Stories by Jeffrey Chester
Jeffrey Chester is executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (www.democraticmedia.org).
Progressives need to step up and invest in global digital media. Here's how they can do it.
Posted on Jun 5, 2008
Google's new marketing strategy poses a huge threat to our privacy and democratic aspirations for the Internet.
Posted on Oct 6, 2007
We should not leave decisions about how digital content is paid for and distributed just to Google and its ever-growing list of corporate competitors.
Posted on Apr 4, 2007
The future of the progressive movement depends on our ability to harness the power of digital media.
Posted on Jan 10, 2007
The Google/YouTube merger is more than a big media deal: It's the leading edge of a data-driven marketing system that will subvert the Internet as we know it.
Posted on Oct 14, 2006
With the help of Republicans in Congress, mammoth telecommunications companies are fighting to restrict your internet freedom.
Posted on Apr 27, 2006
Google and other telecom giants are wooing cities with offers of public Wi-Fi grids -- but online privacy could be lost in the process.
Posted on Mar 28, 2006
America's big phone and cable companies want to start charging exorbitant user fees for the supposedly-free internet.
Posted on Feb 6, 2006
As PBS lobbies for a billion-dollar trust fund, it's time to challenge the status quo.
Posted on Dec 14, 2004
The public outcry over the Sinclair controversy underscores the need not just to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, but to expand its application to include new and emerging technologies.
Posted on Oct 19, 2004
If Rupert Murdoch gains control of DirecTV, expect a torrential downpour of dozens of Fox News Channels targeting major U.S. cities across the nation.
Posted on Jul 14, 2003
Murdoch's plans to buy DirecTV will open the door to a not-so-distant future when our television set will become an outpost of the Murdoch empire.
Posted on May 20, 2003
The proposed FCC ruling will allow mergers and acquisitions that will increase corporate profits at the public's expense. But it is no coincidence that the American people don't know about it.
Posted on May 15, 2003
Despite widespread protests and the Clear Channel debacle, the FCC is about to make it easier for the nation's biggest media conglomerates grow ever larger.
Posted on May 1, 2003
Unless progressives devise a strategy to shape the emerging digital marketplace, they may find themselves locked into a media system that once again marginalizes dissent.
Posted on Apr 1, 2003
If the FCC -- as many predict -- sweeps away rules that restrict ownership, what will the impact be on the traditional watchdog role of the press?
Posted on Mar 26, 2003
A thumbnail guide to the lobbying aims of the news media's most important companies.
Posted on Mar 18, 2003
Increasing media concentration and a new FCC policy on the Internet will likely make any hope of greater ownership diversity nearly impossible.
Posted on Dec 16, 2002
The latest FCC ruling allowing the AT&T-Comcast merger will create a new media behemoth monopoly over cable and internet affecting millions of Americans.
Posted on Nov 18, 2002
The big telecom companies have finally found a way to make money online. But they first have to destroy the Internet as it is currently used.
Posted on Nov 4, 2002
The FCC plans to implement new rules that will dramatically undermine media diversity in content and ownership. But there is still time for the public to take action.
Posted on Oct 24, 2002
Never before have we had such immense technological power to communicate at our disposal -- power that we can use, share, or lose.
Posted on Jul 26, 2002
As front-page stories gush over the accomplishments of Gerald Levin, AOL Time Warner’s CEO, his retirement has obscured the more negative part of his legacy.
Posted on Dec 6, 2001
Before we rush headlong into a new series of deregulatory moves, we must look at how they will affect journalism and the flow of information to the public.
Posted on Oct 30, 2001
A champion of "open access" -- the policy that will keep the internet free and democratic -- explains why the impending merger between AOL and Time Warner has run into trouble, who is fighting for and against it, and what it all means for the future of the World Wide Web.
Posted on Oct 6, 2000
Still in its infancy, broadband Internet delivery may revolutionize the media world. Can it help build an online environment that serves the public interest as effectively as it meets the expectations of Wall Street?
Posted on May 2, 2000
