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Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Hearst TV CEO and ABC News President to Headline Inaugural Hargrove Communications Law Colloquium

By on October 17, 2013 in FCC, Internet, Journalism

Hargrove ColloquiumWe are pleased to announce that on November 4, 2013, the Center will host the inaugural Wade H. Hargrove Communications Law and Policy Colloquium. Friends and colleagues of Wade Hargrove established the colloquium to honor Mr. Hargrove, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an accomplished media lawyer, by spurring discussion and debate about national media law and policy issues.

This year’s colloquium speakers will be David Barrett, chairman and CEO of Hearst Television Inc., and Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News, who will talk about “The Future of Television News.”  Mr. Barrett and Mr. Sherwood will make brief opening remarks and then engage in a wide-ranging discussion about the challenges and opportunities media companies face in this age of digital convergence.

The colloquium  is free and open to the public.  For more information, please visit our event page.

About David Barrett
David Barrett joined Hearst in 1984 as general manager of the company’s Baltimore radio stations, later assuming general manager responsibility for the Hearst Radio Group, and then for WBAL-TV in Baltimore. He relocated to New York in 1991 as a vice president of Hearst Corporation and deputy general manager of Broadcasting, with operating oversight for the company’s television and radio stations. In 1997, Hearst Broadcasting merged with Argyle Television to form Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc., and he was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of the new entity. He was named president and chief executive officer in 2001.

Mr. Barrett has been the recipient of numerous industry honors. In 2011 he received the DiGamma Kappa Distinguished Achievement Award in Broadcasting from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism, which bestows the annual Peabody Awards, and the First Amendment Leadership Award from The Radio Television Digital News Foundation. In 2008 he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. In 2005 he was the recipient of The Media Institute’s American Horizon Award and was also inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Management Hall of Fame. In 2004 he was named Broadcasting & Cable magazine’s “Broadcaster of the Year.”

About Ben Sherwood
Ben Sherwood was named president of ABC News in December 2010. He is responsible for all aspects of ABC News’ broadcasts, including “World News with Diane Sawyer,” “Nightline,” “Good Morning America,” “20/20” and “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” In addition, Mr. Sherwood oversees ABC News Radio, ABCNEWS.com, satellite service NewsOne and ABC News NOW. During Mr. Sherwood’s tenure the news division has won the most prestigious honors in the industry, including George Polk, George Foster Peabody, News and Documentary Emmy, Edward R. Murrow, Overseas Press Club, SPJ Sigma Delta Chi and Investigative Reporters and Editors awards.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College, Mr. Sherwood earned a bachelor’s degree in American government and history. From 1986 to 1989, as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, he earned master’s degrees in British imperial history and development economics.

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Looking for a Job in Media Law?

By on September 18, 2013 in Copyright, FCC, First Amendment, Internet, Journalism, Privacy

jobsLooking for a job can be time consuming and frustrating.  Often the best opportunities are found through networking and word of mouth.  But what if you are a student or recent grad? Or are trying to change fields or areas of practice and you don’t have a network?  Breaking into a new field, or even trying to find new opportunities in a field you already occupy, can be challenging.  This is why the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy has created its new media law and policy Job Center.

We Bring Our Network to You

Over the years, the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy has a built up a large (and growing) network of media law and policy minded folks and they are often looking for people just like you.  From an undergraduate internship at the Brookings Institution to a director position at Harvard’s Digital Initiative our network of contacts are constantly making us aware of openings and opportunities in the field of media law and policy.  Our Job Center database brings that network to you.  For free.  Just like that.

Easy to use

Not only does our database instantly plug you into our network of contacts and opportunities it is easy to use. You can browse by job type or category or use our advanced search feature to search by location, keyword, or practice area. Looking for a fellowship? Bam. Got it: Fellowships. How about an internship? Yep, that too: Internships.  An academic teaching position? Also covered: Academic – Journalism and Academic – Law.

Wide Variety

Don’t be deceived by the few examples of categories I just offered in the previous paragraph.  There are job opportunities from almost every field even remotely under the media law and policy umbrella.  IP, Copyright, Photo Journalism, Broadcast, FTC listings, Cyber Law, Trademark—you name it there are job opportunities.  Whatever you are looking for, chances are there is something for you on our page.  Here is a list of some of my favorite recent postings:

William Smith is a 2L at the University of North Carolina School of Law

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A UNC Student’s Summer Experience at the FCC

By on September 8, 2013 in FCC

FCC-LogoAs I mentioned back in March, the Center provides summer grants to UNC law and graduate students who have unpaid or low-paying public interest jobs in the field of media law or media policy. (I hope some of you will apply for a grant next year!)  If you have been reading Natasha Duarte’s posts this summer, you have a sense of the amazing experience she had at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Well, Natasha wasn’t the only UNC student who had a great summer experience. Below you will find a summary of Minisha Patel’s internship at the Federal Communications Commission.  Minisha is a 3L at the UNC School of Law.

The summer of my second year of law school, I worked as an intern for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). While at the Commission, I worked in the Wireline Competition Bureau, the Commission’s largest and most important bureau. I worked on the Lifeline program, which is a FCC program created in order to aid low-income individuals by providing them with the opportunity to have discounted phone service. The sole purpose of the Lifeline subsidy is to enable low-income individuals to have the same access to telecommunications as the rest of the population. The Lifeline program’s goal is to connect low-income individuals and aims to enable them to access jobs, health care services, schools, and emergency contacts. The program was created by the Reagan administration but is more popularly known as the Obamaphones.

This summer was a very critical time for the Lifeline program as the telephone carriers and subscribers receiving discounts from the program were defrauding the program. This summer, I worked alongside the FCC attorneys to help create a database and stop the carrier’s that are most liable for frauding the system. In addition, I Engaged in legal research and writing in conjunction with several major rulemakings and adjudicatory proceedings, drafted public notices, small business compliance guides, and comment summaries. I also analyzed specific areas of telecommunications law and administrative law and produced memoranda to assist FCC attorneys. Throughout the course of the internship, I worked directly with attorneys on assigned subject matter and attended meetings on a bi-weekly basis.

This internship helped me gain knowledge about interpreting regulations and taught me about the inner workings of the Federal Communications Commission. The internship further enabled me to understand how the government operates with respect to media and telecommunications law.

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The FCC, Media Ownership and the Tar Heel State

By on February 18, 2013 in FCC, Journalism

This Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m., the Center will be joining with Common Cause to hold a public discussion of the Federal Communication Commission’s media ownership rules and their impact on the media’s ability to meet the information needs of North Carolina communities. The FCC is currently reviewing its rules and is considering scrapping the radio/TV cross-ownership rules, loosening the newspaper/TV cross-ownership rules, and leaving in place the radio and TV local market ownership caps.  These changes could have a profound influence on the media environment in North Carolina.

Former FCC Chair Michael Copps will introduce the topic and a panel of media and academic experts will discuss how the current FCC rules and proposed rule changes affect local accountability journalism.  The panel will be moderated by Teresa Artis, former Vice President & General Counsel, Capitol Broadcasting Company, and will include the following speakers:

  • Penny Abernathy, Knight Professor of Digital Media Economics, UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication
  • Michael Copps, former FCC Chair (and UNC Ph.D ’68)
  • Jim Goodmon, President & CEO, Capitol Broadcasting Company
  • Jane Mago, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, National Association of Broadcasters
  • Bob Phillips, Executive Director, Common Cause North Carolina
  • Orage Quarles III, President and Publisher, The News & Observer

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in UNC’s Wilson Library.  If you can’t make it in person, you can watch the discussion streamed live here or follow along (and ask questions) via Twitter with the hashtag #FCCUNC.  Please visit our event page for more information.

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Media Workshop at FCC on June 26th

By on June 15, 2012 in FCC

Should be interesting:

On June 26, 2012 from 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities will host a public meeting to review a draft report prepared by a coalition of scholars brought together by University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. The researched was commissioned to examine existing research into the critical information needs of the American public and market-entry barriers into participation in the communication industry. The research will inform the Commission’s 2012 Report to Congress about barriers to participation in the communications industry, also known as the Section 257 Report. At this public meeting the USC-Annenberg Coalition will present their draft findings to the Commission and an independent panel of scholars and industry representatives, this will be followed by an opportunity for public feedback and to inquire about the research results.

More info on the FCC’s website.

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