'The Kelly File' looks at the FCC's proposal to study newsrooms

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FCC proposes initiative to 'study' how journalists operate

First Amendment supporters cry foul over government idea to monitor newsrooms

A Federal Communications Commission proposal to “study” how the news media operates by placing researchers in newsrooms, “The Kelly File” reported on Wednesday.

“It’s very reminiscent of the kinds of questions that were asked of my clients in the IRS matter that is currently in federal court,” said Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice. “Same kind of questioning process of content, determination on point of view, and I think this government, this administration is bent on aiming and targeting those they don’t like.”

Katie Pavlich, the news editor of Townhall.com, wondered why the Obama administration didn’t learn following the fallout over the Justice Department’s wiretapping of Associated Press journalists.

“Now, they want to send investigators into newsrooms all over the country,” she said. “This is about controlling what people say, and this is about intimidating the news.”

Pavlich agreed with host Megyn Kelly’s assertion that the proposal provides a window into “how the FCC is thinking” when it comes to an independent press.

“We live in an era … when we have access to more information than in the history of mankind,” Pavlich said. “It’s none of (the FCC’s) business to even inquire about how news editors and reporters gather their news stories and decide what they’re reporting inside their news rooms.”