The Chicago Tribune’s Steve Chapman wrote an excellent summary of one an extremely appalling episode that happened earlier this month — the House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled officials from all the major television networks and the Associated Press over their mistakes in calling the election.
Certainly the media isn’t exactly to be admired for turning election night into a pseudo-sports cast, but as Chapman wrote, “Being instructed on fairness and accuracy by a member of Congress is a bit like being tutored in hygiene by a buzzard.”
It is interesting that the grilling of the media executives took place in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives with Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) acting as chief inquisitor and fellow Republican Steve Buyer (Ind.) informing the collected media representatives that, “You invite this when such huge mistakes are made.”
Can somebody track these two down and ask them to point out where exactly in the Constitution the House of Representatives is give the power to act as the nation’s editor-in-chief? In my opinion, such hearings were completely unconstitutional at worst and extraordinarily unseemly at best. Making media executives testify under oath is something I’d expect in Vladimir Putin’s Russia or maybe in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, but not in the United States Congress.
On the other hand, it is equally dismaying that not a single news agency that was called to testify had the guts to tell Rep. Tauzin what he could do with his committee’s request. As usual the media turn gutless when it really counts.
Source:
Who asked Congress to serve as editors? Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune, February 18, 2001.