Censoring Conservative Press? FEC Tried to 'Punish' Fox News

Given the stakes for Democrats this election cycle, expect more of this.

6.30.2016

Democrats are in trouble this presidential election cycle and the forces that prop up the mainstream media know it.

Democratic members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted last month to impose penalties on Fox News for dividing the GOP primary debate on August 6, 2015, into two separate debates -- something the network says it needed to do for the sheer number of primary candidates present (recall there were 17).

Noteworthy is the fact that the FEC rarely ever threatens to penalize a network and has easily dismissed similar cases before, leading Republicans to cite censorship as the real catalyst behind the FEC's attack. Fox News reports:

Commissioner Lee Goodman, one of those who voted to block the move, confirmed the details of the vote to FoxNews.com.

He called the attempt to punish Fox News over the debate changes “astonishing” and described it as a move toward censorship.

“All press organizations should be concerned when the government asserts regulatory authority to punish and censor news coverage,” Goodman said in a statement.

The case ended on a split 3-3 vote, resulting in no action. Three commissioners concluded Fox News violated election law; two of the Democratic commissioners went a step further and voted to penalize the network. [...] While political debate rules have come before the FEC in the past, rarely has the commission come so close to penalizing a news outlet over the issue.

Goodman said that "editorial decisions" regarding debate format should have nothing to do with the FEC at all.

"How could expanding debate news coverage from 10 to 17 candidates be against the law?" he asked rhetorically.

Fox reports that until recently, the FEC never really threatened action over press-sponsored debates. But of course there's much at stake for Democrats this election cycle, so those shaping the narrative via the mainstream media must work overtime to stifle the only voice of dissent on television.

Given the plight of the national economy, immigration, Brexit and a new poll that shows 84% of Americans don't believe the administration can protect us from another terror attack -- all issues that don't bode well for Democrats -- we can expect to see more attempts at censoring conservative viewpoints leading up to November.