Google and Verizon’s proposal to regulate the Internet “could force many users of the information superhighway onto a dusty back road,” including public media, writes American Public Media President Bill Kling in a letter to the Washington Post. “Just as the Federal Communications Commission acted decisively to set aside public broadcasting channels in 1945, it must flex its muscle now to ensure that the Internet continues to play a public service role. The FCC and Congress should carefully and creatively explore options that allow telecom and Internet giants to succeed, while assuring that public service media continue to thrive. Not doing so could mean that the best years of public broadcasting are behind us.”
Are the big guns really capable of pushing so called “public service” off the net? It costs about $8 a month to have a website. Blogs are free.