Connected Web site. >>

FCC Makes New Rules to Reform Troubled Program

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2003 — The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules aimed at cleaning up financial fraud and abuse within a multi-billion-dollar program that helps wire schools and libraries to the Internet. A January 2003 Center for Public Integrity report chronicled widespread fraud and a lack of proper government oversight of the FCC's schools and libraries program, also known as E-Rate. >>

The FCC's rapidly revolving door

SBC senior veep a glaring example

WASHINGTON, February 19, 2003 — A former Federal Communications Commission bureau chief who played an integral role in shaping policies governing local telephone competition is now a senior vice president for federal regulatory strategy for SBC Communications, helping the telecom giant reshape the rules she helped draft. Dorothy Attwood, former chief of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau, quit the agency on Sept. 15 of last year and began work at SBC Nov. 1, the Center reports. >>

Congressmen Call for Probe of Fraud-Plagued Phone Fund for Schools, Libraries

WASHINGTON, January 30, 2003 — Two of the most powerful members of Congress who oversee telecommunications issues have started investigating financial shenanigans within the government's controversial E-Rate fund, which provides hefty discounts to help connect schools and libraries to the Internet. The probes were announced following the release of a Center for Public Integrity report chronicling fraud and lax government oversight of the $2.25 billion program. >>

Commentary

Relaxing Media Ownership Rules Conflicts with the Public's Right to Know

WASHINGTON, January 22, 2003 — On Jan. 16, 2003, Charles Lewis, the executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, addressed the Forum on Media Ownership at the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at the Columbia University School of Law in New York City. Lewis prepared remarks for the event which, because of the time constraints, he had to summarize. We reprint his full prepared remarks here. >>

Phone Fund for Schools, Libraries Riddled with Fraud

WASHINGTON, January 9, 2003 — A government program that helps schools and libraries connect to the Internet is woefully short on oversight and riddled with fraud, the Center for Public Integrity has learned. The $2.25 billion E-Rate fund, paid for by what is essentially a tax on the telephone bills of virtually all Americans, has problems "almost everywhere we looked," according to a government auditor. The report is the first in the Center's ongoing, unprecedented look at the telecommunications industry, which, over the next three years, will examine the corporations that control the telecommunications infrastructure and the public officials charged with overseeing the industry. >>

Broadcast Industry Defeats Shays-Meehan Provision

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2002 — Of the 14 amendments proposed to Shays-Meehan during the marathon house session in February, only three passed. One of those eliminated a reform that might have interfered with the more than $600 million broadcast outlets earn from showing political ads. The broadcast lobby got its way in Congress once again. >>

Telecom Chief Could Face Conflict Issues

WASHINGTON, September 10, 2001 — A key Commerce Department official could face frequent conflict-of-interest issues because her office controls high-tech policies that affect a number of telecommunication and wireless firms for which she and her husband have worked. >>

Internet Voting Project Cost Pentagon $73,809 Per Vote

WASHINGTON, August 9, 2001 — A pilot Internet voting project to encourage voter participation by Americans abroad cost the Pentagon $6.2 million and received high marks from its director, although it delivered only 84 votes in the November election and failed to address a key security concern, the Center for Public Integrity has learned. >>

The Bush Team

New FCC Chairman Had Big Telephone Player As a Major Client

WASHINGTON, February 13, 2001 — New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell used to be a lawyer who represented GTE Corp., a major telecommunications player. GTE merged last year with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon Communications, the nation's largest local phone company. Powell has never recused himself from matters relating to GTE or Verizon, including the merger. >>