Goverment Researchers To Be Placed in U.S. Newsrooms.

A FCC plan to police the newsrooms ?

The FCC has cooked up a plan to place "researchers" in U.S. newsrooms, supposedly to learn all about how editorial decisions are made. Any questions as to why the U.S. is falling in the free press rankings?

As if illegal seizures of Associated Press phone records and the shadowy tailing of the mother of a Fox News reporter weren't menacing enough, the Obama administration is going out of its way to institute a new intrusive surveillance of the press, as if the press wasn't supine enough.

Ajit Pai, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission, warned this week in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that a plan to dispatch researchers into radio, television and even newspaper newsrooms called the "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs" is still going forward, despite the grave danger it presented to the First Amendment.

Pai warned that under the rationale of increasing minority representation in newsrooms, the FCC, which has the power to issue or not issue broadcasting licenses, would dispatch its "researchers" to newsrooms across America to seek their "voluntary" compliance about how news stories are decided, as well as "wade into office politics" looking for angry reporters whose story ideas were rejected as evidence of a shutout of minority views.

INVESTOR
Its not that MSM any good anyway but thinking about how many times the Obama has used a
branch of the government to go after political opponents the opportunity to abuse this might
be to hard to resist.

Yeah, this isn't good.

reply to post by skuly


Wont be long now to you have soviet style politcal officers running about

If the FCC - Police does like what you say, you lose your license.

*shakes head*

Orwellian doesn't even begin to describe the intrusive, controlling, domineering nature of this administration. Another nail in the coffin of freedom.

reply to post by skuly


I don't know about you but it looks more to me like targeting of the free press, or independent reporters, (no linked to the conglomerates) than anything else.

Let no call them researches let call them spies.

I can not trust anything coming from the present administration in lieu of what we have learned about using the IRS to go after small groups that disagree with the government and then been call the worst administration when it comes to free press and secrecy.

No, I can not trust anything, Is not good intentions in all this.

Pretty soon the news will be so "transparent" itll cease to be meaningful or pertinent to the lower classes....PURE PROPAGANDA>

Anyone seen The Hunt for Red October? Political Officers only work against people who haven't made up their minds to disobey. Then they are just a canary in the coal mine. Of course that scenario would require someone working in the mainstream media to be willing to do whatever is necessary to defend free speech, and that hypothetical person would have to be 70 or 80 years old at this point or be a serious exception to the rule in today's America.

Boss, we have a team here working on a NSA story, they have a whistleblower, high ranking. What do I do now?

Send us the names and all the information you have via the secure network and we will take it from there.

reply to post by skuly


Wow... Wtf is going on these days...?

"Freedom of the Press" is nothing more than a lie at this point. From persecution of journalists to policing the news... Goodbye free press and free speech.

-SAP-

When will social media sites have to have "researchers" assigned to them as well?

Just some food for thought, since bloggers are now counted as citizen journalists, aren't they?

reply to post by beezzer


Yeah they are now. It won't be long now until social media is heavily regulated by the FCC or some other alphabet group. Unless the NSA is assigned to social media.

-SAP-

And yet, so many people think that the government is the only organization we can trust with running healthcare and owning guns.

How many of these "Spies" are they going to have to hire?
Are they just going with the MSM? What about all the independents on the internet?


This is just ridiculous. I guess that is why they are going after the internet so hard.

Seems the current administration really doesn't like to be criticized.

Only reason for this.

It's hard to believe this is real. Surely news organizations will not submit to this,
and challenge it on 1st amendment grounds? Orwell is rolling in his grave.

reply to post by skuly


To me this signals the start of another war! Just like the msm media was completely controlled during the Iraq war and Nam.




contexts.org...

reply to post by kosmicjack


Hard to believe but yes it looks real,but i cant see much resistance from MSM as
they will just bend to any new laws made to stay in business and make money.

Anyway here another few linky to look at.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will soon launch an initiative — the Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs (CIN) — “in order to assess whether government action is needed to ensure that the information needs of all Americans are being met, including women and minorities.”

The FCC attempts to justify the intrusive fact-finding mission by asserting that the results are necessary to complete a report that the FCC “is obligated under § 257 of the Communications Act of 1934 … to review and report to Congress on: (1) regulations prescribed to eliminate market entry barriers in the provision and ownership of telecommunications services and information services, or in the provision of parts or services to providers of telecommunications services and information services by entrepreneurs and other small businesses; and (2) proposals to eliminate statutory barriers to market entry by those entities, consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”

However, Pye quotes the FCC's Ajit Pai: “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 CIN study include newspapers when the FCC has no authority to regulate print media?”

thenewamerican
Liberty News
ACLJ
I should have added the links in the original post,sorry i was being a bit lazy.

kosmicjack
It's hard to believe this is real.

Surely news organizations will not submit to this,
and challenge it on 1st amendment grounds? Orwell is rolling in his grave.

Yes, and no.

A, so called, news organization, such as MSNBC, whos "talking points" have already been approved by the administration, and has no fear of reprisal might not have a "problem" with it at all!

Fox, on the other hand...

reply to post by skuly

“in order to assess whether government action is needed to ensure that the information needs of all Americans are being met, including women and minorities.

From your link.


So now the government gets to determine if our "information needs" are met?

Since when has been up to government to determine who, how, how much, information an individual gets?

Oh my freakin' god!

beezzer


Since when has been up to government to determine who, how, how much, information an individual gets?

Oh my freakin' god!

As I mentioned earlier...

During times of war.

www.imediaethics.org...

Actually I doubt if there was ever totally free access by media to anything concerning the govt. It's propaganda by all political parties not just this one.