Obama Administration Seeks To Chill Press Freedom Via FCC

During the Obama administration the United States dropped in the press freedom rankings to 48th. This ranking was determined by a group called Reporters Without Borders. The US dropped because of the way Edward Snowden has been treated as well as subpoenas of journalists issued by the Justice Department. This administration has created a security apparatus that insulates it from serious investigation by journalists. Perhaps one could argue that most American journalists aren’t interested in seriously investigating this administration but that doesn’t change the fact that Obama is harassing leakers and journalists who look for information. James Rosen and other journalists have been subpoenaed by the Justice Department, such has a chilling effect on investigative journalism.

This administration hasn’t stopped at security or subpoenas. The FCC is planning to “study” American newsrooms and editorial decisions. The FCC is wishes to conduct something called a “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs.” This includes FCC agents hanging around news rooms quizzing journalists and editors about how stories are selected to air as well as perceived station bias and responsiveness to “undeserved” populations. Proposed questions for journalists include “Have you ever suggested coverage of what you consider a story with critical information for your customers that was rejected by management?”

The FCC of course has the power to shut down any over the air television or radio station in the country. As such their intrusion into the news room holds the power of life or death for a station. In anticipation of the FCC performing such a study it wouldn’t be unreasonable to imagine a scenario  wherein television and radio stations swing hard to the left believing that is what the government wants of them. How convenient that the study will occur during an election year. Surely no one at the FCC ever thought of that! Just like no one at the IRS thought singling out Tea Party groups meant chilling the speech of conservatives.

Most television networks swing to the left so you may be wondering what the point of the FCC’s push is and why conservatives should care. While most big city television stations swing left, most small city stations are more moderate. The goal is to move them leftward. There are radio networks almost entirely devoted to conservative talk and the FCC is clearly trying to chill that. We conservatives should care not because the government is trying to chill speech that we tend to agree with but because they’re trying to chill speech or otherwise involve themselves with journalism at all. Freedom does not mean the government enforces subjective fairness standards on television or radio stations. Freedom means those stations may broadcast the opinions and news slant they so desire.

The most transparent administration in history has been anything but. They’ve sought to chill free press from the very beginning. The Obama administration has tried to ensure that the press doesn’t get hold of any information that might call the administration into question. They’ve subpoenaed journalists and prosecuted leakers beyond what any previous administration has done. They don’t even timely respond to FIOA requests. CBS finally discovered the cost of Obama’s State Dinner’s over a year after filing a FOIA request. Now FCC agents are going to snoop around newsrooms in an attempt to chill the press all while pretending to “study” how newsrooms operate. Government has no business studying newsrooms, they have no business trying to chill a free press or free speech.

Transparent Obama Refuses Proper Investigations

You will be shocked to discover that Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi investigation failed to blame top State Department officials. Hillary’s investigation blamed four mid-level officials while absolving everyone close to or otherwise associated with her. No doubt you’re wondering why anyone would care why Benghazi went down the way it did, after all four Americans died. Hillary sure is wondering why anyone cares, per her testimony to Congress. Hillary’s Benghazi investigation is another in a long line of Obama administration investigations of itself. No one at the top is ever to blame for anything, it’s always the fault of career bureaucrats no one has ever heard of.

We expected Hillary to point the finger at anyone other than herself. Whether it was the administration’s lie about a You Tube video causing a riot or the failure to do anything in response to pleas for help from our consulate, we all knew Hillary would avoid blame. Surely you didn’t think that the 2016 Presidential candidate would investigate herself and admit to her own failure or the failure of people she directly hired did you? To do that would call into question her qualifications to serve as President. Hillary is after all a Clinton, she’s not politically foolish enough to do anything other than blame faceless State Department bureaucrats.

Eric Holder has done the same thing within the Justice Department. He investigated Fast and Furious even though his name appears on various subpoenas. He was personally involved in various media subpoenas, including Fox News’ James Rosen. Initially Holder suggested he wasn’t involved in the media subpoenas, until his name appeared all over them. Investigating himself, Holder determined the Justice Department didn’t do anything wrong in Fast and Furious or the media subpoenas. Holder has since supported a bill that would define what a journalist is, as though we need such a law to stop the Justice Department from harassing the press. At the end of the day, Holder never took any blame while shifting blame to bureaucrats and Congress.

The IRS spent years harassing conservative, Tea Party groups by refusing to grant them tax exempt status. Lois Lerner and Dan Shulman of the IRS investigated themselves and blamed a bunch of rouge agents in Cincinnati. Obama and company found this an acceptable excuse and tried to move on. Unfortunately emails have made it clear the upper levels of the IRS knew exactly what was going on and either ordered the targeting or created an environment where targeting conservatives was acceptable. To date neither Lerner or Shulman have blamed anyone other than career bureaucrats within the IRS. No one at the top is to blame.

The Obama administration has been anything but transparent over the last five years. They investigate themselves and declare that no political appointees or top officials are ever to blame for anything. If there is blame, it goes on the faceless bureaucracy that apparently cannot be controlled by anyone. This could be true of most administrations, it’s more glaring with Obama. The executive branch cannot investigate itself without bias. Everyone in the executive branch wants to protect themselves, their power and the power of the person who put them in their position. Most of all, they want to protect the President because in protecting him they protect themselves. There are half a dozen issues that should be in the hands of a special prosecutor, including Benghazi, the IRS scandal and a number of Justice Department scandals. We’ll never know what really happened because the Obama administration won’t allow for a proper investigation.