What is your word worth?
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| HEALTHCARE |
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| CYBERSECURITY |
Tardy
House lawmakers last week submitted about 50 amendments to the chamber's annual
defense policy bill (H.R. 5515) ,
several of which touch on digital issues. Most notably, Arizona Reps. Krysten
Sinema, Ruben Gallego, and Andy Biggs are trying to find out whether
government-owned mobile technologies "remain at risk for targeting or data
breaches placing at risk information that could harm national security."
The bipartisan group also requests the Pentagon brief lawmakers on
"threats posed by credential theft, active surveillance from mics and
cameras, and tracking of user movements and location" and what the
department is doing to mitigate such risks. The measure is likely in response
to the incident earlier this year when Strava, a fitness tracking app company,
publicly released a "heat map" that showed jogger activity, which
security experts were quick to note revealed the location of likely military
bases — and potentially even the soldiers themselves.
In addition, Reps. Brendan Boyle and Brian
Fitzpatrick have an addendum that would require the Secretary of State to
deliver a report on U.S. cybersecurity cooperation with Ukraine, which has been
a target of Russian digital attacks in the past. And Reps. Derek Kilmer, Tom
O'Halleran and Jacky Rosen are proposing an amendment that supports state-led
efforts to boost cybersecurity by establishing a five-year pilot program of
National Guard cyber civil support teams in ten states. [POLITICO's Morning Cybersecurity, May 21, 2018]
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| CANDIDATES |
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| ACTIVISTS |
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| U.S. MILITARY |
Breaking: Two Counts of Maybe-Almost-Not-Bribery
Why did AT&T pay President Trump’s bagman and fixer lawyer
Michael Cohen up to $600,000 while seeking federal approval of its massive
merger with Time-Warner? Paying for his expertise on telecom issues doesn’t
pass the laugh test. Neither does Swiss drugmaker Novartis’ excuse for sliding
Cohen a series of payments totaling $1.1 million, supposedly for his health
care policy expertise.
Corrupt? Definitely. Unusual activity by the standards of Trump’s
Washington? Not in the slightest. In the words of Trump appointee Mick
Mulvaney, “if you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”
But the problem of pay-to-play politics started long before the
swampy Trump administration and will continue long after. Until we close the
legal loopholes that billions of dark-money dollars to flow to leaders each
year, big corporations and obliging politicians will keep trampling all over
our democratic legitimacy. [LegitAction News, May 19, 2018]
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| TRUMP |
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| TRUMPARCANA |
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| TRUMPATERIA |
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| WHITE HOUSE |
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| NATO |
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| MARIJUANA |
LOCAL TV NEWS IS LOOKING THE SAME IN JOHNSTOWN, PA: The
Washington Post's Paul Farhi, Jack Gillum and Chris Alcantara examine how affiliates in west-central Pennsylvania for NBC, ABC
and Fox have aired identical news stories. "The media overlap in Johnstown
- where all three stations are either owned or managed by the Baltimore-based
Sinclair Broadcast Group - is part of a trend that has spread across the
country," they write, "as a small number of large holding companies
are taking over local TV stations, often more than one in the same
market."
- Sinclair, which injects pro-Trump commentary and
conservative news segments into local newscasts, "plays an outsized role
in shaping the news agenda here, particularly when it comes to local and
national politics," they write, as "any news it decides to air can
blanket the region multiple times." [Morning
Media, May 16, 2018]
HEDGE FUND CONTINUES DECIMATING PAPERS: While
the drastic cuts at the Denver Post have gotten a lot of attention, the
Philadelphia Inquirer's Bob Fernandez looks at how Digital First Media, the chain backed by
hedge fund Alden Global Capital, is "devastating newsrooms and fomenting
employee dissent" in Pennsylvania even as the owners "makes huge
profits on beaten-down papers, where some reporters earn less than $30,000 a
year."
- "Experts now warn of 'ghost papers' and
a 'turn-the-lights-out scenario' for many Digital First publications, even in
well-off suburbs in Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties," he
writes. "As the company extracts profits from its newspapers, it also
fails to transform them into viable media assets for the digital age - despite
its name." [Morning Media, May 16, 2018]
MURDOCH SUCCESSION: Lachlan Murdoch will serve as
chairman and CEO of a new Fox if 21st Century Fox completes its $52.4 billion
sale of assets to Disney, the company announced Wednesday. The new Fox would include Fox News, Fox
Business, Fox Broadcasting, Fox Sports, Fox Television Stations Group and
several sports cable networks.
- "The new Fox will begin as the only media
company solely focused on the domestic market; focused on what Americans love
best - sports, news and entertainment, built and delivered for a U.S.
audience," said Rupert Murdoch, who will become co-chairman under the
plan. The release noticeably didn't mention other son James, who has served as
21st Century Fox CEO. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that James is expected to start "a
venture-capital fund to invest in digital and international media
businesses."
- Given that Lachlan is considered the
more conservative Murdoch son, and closer to Rupert's politics, New York
magazine's Adam Raymond suggested Wednesday that the family succession plan "ensures
new Fox will be a lot like old Fox." [Morning
Media, May 17, 2018]
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
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