The commission’s partisan “news distortion” probe is trampling the First Amendment to pressure the press.
—
TheFederalCommunicationsCommission(FCC)isconductinganunseemlyandunconstitutionalspectacle,ostensiblytodeterminewhetherCBSviolateditspolicyagainst“newsdistortion”byeditinga60Minutesinterviewwiththen-VicePresidentKamalaHarris.Itsrealpurposeistoexerciserawpartisanpower.
TheFCCalreadyknowsCBSdidnotviolateanyrulesandmerelyengagedineverydayjournalism.Andthereisnothingtobelearnedfromtheover8,000commentsandcountingthathavepouredintothecommission’sinbox.Manysimplyregisteredtheirlikeordislikeofthenetworkandmainstreammediaingeneral,andmanyotherswerejustunseriousquipssubmittedtotrolltheregulators.
Butjudgingthemeritsofthe“newsdistortion”allegationwasneverthepoint.TheFCCstaffalreadydismissedthecomplaint—filedbyapartisanactivistgroup—asfatallydefectivebackinJanuary.AsoutgoingFCCChairwomanJessicaRosenworcelexplained,“TheFCCshouldnotbethePresident’sspeec
