FCC GC Johnson Calls Free Press Petition 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'
Free Press asking the FCC to require broadcasters to air disclosures on inaccurate COVID-19 information (see 2004170062) was a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and a veiled attempt to reinstate the fairness doctrine, said FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson during a…
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Federalist Society teleconference Monday. Free Press’ premise that COVID-19 White House briefings, pundit commentary and other reports are being aired without context is “demonstrably false” because of the intense scrutiny new outlets are applying to all pandemic information, he said. “People have a host of information sources,” Johnson said, saying those sources are “laser-focused” on any news item on the pandemic. The agency’s unusually fast response to the petition was because it was “styled as an emergency, in the middle of a crisis,” Johnson said. Those circumstances “made it a worthy exercise” for the agency to make a point about “policing broadcast journalism,” Johnson said. Free Press says it wasn’t seeking censorship, but Johnson said the disclosure requirements contemplated in the petition would have had a chilling effect on broadcast journalism. Requiring disclaimers for only one sort of media introduces “a regulatory thumb on the scale,” he said. Asked to compare Free Press’ request to similar comments made by President Donald Trump (see 1809040051) about pulling network “licenses,” Johnson said, “I don’t want to comment on anything that didn’t come through the door.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been consistent in his response to those sorts of comments and requests, Johnson said. Free Press co-CEO Jessica Gonzalez said in an interview that the petition was narrow in scope. She criticized the agency for using it as a tool to "score political points with some very extreme people." She said most broadcasters are doing a good job of airing accurate information about the virus.