Posts tagged stephen colbert
How to Be a Pundit, Stephen Colbert Edition
Important tips for your future career.
Stephen Colbert on CNN’s firing of approximately 50 journalists after the network completed a study on the quality of user generated content it was receiving via platforms such as iReport.
Stephen Colbert on the Norway terror attack: “Some say these false reports of Muslim involvement were a widespread failure of the media, but I say that by going with their guts these journalists were able to get the story they wanted and scoop reality. And even if there was a rush to judgement, we must not repeat that mistake by rushing to accuracy.”
Colbert Gets His Super Pac with Media Implications
The Federal Elections Commission today approved comedian Stephen Colbert’s application to form a super PAC. Super PAC’s came on the scene in 2010 after US Supreme Court rulings in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v Federal Election Commission struck down spending and contribution limits to campaigns.
The difference between a “normal” Political Action Committee and a super PAC is in the disclosure laws and uncapped “issue” expenditures, meaning a super PAC can spend whatever it can raise on targeted issues but not donate directly to a campaign.
Sarah Mimms of the Atlantic outlines the implications this could have on media involvement in US elections.
The request comes down to one essential issue: whether Viacom can legally donate production costs, airtime and use of Colbert’s staff to create ads for the so-called super PAC, to be played both on “The Colbert Report” and as paid advertisements other networks and shows.
If the FEC grants Colbert a press exemption, the decision could have a drastic effect on media involvement in federal elections, potentially opening the door for media outlets that employ politicians as commentators to aid favored candidates through undisclosed contributions. Those figures include Fox News contributor Karl Rove, who founded American Crossroads, and former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) who heads “Huck PAC” and hosts a show on Fox News.
Several campaign finance reform advocates are expressing concern over three proposed changes the FEC will consider on Thursday. Granting Colbert’s request in full, they argue, would allow media companies to anonymously fund the political activities of their employees, under the protection of the FEC’s press exemption…
…Granting the exemption would produce what the reformers called “a sweeping and damaging impact on disclosure laws,” which would allow media companies to fund employees’ political activities anonymously. Politicians who are employed by media companies could use their television shows as platforms to raise unlimited funds for their PACs, without having to disclose it, the reform groups said.
H/T: topherchris & NPR
