Shining a Light on CBS and Fox
Well, it is always better that congress spends time and resources on hearings rather than making sound bites about and voting on legislation though both hearings and legislation are wastes of citizens resources.
Yet, I suppose, Hugh Hewitt’s proposal for congressional hearings concerning Fox News would be entertaining:
Hearings now, immediately, would signal broadcasters and news executives everywhere that partisan maneuverings under the guise of news gathering–especially those that occur late in an election season–would be subject to close Congressional scrutiny.And, as he says, the First Amendment will forstall “Sanctions against rotten, agenda-driven journalism…”
Apparently, right and left wing talk radio including folks like Rush, Medved, and Savage are not news gatherers or I’d expect Hewitt to include them in his hearings as well. And, if these folks are not news gatherers shouldn’t they exhibit some truth in labeling? You know, non-ficton or pulp fiction, or, maybe, fantasy?
Whoops, Hewitt was talking about hearings on the CBS memo screw up.
If much less power were vested in the executive, legislative and, yes, the judicial branches of US government this issue would be a drop of rain in the ocean. It is long past time to start slicing back.
Update: I see that Walter was tackling this Hewitt hearing idea yesterday and the day before.
Update (9/17): Rick Peitz notes in the comments that Rush does “…does occassionally specify that his program is for entertainment purposes..”