An Outright Threat To Free Press - Editorial
As a small local newspaper, we think it is important to be in the know when it comes to what is going on in the American news media landscape. Both the local and print news industries, as you might have heard, are not as booming as they once were. Many news outlets and individual journalists are struggling financially and culturally amid this age of divisiveness, but a newly proposed bill seems poised to further ramp up those levels of strife and scrutiny.
An Oklahoman state senator recently filed a bill that, upon first hearing of it, knocked our socks off. It got no better the more we looked into it.
A local newspaper, The Oklahoman, reported that Sen. Nathan Dahm, chairman of the state’s Republican Party, authored the “Common Sense Freedom of Press Control Act,” which aims to do exactly what it says: control the freedom of the press.
The bill, as proposed, would require the following from individuals working as journalists in the state of Oklahoma: a criminal background check, quarterly drug tests, a license issued by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, $1 million in liability insurance and the completion of an eight-hour “propaganda-free” safety training developed by PragerU, a conservative nonprofit that Oklahoma and Florida have integrated into their school curricula despite controversies.
The requirements are even more onerous for media outlets—an annual $250,000 license and $50 million in liability insurance. According to reports, these requirements would apply to both local and national outlets operating in the state.
There is also a disclaimer that all media outlets would be required to put before any article or video: “WARNING: THIS ENTITY IS KNOWN TO PROVIDE PROPAGANDA. CONSUMING PROPAGANDA MAY BE DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR HEALTH AND HEALTH OF THE REPUBLIC.”
Obviously, the chances of this bill getting anywhere in Oklahoma’s state Legislature are slim to none. It is, quite literally, an egregious violation of this nation’s right to a free press as enshrined in the First Amendment—its unconstitutionality is evident right there in the bill’s name.
We cannot say whether or not actually passing and implementing this legislation is the good senator’s true endgame, but it might not matter. Threats to the American free press are very legitimate and cropping up in seemingly all corners of the nation, and it takes one small spark to start a fire in a political climate as incendiary as ours.
Backlash to the outlandishly restrictive bill came swiftly, with area Democrats and news media executives alike questioning not just the bill, but its author, too.
One quote that stuck out to us? “Nathan knows how to get his name in the paper.”
That might be true, considering we are talking about him and his bill nearly 2,000 miles away. Maybe the senator believes that there is “no such thing as bad press,” unless, of course, we’re talking about “the press” themselves—they are very bad and, he seems to think, in need of some controlling.
We hope that legislators see the bill for what it is—unconstitutional—and expeditiously put it to bed to protect American democracy. The Oklahoma Legislature is set to reconvene next week, and we will be keeping a close eye out for any news on this from our Midwestern friends.