Here’s a wonderful wheeze to ensure journalists are “responsible”. A politician in the land of the free has drafted a bill that would require journalists to register if they wished to be, well, journalists.
It’s an idea floated by a Republican representative in South Carolina, Mike Pitts, who introduced a bill called the “responsible journalism registry law.”
It has, noted the Charleston Post & Courier, little to no chance of becoming law. And the paper also reminded readers that Pitts has been embarrassed by its investigation into his profligate campaign spending habits.
The Post & Courier also highlighted Pitts’s wish to keep the Confederate battle flag flying on the statehouse as well as his opposition to any form of gun control.
Perhaps he thought such stories were irresponsible. So, under his bill, journalists would have to qualify to be registered. A panel would decide whether they deserved to be on the registry.
Should they not be, then they could be fined and also face the possibility of other criminal penalties.
When asked by a Post & Courier reporter if his proposal was retribution for unflattering press coverage, Pitts said it was aimed at combatting negative stories about gun ownership.
Pitts, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, said: “It strikes me as ironic that the first question is constitutionality from a press that has no problem demonising firearms...
“I’m talking primarily about printed press and TV. The TV stations, the six o’clock news and the printed press has no qualms demonising gun owners and gun ownership.”
Sources: Charleston Post & Courier/Mother Jones
