OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
December 6, 2017
The Honorable Cory Booker
United States Senate
359 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Booker:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern regarding the retransmission consent
dispute between Univision and Verizon. As you stated, retransmission consent negotiations are
private contractual discussions. However, the Commission does follow retransmission consent
disputes closely and encourages the parties to reach agreement so that viewers are not negatively
affected. We are pleased to report that Univision and Verizon have reached an agreement and
that the Univision signals have been restored.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of further
assistance.
REMARKS BY FCC CHAIRMAN AJIT PAl
AT THE MEDIA INSTITUTE
WASHINGTON, DC
NOVEMBER 29, 2017
I take the stage at a bittersweet moment. As you may know, the Media Institute's longtime
leader, Patrick Maines, is stepping down. Considering his stature, I feel compelled to open with a variant
on Shakespeare:
Friends, lawyers, counti ymen, lend inc your ears;
I come to praise Patrick lvfaines, not to bury him.
Since 1984, Patrick has led the Media Institute with great distinction. 33 years of standing strong
for the First Amendment, the spine of American democracy. 33 years of advocating for values we prize,
like freedom of expression, journalistic excellence, and open markets. 33 years of perceptive cultural
commentary, such as when he opined in USA TODA Y four years ago that Breaking Bad was "perhaps the
best show that's ever been on television." And 33 years of urging the FCC to adopt better policies, such
as when he proclaimed that "deregulation is the only rational approach in the radically transformed digital
information age of media abundance in the 21st century." (He wrote that in Media Institute comments to
the FCC 17 years ago; I'm sorry it took us this long to respond.)
Patrick, thank you for your able leadership. As you depart the stage, we're grateful for your
contributions to the Media Institute and to the body politic. What Marc Antony said in Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar could well be said of you: "Only he acted from honesty and for the general good. I-us life
was gentle, and the elements mixed so well in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world,
'This was a man." Congratulations on your work and godspeed.
Speaking of transitions, these are difficult times for many of those who tell the stories that define
our conirnuniti es-America's broadcasters and newspapers. Attention spans are short. Advertising
dollars are going elsewhere. Competitors are everywhere.
I value the work that our media does, and my record reflects that. That's why the FCC under my
leadership has aggressively modernized its rules to give broadcasters and newspapers a fair chance to
compete. From updating our media ownership rules to reflect 2017 instead of 1975, to repealing outdated
regulations, we're doing what we can to encourage a bright future for those who keep our communities
informed.
But let's be honest: Americans are increasingly turning away from traditional media and toward
the Internet. And even with greater freedom for newspapers and broadcasters to compete, this shift
toward online platforms as the go-to place for news, information, and entertainment is certain to continue.
There are many sources, as you know-streaming video, gaming, and the like-but a major
factor is social media. Two-thirds of U.S. adults get news from social media. For Americans under 50,
it's four out of five. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagrarn, and other online platforms are where
millions of Americans now "meet" and "talk." In a sense, these platforms constitute the public square in
the digital era.
Many public servants have entered that square in recent years, including me. In my first meeting
as an FCC Commissioner in 2012, 1 announced that I had joined Twitter. I was the first Commissioner
ever to do so. And it's taken me in some unexpected directions.
In December 2013, a tweet brought to my attention the story of Kari Rene Hunt, a woman who
was killed that month by her estranged husband in a Marshall, Texas hotel room. Her nine-year-old
daughter, who was with her, frantically tried dialing 911-but the call never went through because she
Swift Needs to Sit This Year Out." The subhead for tile last article contends that "[t]he pop star ilas
always avoided politics, but in Trump's America, there is no more room for her petty personal drama."
Well-yes there is! She's a singer and a songwriter. She's talented. And people want to hear
her-including me. If she chooses to use her voice to champion an issue, great. But no one should be
demanding that she take a position on tax reform or illegal immigration. As Ms. Swift once intoned,
"Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate." I hope she keeps shaking it off.
This view that politics-is-all is often made worse by social media. I'll bet you've seen it too in
your own lives. I'm no longer active on Facebook, but when I was, I saw a dynamic play out time and
again on my News Feed. I used to love seeing snapshots of my friends' lives-kids' pictures, job
updates, and so on. But those happy timehnes changed dramatically in the lead-up to and aftermath of the
2016 presidential election. Friends who had known each other for years-sometimes going back to grade
school-would routinely denounce each other in very harsh terms. I can't tell you how many times I saw
a friend post something like "If you voted for [pick a candidate], unfriend me now. We clearly have
nothing in common, because you're [pick a pejorative], and I don't want to associate with you."
Ironically-or maybe fittingly-I saw for myself a great example of 110w political social media
has gotten. It came after a recent non-partisan forum on the Future of Speech Online hosted by the
Newseum Institute, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the Charles Koch Institute. I was
invited to speak, as was activist DeRay Mckesson. We sat next to each other and had a chance to chat.
After the event, DeRay tweeted, and I quote, "@AjitPaiFCC, good to meet you today. Looking forward
to a longer conversation soon." I replied, "Good to meet you as well, @deray! Hope to catch up
sometime soon-much to talk about, incl[uding] possible [Game of Thrones] endings." You can
probably guess how some of our Twitter followers reacted. One of DeRay's followers wrote, "I would
have told Ajit to take his oversized cup of coffee and @#$% right off." One of mine asked, "Why would
you as a member of tile cabinet, even meet with that racist joker? #disappointed." Tribalism is a
powerful drug.
And it's terrible for our country. I daresay that in every democratic society, political issues are
guaranteed to divide. That's wily there once seemed to be an understanding in America that those issues
were third-rails in casual conversation. I remember at the Sportsman Barber Shop in my hometown of
Parsons, where I used to get my hair cut as a kid, they had a rule: no politics and no religion. That's not
the way things are in America today. Any and all interactions are now fair game for ferreting out whether
your opinions entitle you to simple pleasantries, let alone friendship. It's even extended to dating; the
chief scientific adviser to Match.com earlier this year said that liberals and conservatives are more often
screening each other out; as she put it, "all singles are becoming more rigid in their views," with many
imposing political litmus tests before a single clink of wine glasses.
Tile second trend I'd suggest to you: The virtual is displacing the real. As we've become more
accustomed to interacting on the Internet, we don't prioritize or experience in-person conversations as
much. And with the lack of personal contact, we've forgotten the mores that we used to learn through
face-to-face conversations-mores like civility and tolerance.
When you shake someone's hand, when you look someone in the eye, when you actually hear his
or her point of view directly, it's just harder to be nasty. You may disagree, but at least you learn to limit
your disagreement within a civilized range. This is healthy. This kind of tolerance helps maintain civic
institutions. It's why we prize the famous friendships of Justices Scalia and Ginsburg, or the famous
collaboration of Reagan and O'Neill, or even the famous marriage of James Carville and Mary Matalin.
It's not just the novelty of ideological opponents getting along that strikes us. It's because this is the glue
of society. It's what staves off rank tribalism and ultimately helps make us a nation.
Some have argued that anonymity has made our discourse nastier, and I think that's true. When
your identity is secret, you feel no restraint. You say literally anything you want, and nobody will hold
3
"What really makes the Senate work... is an understanding of human nature, an appreciation of
the hearts as well as the minds, the frailties as well as the strengths, of one's colleagues and one's
constituents. . . . We are doing the business of the American people. We do it every day. We have to do
it with the same people every day. And if we cannot be civil to one another, and if we stop dealing with
those with whom we disagree, or that we don't like, we would soon stop functioning altogether."
My friends, I submit that there's something in Baker's vision of the Senate that our countly needs
right now.
At the FCC, we're working to make sure that every American is connected with high-speed
Internet access. But while we're becoming connected digitally, we can't allow our nation of 326 million
to become disconnected from each other. We need to see our fellow citizens as real people with real
strengths and frailties, not as abstract online avatars. We need to speak with each other eye-to-eye in
order to understand each other's values, not snipe at each other remotely in order to demean. And when
we disagree, we need to do so civilly-to see each other as people aspiring for a better countly but
envisioning different paths for getting there.
That's the future that I want for this country I love. And that's the future that we must strive for
if we are to remain these United States of America.
5
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
December 6, 2017
The Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin
United States Senate
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Cardin:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern regarding the retransmission consent
dispute between Univision and Verizon. As you stated, retransmission consent negotiations are
private contractual discussions. However, the Commission does follow retransmission consent
disputes closely and encourages the parties to reach agreement so that viewers are not negatively
affected. We are pleased to report that Univision and Verizon have reached an agreement and
that the Univision signals have been restored.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of further
assistance.
Sincerely,
;. P
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
December 6, 2017
The Honorable Bob Casey
United States Senate
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Casey:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern regarding the retransmission consent
dispute between Univision and Verizon. As you stated, retransmission consent negotiations are
private contractual discussions. However, the Commission does follow retransmission consent
disputes closely and encourages the parties to reach agreement so that viewers are not negatively
affected. We are pleased to report that Univision and Verizon have reached an agreement and
that the Univision signals have been restored.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of further
assistance.
Sincerely,
I/
	
J/.
Jit V. Pai'
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
December 6, 2017
The Honorable Edward J. Markey
United States Senate
255 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC. 20510
Dear Senator Markey:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern regarding the retransmission consent
dispute between Univision and Verizon. As you stated, retransmission consent negotiations are
private contractual discussions. However, the Commission does follow retransmission consent
disputes closely and encourages the parties to reach agreement so that viewers are not negatively
affected. We are pleased to report that Univision and Verizon have reached an agreement and
that the Univision signals have been restored.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of further
assistance.
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
December 6, 2017
The Honorable Robert Menendez
United States Senate
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Menendez:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern regarding the retransmission consent
dispute between Univision and Verizon. As you stated, retransmission consent negotiations are
private contractual discussions. However, the Commission does follow retransmission consent
disputes closely and encourages the parties to reach agreement so that viewers are not negatively
affected. We are pleased to report that Univision and Verizon have reached an agreement and
that the Univision signals have been restored.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of further
assistance.
Sincerely,
//fl
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(Ajt V. PaiV
OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
December 6,2017
The Honorable Elizabeth Warren
United States Senate
317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Warren:
Thank you for your letter expressing concern regarding the retransmission consent
dispute between Univision and Verizon. As you stated, retransmission consent negotiations are
private contractual discussions. However, the Commission does follow retransmission consent
disputes closely and encourages the parties to reach agreement so that viewers are not negatively
affected. We are pleased to report that Univision and Verizon have reached an agreement and
that the Univision signals have been restored.
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of further
assistance.