����vlog

2022 STORY FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT DINA DEMETRIUS ABOUT AN ARKANSAS COMMUNITY’S STRUGGLE TO GET HIGH SPEED INTERNET. DINA, I KNOW THAT YOU RECENTLY CHECKED BACK IN WITH THEM. WHAT HAPPENED? WELL, ON THE PRACTICAL LEVEL, NOT MUCH HAD CHANGED. LISA GILBERT IS NOW THE MAYOR OF ELAINE, AND SHE TELLS ME THAT RESIDENTS THERE STILL NEED TO GO DOWN TO MAIN STREET FOR THAT FREE WI-FI, BECAUSE THEIR OWN HOME INTERNET IS KIND OF UNRELIABLE. NOW, THE LOCAL INTERNET PROVIDER, WINDSTREAM DID INSTALL FIBER BACK IN 2023, BUT IT WAS AERIAL FIBER, MEANING IT’S UP ON POWER LINES AND THAT MAKES IT MORE VULNERABLE TO BAD WEATHER. WHEN THAT COMES, THE STRUGGLE JUST KEEPS MARCHING ON. MUST BE SO FRUSTRATING FOR THEM. SO THEN WHERE DO THE FEDERAL EFFORTS STAND IN TRYING TO BRING BROADBAND TO MORE PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS? IN 2021, THERE WAS THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW THAT WAS PASSED, WHICH PROVIDED ABOUT $42 BILLION IN FUNDING FOR BROADBAND. RECENTLY, I SPOKE TO A FEW OF THE BROADBAND DIRECTORS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS THAT I SPOKE TO A FEW YEARS AGO, AND THEY TELL ME THAT THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO THROUGH THE BIDDING PROCESS TO START TO GET FUNDING FOR THOSE BROADBAND PROJECTS. NOW THAT ALL CHANGED THIS PAST JUNE, WHEN THE NTIA, WHICH IS THE AGENCY THAT IMPLEMENTS THESE BROADBAND PROJECTS, CHANGED THE RULES, THEY’RE NOW REQUIRING PROPOSALS TO BE OPEN TO WHAT THEY CALL TECHNOLOGY NEUTRAL ISPS. THAT MEANS IT CAN BE SATELLITE OR CABLE OR WIRELESS PHONE TOWERS, ANYTHING, SO LONG AS IT FAVORS IN CRITERIA THE LOWEST COST. BUT THESE COMMUNITY LEADERS AND THE BROADBAND DIRECTORS TELL ME THAT THEY’VE ALREADY SEEN SOME COMMUNITIES WHERE NON-FIBER LOW COST PROJECTS WERE PUT IN PLACE, AND THE SERVICE IS NOT WHAT THE RESIDENTS WERE TOLD IT WAS GOING TO BE, NOT WHAT THEY WERE PROMISED. AND IN SOME CASES, SOME OF THOSE COMPANIES HAVE ACTUALLY GONE BANKRUPT. SO THERE IS SOME WORRY AND SOME UNCERTAINTY. BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW, THOSE PROJECTS THAT WERE FORMALLY GREENLIT UNDER THE OLD PROPOSAL RULES HAVE BEEN RESCINDED. AND THE NEW PROPOSALS ARE DUE ON SEPTEMBER 4TH. ONE OF THE THINGS I’VE ALWAYS REALLY LIKED ABOUT YOUR REPORTING IS YOU HAVE A GIFT FOR TAKING VERY COMPLEX POLICY ISSUES AND DISTILLING THEM SO WE UNDERSTAND THEM, AND THEN KIND OF PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON THEM. AND I’M ALWAYS WONDERING, WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY AS YOU THINK ABOUT STORYTELLING? I THINK THAT WE’RE ALL LIVING WITH AND NAVIGATING REALLY COMPLEX POLICIES IN OUR OWN DAILY LIVES, WHETHER WE THINK OF IT THAT WAY OR NOT. SO WHEN I DIG INTO A STORY, I SEARCH FOR WHAT IS THE CLOSEST I CAN GET TO A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF A POLICY AND HOW IT FEELS AND HOW IT LOOKS TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY LIVING WITH IT. SO THE HOPE IS ALWAYS TO CONNECT THE DOTS ON ANY POLICY TO PEOPLE’S OWN LIVES TODAY. WE OFTEN DESCRIBE MATTER OF FACT AS, YOU KNOW, AS A SHOW THAT TALKS ABOUT HOW POLICY LANDS ON PEOPLE AND YOUR WORK IS ALWAYS EXHIBIT A, AND YOUR REPORTING IS ALWAYS EXCELLENT. DINA. DEMETRIUS, THANK YOU