Posted on 11/12/2016 12:47:54 PM PST by Former MSM Viewer
Is it legal for the media to knowingly broadcast/publish false info on Pres. Candidates?
Surfed today and ended up on red state. shudder.... Felt like I was on DU. They had an article stating Trump thought he might keep obamacare around, and I know that’s a lie.
a) massive unreported in-kind campaign contributions;
b) innumerable counts of mail and wire fraud for publishing opinion and falsehoods as news;
c) conspiracy to commit the same;
d) running a criminal racket
The media outlets should have their assets seized under RICO and their editors and reporters jailed.
A free press is vital to democracy. It would be nice if we had one.
The might be something along the lines of “knowing or should have known...” The 2nd prong would be easier to prove up. Careless, recklessness, etc. The press should be held to a higher standard to seek the truth, blah, blah. But once they misrepresent, or blatantly and clearly manipulate or obfuscate the truth/facts, they should be liable in some way, IMHO.
The problem arises in the broadcast arena since they are subject to FCC licenses. The assigned operating ranges are not the permanent, private property of the media companies.
It is the numerous violations of the conditions of the FCC operating licenses that creates their inherent weaknesses, and provides a leverage position for Trump.
Media companies could also be attracted for standard anti-trust reasons, thus providing the rationale for breaking up conglomerates comprised of movie, TV, the press, etc.
Consider a world where each media company would not only be independent, but the TV/radio components were relegated to a 5 year FCC license renewal process via a lottery and/or open auction.
The cacophonous shouting & screaming across the full spectrum of the political process would be a site to be seen. And exactly how the founders' envisioned the political process to play out.
The media did violate campaign finance laws that explicitly state in-kind donations must be reported. Since the Leftist media is a champion of these laws that restrict the First Amendment, they should be hung by the law in an ironic twist.
This being said, what do we do about the tabloids that make outlandish “facts” (e.g., she was visited by a talking alligator, etc.), Perhaps each news org should go through some certification process or be licensed according to certain levels of publication. A tabloid could be licensed as a tabloid-level org, FOX New would be registered/licensed as a top-tier news org, and becomes increasingly liable for failure of a fiduciary duty to publish facts, data, etc.
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