Media Center

Politics have no business in the Census but the Trump Administration’s leading candidate for the deputy director slot at the Census Bureau, Thomas Brunell, would introduce blatant partisan politics into the national headcount. Discontent from Capitol Hill over Brunell’s political partisanship may have scuttled his candidacy for the top slot at the bureau but as deputy director he skirts the confirmation process.

The reckless wrecking ball strikes again. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s scorched-earth plan for net neutrality displays callous disregard for both process and substance. The Chairman’s plan to do away with net neutrality will be a disaster for consumers and yet another handout for big business.

On its face the AT&T-Time Warner merger clearly violates of antitrust law and President Trump’s railing against CNN should not have played any role in the Justice Department’s decision to bring suit. We have always maintained that vertical mergers of content and carriage violate well-established and pro-consumer antitrust principles. Blessing AT&T’s monopolistic bid to acquire Time Warner would harm consumers and the public interest.

Election officials in Colorado are setting an example for nation today, taking a critical step to double-check the reported results of last week’s election with a statewide “risk limiting” post-election audit.

Even for this craven FCC majority, today’s vote to bless more media consolidation represents an awful new low. The FCC just wiped away time-tested and common sense safeguards that promote vibrant local media by ensuring voters have access to competing sources of news. By blessing consolidation this majority has ensured newsroom redundancy, meaning fewer working journalists to hold the powerful to account. And if that were not enough, let Big Broadcast get even bigger means cable customers nationwide will pay higher bills.

Americans expect and deserve to know who is bankrolling the political ads that follow them around the internet. In the wake of revelations about Russian use of internet ads to sway the 2016 presidential race, Common Cause and 17,945 members and supporters made that expectation very clear to the FEC, filing comments with the agency last week. In total, more than 150,000 Americans spoke out in comments and petitions with the agency—an FEC rulemaking record.