Tom Wheeler

FCC Openness: Secret Rules Mention ‘Transparency’ 163 Times
By Dan Gainor | March 13, 2015 | 2:49 PM EDT

The “most transparent administration in history” finally released the new FCC rules – two weeks after it had voted on them. Counting the dissent, the new regulations equaled 268,154 words and 400 pages. There were 163  mentions of “transparency” in the new regulations that no voter was allowed to see until after the FCC voted on the rules.

The new rules were strongly opposed by conservatives who wanted to see the documents before the vote. However, in the tradition of Obamacare, the promise of transparency was entirely bogus.

FCC Abandons Intrusive Media Survey That Never Even Got Underway in Test Market
By Randy Hall | February 24, 2014 | 7:58 PM EST

According to a report by Tim Cavanaugh, news editor of National Review Online, the Federal Communications Commission “has pulled the plug on its plan to conduct an intrusive probe of newsrooms” as part of a “Critical Information Needs” survey of local media markets.

FCC spokesperson Shannon Gilson issued a news release that indicated in the course of the commission's review and public comment, “concerns were raised that some of the questions may not have been appropriate. Chairman [Tom] Wheeler agreed that survey questions in the study directed toward media outlet managers, news directors, and reporters overstepped the bounds of what is required” for the pilot study in Columbia, South Carolina.

AP, NYT AWOL on FCC's Newsroom Snooping Proposal
By Tom Blumer | February 21, 2014 | 11:59 PM EST

On Thursday, Kyle Drennen at NewsBusters noted that none of the three broadcast networks had covered the intent of the Federal Communications Commission, in the words of Byron York at the Washington Examiner, to "send government contractors into the nation's newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public's 'critical information needs.'"

Given that the nets take many of their new prioritization cues from the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, and to a lesser extent from the New York Times, it shouldn't surprise anyone that searches at the self-described "essential global news network" and at the Old Gray Lady indicate that neither outlet has covered it. The FCC has supposedly backtracked, but not really, as Katy Bachman at AdWeek noted yesterday (bolds are mine throughout this post):

As Government’s Power Grabs Grow, Media’s Coverage Diminishes
By Seton Motley | July 1, 2013 | 9:11 AM EDT

The Barack Obama Administration has been on a five-plus-year-long Collect-As-Much-Information-On-Us-As-Possible spree.

With Tens of Millions of Phone Records Grabbed – It’s the Government, Stupid

‘Thousands of NSA Analysts Can Listen to Domestic Phone Calls,’ Read Emails, Texts, IMs

Latest Big Government Data Grab: Justice Sues to Get It Without a Warrant

IRS Tea Party Scandal Shows Government Should Be Kept Away From Our Data

IRS-Conservatives, Justice-AP, Benghazi, Fast and Furious, HHS, EPA – This is Big Government

These incredible, all-encompassing violations of our Constitutional rights actually drew (shocker) some negative coverage from the usually sycophantic White House Stenographer (Press) Pool.