We wanted to do something special to mark our 250th and final Media Minutes program. Producers Stevie Converse and Candace Clement share some favorite moments from the last five years. Keep an eye on www.freepress.net for future stories incorporating audio and our entire archive.

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing about online video this week, and it’s clear that some members have a lot to learn. And Native Public Radio has created an innovative journalism course on using radio to tell stories in tribal languages.

Should political ads clutter the airwaves on NPR and PBS? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals thinks so. It struck down a ban on political advertising on public TV and radio stations. And the largest fiber optic broadband network in North America was unveiled last week in south-central North Dakota.

A House bill intended to minimize cyber threats for the nation could maximize privacy threats for the public. There’s good and bad news this week for public media funding. A single U.S. senator continues to hold up the confirmation of two nominees for FCC commissioner. And a shareholders’ campaign is underway to get AT&T, Sprint and Verizon to commit to wireless Net Neutrality.

John Christie and Naomi Schalit took on two big enterprises in 2010: They got married, and they started a nonprofit investigative news outlet in Maine. And this month the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear a copyright case that could have big ramifications for consumers and businesses across the country that sell or lend copies of copyrighted goods.

A recent study shows a widening gap between the broadband haves and have-nots. And the city of Albuquerque pulled the plug on a longtime public access channel operator with little regard for city protocol, and many in the community are crying foul.

Verizon has joined forces with a cadre of cable companies, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox, in a controversial deal that would divide up the broadband market. And that is bad news for the public. And Free Press sends a heartening message to journalists from ordinary people who are committed to press freedom.

To celebrate Sunshine Week, Free Press volunteers all over the country paid visits to their local broadcast stations to collect information from their public files. And the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine how to balance the need to protect sensitive government information with the public’s right to know about threats to their health and safety.

The House Commerce Committee passed two bills that will make the FCC more accountable to the companies it’s supposed to regulate than the consumers it’s supposed to protect. And as newspapers make their way through the tricky terrain of digital media, some success stories are emerging. But many newsrooms are having trouble adapting to this new world.

FlackCheck.org debunks false political ads and gives you tools to tell your local broadcaster to stop airing them. And for the ninth year in a row, the public has ranked PBS the most trusted institution in America, ahead of other forms of media, the courts and the federal government.