Press Struggles To Explain How The GOP Killed A Popular Broadband Discount Program, Driving Millions Of Poor Americans Off The Internet

The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program ( #ACP ),
-- part of the 2021 #infrastructure #bill,
-- provided 23+ million low-income households a $30 broadband discount every month.

But the roughly 60 million Americans benefiting from the program are now facing much higher broadband bills because
key Republicans
— who routinely dole out billions of dollars on far dumber fare 
— refused to fund a $4-$7 billion extension.

There were several last ditch efforts to fund the program but none were successful -- thanks largely to Trump loyalist and current House Speaker #Mike #Johnson,
who refused to let any of those funding efforts get close to a vote.

The GOP killed this popular program.

Yet in two different stories this week,
both CNET and the Associated Press
fail to clearly communicate that to readers.

At #CNET, the program simply “ran out of money”:

"In May, the $14.2 billion program officially ran out of money, leaving Jackson and 23 million households like hers with internet bills that were $30 to $75 higher than the month before."

Over at the #Associated #Press, the program vaguely died because “Congress” didn’t fund it:

"The Affordable Connectivity Program, part of a broader effort pushed by the administration to bring affordable internet to every home and business in the country, was not renewed by Congress and ran out of funding earlier this year."

The GOP killed this program.
-- The GOP alone.

The cuts heavily harm the GOP’s own constituents.

Nearly half of the folks on the ACP program rolls were military families.

Countless ACP participants live in Southern states where broadband access is spotty and expensive thanks to the GOP’s own policies.

Republicans killed a popular program heavily used by Republicans and only made necessary in the first place due to failed Republican telecom policies.

They killed it because they didn’t want Democrats and Biden to enjoy credit for a popular program during an election season.

But neither outlet wants to make the GOP’s fault clear to readers lest they somehow offend Republican readers, sources, event sponsors, or advertisers.

It’s part of a general fecklessness that has expanded across the mainstream ad-based U.S. press,

and it results in #feckless #coverage where the GOP never has to truly own its broadly unpopular policy decisions

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/08/28/press-struggles-to-explain-how-the-gop-killed-a-popular-broadband-discount-program-driving-millions-of-poor-americans-off-the-internet/