FCC Commissioner: Agency Looking to Police Newsrooms

FCC Commissioner: Agency Looking to Police Newsrooms

Wednesday, 12 Feb 2014 09:21 AM

By Melanie Batley

http://www.newsmax.com/US/FCC-newsroom-police-media/2014/02/12/id/552347

The FCC is launching an initiative to question the priorities and decisions of newsrooms and potentially crack down on "perceived station bias," according to one of the agency's commissioners.

In an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal, Ajit Pai says the Federal Communications Commission plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run, as part of a "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs," reminiscent, he says, of the now-defunct controversial Fairness Doctrine.

"The FCC says the study is merely an objective fact-finding mission. The results will inform a report that the FCC must submit to Congress every three years on eliminating barriers to entry for entrepreneurs and small businesses in the communications industry," Pai writes.

"This claim is peculiar. How can the news judgments made by editors and station managers impede small businesses from entering the broadcast industry? And why does the [Critical Information Needs] study include newspapers when the FCC has no authority to regulate print media?"

Pai argues that the government "has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories," and says it's a "dangerous" first step toward "newsroom policing."

House Republicans raised similar concerns in December about the agency's study, claiming it was an attempt to impose "Fairness Doctrine 2.0," The Hill reported.

"Given the widespread calls for the commission to respect the First Amendment and stay out of the editorial decisions of reporters and broadcasters, we were shocked to see that the FCC is putting itself back in the business of attempting to control the political speech of journalists," the lawmakers wrote at the time in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

"It is wrong, it is unconstitutional, and we urge you to put a stop to this most recent attempt to engage the FCC as the 'news police.'"

The Fairness Doctrine introduced in 1949 required radio and TV stations to air opposing views on controversial issues. It led to lawsuits throughout the 1960s and 1970s arguing that the rules infringed on the freedom of press. The FCC abandoned the regulation in 1987 after admitting it did not serve the public interest.

An FCC official said Tuesday, however, that the agency may rework the study to address the concerns that have been raised.

"The commission has no intention of interfering in the coverage and editorial choices that journalists make," the official told the National Journal. "We're closely reviewing the proposed research design to determine if an alternative approach is merited."

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Newton N. Minow was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a senior counsel for Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Note: Mark D. Schneider was an associate general counsel for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Linda Johnson Rice is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a director at the United Negro College Fund.

Reed E. Hundt is a director at the United Negro College Fund, and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Colin L. Powell was a director at the United Negro College Fund, is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and Michael K. Powell’s father.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue Committee, the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Michael K. Powell is Colin L. Powell’s son, a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Blair Levin was the chief of staff to the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and is a fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Julius Genachowski is a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank), was Barack Obama’s law school friend, and the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Kathleen Q. Abernathy was the commissioner for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.

Amy L. Nathan is the senior counsel, strategic planning & policy analysis for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and was an attorney at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Linda Johnson Rice is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a director at the United Negro College Fund, and is a friend of Valerie B. Jarrett.

Reed E. Hundt is a director at the United Negro College Fund, and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, a friend of Linda Johnson Rice, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration.

James T. Heimbach was a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs for the Barack Obama administration, and a legislative affairs director for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Thomas E. Wheeler is the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, was a fundraiser for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign, and a fundraiser for the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign.

Chuck Hagel was a co-chairman for the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.

Judith A. Miscik is a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, and was a director at the International Rescue Committee.

Colin L. Powell is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, and Michael K. Powell’s father.

Michael K. Powell is Colin L. Powell’s son, a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Blair Levin was the chief of staff to the chairman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and is a fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank).