FEC: “Bloggers have free speech too”
Individuals? Media? Or something else? A government agency finally recognises bloggers as media entities - almost.
The Federal Election Commission ruled on Tuesday that political blogs are considered media entities by law and thus cannot be regulated as a political committee, which would make them subject to campaign finance laws. The case centred on the DailyKos - a popular, ad-supported blog that receives over three million page views every weekday - and whether or not their liberal-slanted blogging amounted to “a gift of free advertising and candidate media services” to their favoured candidates.
The widely-circulated Associated Press article for this ruling is explicit in defining the litigants - the DailyKos and blogger John C.A. Bambenek - as liberal and conservative, respectively; therefore, the implication could be made that this is just another partisan pissing contest, with a smaller, lesser known entity attempting to silence its larger, more influential opponent.
It’s not clear exactly how much the opinion of the DailyKos bloggers does or does not influence American voting, but it certainly seems threatening (at least to some), doesn’t it? After all, liberals have long been accused of dominating the media (according to conservatives like Bill O’Reilly, anyway).
The FEC’s decision in this case is both divisive and promising. On one hand, the decision shows promise because it lumps blogs in with conventional media such as newspapers and magazines, perhaps for the first time in government policy. Bloggers enjoy individual opinion and commentary, but with worldwide syndication, a distinction that may prove important as the medium continues to grow and flourish.
Conversely, the FEC’s decision falls short of treating blogs as equal to other types of media by not acknowledging that media endorsements in general are commonplace. It is surprising that this case got so far, or that it has garnered so much publicity; everyone from labour unions, firefighters, the New York Times and even movie stars show public support for particular candidates, all of which influence voters in at least some small capacity (labour unions moreso than Susan Sarandon, we hope). Yet none of this public support is questioned or scrutinised, at least no more than your average politically-inspired coffeehouse conversation.
This sudden public revelation about blogs - that they are non-affiliated entities endowed with freedom of speech and press, yet somehow different - feels almost like the all-too-familiar government fear mongering: while the Internet is a place to herald free speech, it is also an incendiary medium that may eventually require regulation.
