FCC to Monitor Newsrooms Across America–Previously Truth! Now Ended!
Summary of eRumor:
The Federal Communications Commission planed to place government monitors in newsrooms to determine if America’s information needs are being met.
The Truth:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced plans to place government monitors in radio and television newsrooms to carryout its Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs. The agency made the announcement in April 2013 but later reversed its decision, so the eRumor has been resolved.
On February 20 2014, the Fox News picked up on the story and shortly afterwards posts went viral on the Internet and social media. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai wrote a “whistle blowing” op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about the study and appeared on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren.
The following day, the FCC reversed its decision, according to an FCC statement released on February 21, 2014 that said, “The commission has now recognized that no study by the federal government, now or in the future, should involve asking questions to media owners, news directors or reporters about their practices.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler explained in a letter dated February 14, 2014 that the study was undertaken to determine “market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small business in the provision and ownership of telecommunications services and information services.”
Posted 02/21/14