The FCC should add warning labels to news programs

News networks [Fox, CNN, and MSNBC] have journalists within their organization but clearly, the shows with the highest rating are pundits and the most successful programs [O’Reilly, Hannity, Kelley, on Fox; Matthews, Hayes, Maddow on MSNBC and a 3D hologram a missing plane on CNN]. Pundits are not journalist; they are personalities with opinions, combining real news with editorial segments and guest commentary. Most Americans if polled would acknowledge that while these programs have a particular angle, overall they provide a fair (unbiased, objective) portrayal of whatever political pillow fighting took place over the course of the last twenty-four hours. The real question is how is how would the FCC differentiate bias and truth, abstract categories into this rating system. Knowing my opponent is an adept debater, highly intelligent, and capable of parsing information in an impartial way, I decided to go back and re-watch The Rachel Maddow Show from last Friday [Selection based on the fact that Monday night Maddow was guest hosted by Steve Kornacki and because I still had Friday’s show on my DVR]. Anyway, assuming the members FCC consist of individuals with the same intelligence as my opponent I would like my opponent to demonstrate the application of the FCC label based on the detailed summaries I wrote up, including the sources Maddow used on the show to substantiate her points. So, here it is [I did not include every story because the full summary runs to about 3,000 words but if needed, I can post everything else in the comments section or somewhere on the site, whatever is convenient [Rachel Maddow Show—back from a commercial break] An oil tanker car exploded yesterday in Galena, Illinois (President Grant’s birthplace), fourteen derailed and firefighters were unable to extinguish the flames even after twenty-four hours. One tank car remains ripped open, leaking oil mixed with water doused from helicopter all day, threatens a makeshift pond next to the train track. And that pond is getting full, so they don’t want keep spraying more water on that burning car to keep that burning car from exploding if that means the pond with oil runoff water is going to breach its banks and go flooding into the Galena River and presumably into the Mississippi River and the Wild Life Refuge their near. Today, they made the decision to prevent polluting the waterways nearby they will instead “fire responders will retreat to a safe distance after water is no longer sprayed on the burning tank car” and inevitably the tanker will explode on its own.[1] Sheriff Kevin W. Turner’s office press release also added, “The cessation of water being sprayed onto the tank will lead to a heat-induced tear of the already-breached tank car, thereby protecting the waterway…”[2] The last train car explosion in West Virginia also followed this strategy. The Associated Press reported on July 13, 2014 “A string of fiery train derailments across the country has triggered a high-stakes but behind-the-scenes campaign to shape how the government responds to calls for tighter safety rules.”[3] The railcars that exploded in Galena were actually newer ones, ones that met a high safety standard. [Commercial break] [Return from commercial] Contrary to economic forecasts that predicted slow job growth largely due to snowstorms throughout the country, the month of February saw a huge increase in job creation. Fortune Magazine even ran the headline Workers Rejoice: February hiring was huge with 295,000 jobs created.[4] The Washington Post reports this turnaround is a traumatic break from last year, and “For 12 months in a row, the United States has added at least 200,000 job—a sustained pace of hiring unmatched since 1994 and 1995.”[5] Taken together this means President Obama presides over an economy unseen since the Clinton boom years of the mid-to-late 1990s. Jobs projections combined the Chicago Tribune’s report of “Solid U.S. jobs report; unemployment rate at 5.5%.”[6] However, as Maddow reported, despite the sanguine picture provided by healthy job creation and lower unemployment number, Jack Lew the Secretary of Treasury spend a letter to House Speaker John Boehner that began, “As you know, in February 2014, Congress passed the Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act, suspending the statutory debt limit through March 15, 2015. Beginning on Monday, March 16, the outstanding debt of the United States will be at the statutory limit.” Therefore, the consequence as Secretary Lew notes, “Absent an increase in the debt limit, the Treasury Department will have to take extraordinary measures to continue to finance the government on a temporary basis.” At the end, the Secretary Treasury pleads with Speaker Boehner: “I hope that Congress will address this matter without controversy or brinksmanship.” [Commercial Break] [Return from commercial break] More legal chaos in Alabama this week, as the Alabama Supreme Court told counties to stop issuing marriage licenses.[7] Right now, it is not clear when or where people can get married. George Takei took to Instagram with his husband displaying his ring finger, in a way that makes it appear as though he and his partner are using their middle finger. His post on Instagram reads, “Alabama just gave SCOTUS the finger by halting marriage equality there despite federal orders. Couples, let’s respond! Whether gay or straight, post a photo on FB or Twitter giving AL the “wedding finger” and tagging #LuvUAlabama.” Maddow then links the Takei story with the Selma Alabama 50th Anniversary for “Bloody Sunday.” [Commercial Break] I did my best to capture the essence of the show in as thorough detail as possible. For me, it is difficult figure out the rating for these stories, especially when dealing with economic forecast, technology in oil tanker cars, or gay marriage. Someone like Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul might disagree contend Maddow’s reporting is based, based on Sander’s support for some variant of a Scandinavian model of socialism and Paul’s Ayn Randian libertarian leanings. The family research council would contend their stance on same sex marriage is uncontestable because it is divinely ordained, set in scripture, while a person from the LGBT community would contend it is about the United States living up to Civil Rights and ending discrimination, so how would the FCC resolve these complication issues? What I wanted to demonstrate in this round is that regulating indecency for the putative protection of children well-being is an entire different matter from establishing a standard, a regulation delineating the categories outlined [truthfulness, bias, competent, sensual] thus far. I enjoy the debate and I thank my opponent for providing a challenge; I am eager for his FCC assessment for the stories I documented. [1] Memo from Office of the Sheriff Kevin W. Turner Jo Daviess County [2] Ibid. [3] Associated Press, Industries lobby hard to shape new oil train regulations, July 13, 2014. [4] Laura Lorenzetti, “Workers Rejoice: February hiring was huge with 295,000 jobs created,” Fortune Magazine, March 6, 2015 [5] Chico Harlan, “U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February,” The Washington Post, March 6, 2015 [6] Tribune wire reports, “Solid U.S. jobs report; unemployment rate at 5.5%” Chicago Tribune, March 6, 2015 [7] See Kyle Whitmire, “Alabama Supreme Court orders halt to same-sex marriage,” Al.com, March 3, 2015.