Photo: EPA
In just the first two
hours of the petition’s launch yesterday, the organization claims that
the number of signers against the government’s plan to watch newsrooms
reached 10,000. Last year, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
made an announcement about a Multi-Market Study of Critical Information
Needs (CINs).
It explained that it’s goal was to
understand how stories were chosen, news station priorities, production
of content, populations it reached out to, perceived station bias as
well as the percentage of news out toward the content to every part of
the “critical information needs” in a region, according to what Fox News
reported.
However, chief counsel of the ACLJ Jay
Sekulow is highly concerned that it could be utilized as a tool of
intimidation for specific news agencies to cover issues that state and
federal officials feel are vitally important.
“This is
an extremely troubling and dangerous development that represents the
latest in an ongoing assault on the Constitution by the Obama
Administration,” Sekulow said in a statement, “We have seen a corrupt
IRS unleashed on conservatives. We have seen an imperial president
bypass Congress and change the law with executive orders.”
Presently,
the FCC has jurisdiction over the broadcast sector and does not have
power over cable news or print. Local stations, networks, and the
majority of radio stations would be subject to the monitoring project
the federal agency wishes to carry out in the future.
“Now
we see the heavy hand of the Obama administration poised to interfere
with the First Amendment rights of journalists,” Sekulow said in an
article on theblaze.com, “It’s clear that the Obama administration is
only interested in utilizing intimidation tactics – at the expense of
Americans and the Constitution. The federal government has no place
attempting to control the media, using the unconstitutional actions of
repressive regimes to squelch free speech.”
During press
time, it was noted that an FCC spokesperson did not make a comment in
regards to the plan. Various objectives are outlined for the research
initiative. In a statement released on May 28, 2013 the goals are
“collect data to inform: the access (or potential barriers) to CINs as
identified by the FCC; the media that makes up media ecologies (i.e.,
what media is actually included in that ecology; ownership of that
market; what specific type of content dominates those media ecologies;
what is the flow of information within the ecology, etc); the use of and
interaction between media that makes media ecologies (i.e., how do
different layers of the ecology interact to provide for CINs; how do
individuals of diverse neighborhoods/communities differ in terms of
access to CINs); validate data collection tools/templates and protocols;
demonstrate high internal validity and reliability of measured
constructs.”
The Obama administration has come under
harsh critique for how it has treated the press in the past. Reporters
Without Borders’ group put the United States in the 46th place in the
world for press freedom. It noted that government investigations into a
variety of news agencies in national security incidents are what put the
country in that ranking.
“The trial and conviction of
Private Bradley Manning and the pursuit of NSA analyst Edward Snowden
were warnings to all those thinking of assisting in the disclosure of
sensitive information that would clearly be in the public interest,” the
international journalists report states.
“US
journalists were stunned by the Department of Justice’s seizure of
Associated Press phone records without warning in order to identify the
source of a CIA leak,” the report noted, “It served as a reminder of the
urgent need for a ‘shield law’ to protect the confidentiality of
journalists’ sources at the federal level.”
.....Canada Free Press
Hooray for our glorious state-run media!
Behold the Obama administration’s creepy plan to put FCC monitors in America’s newsrooms
By Robert Laurie (Bio and Archives) Thursday, February 20, 2014Hey, you know what’s a pain in the rump for the ruling class? That pesky “freedom of the press,” that’s what. Reporters can investigate whatever they want, and then they can just go ahead and put those reports on the air. That means that someone might discover the horrible things politicians are doing, and they might even decide to run the story.
If only there was a way for Obama’s FCC to get the First Amendment under control.
From Mediaite:
An FCC commissioner is warning people about an agency study that would bring government monitors into newsrooms and inspect issues like the amount of time spent on the “critical information needs” [CIN’s] of Americans in news content.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal bringing people’s attention to this study, saying “the government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.” And while participation is technically voluntary, ignoring them would not be a wise decision for any news outlet that wants an FCC license.
Read More Here
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