Club members to get discount on net neutrality event, Oct. 14

National Press Club members have been offered a discounted rate to hear a panel discussion on Tuesday, Oct. 14, on why media should care about the issue of “net neutrality.”

Rules the Federal Communications Commission is writing will say whether wireless companies and Internet service providers can manage their networks as they see fit, selling faster transmission to operators sending video to smartphones and computer screens, or whether all transmissions pass through at the same speed. The FCC received 3.7 million comments from the public on this matter.

With an introduction by Ellen Shearer, director of Northwestern University's Medill Washington Program, government, nonprofit and media representatives will discuss the importance of net neutrality to journalists, starting with light refreshments at 6 p.m. at the Medill Washington Program, Room 730, 1325 G St. NW. The program begins at 6:30 p.m.

The D.C. Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Medill Washington Program presents a panel that will discuss the journalistic importance of the topic, how accurately media have covered the issue and whether it's related to the First Amendment or free speech.

Admission to cover the cost of light refreshments for National Press Club and SPJ members and their guests is $6, and $8 for others. Students can attend for free.

Panelists will be: Daniel Alvarez, legal adviser to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler on issues including wireline telecommunications; Lucy Dalglish, dean and a professor at the University of Maryland Merrill College of Journalism; Randolph May, president of the Free State Foundation; Gautham Nagesh, Wall Street Journal FCC and technology reporter; Nicol Turner-Lee, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council chief research and policy officer; and Lauren Wilson, Free Press policy counsel. The moderator will be Jonathan Make, Warren Communications News/Communications Daily managing editor.

RSVP to Kathy Burns of SPJ at [email protected].