Calling All “Moral Journalists”

Self-appointed Arbiter of Morality… (thank God it’s not fashion or hairstyles).

Michigan State Senator Bruce Patterson (above) has introduced legislation to register journalists in Michigan to make sure they’re of ‘good moral character’.

Patterson’s bill, if enacted, would allow the state to license and register journalists just as it licenses and registers hair dressers, auto mechanics or plumbers.

Patterson says,

the general public is being overwhelmed by an increasing number of media outlets — traditional, online and citizen generated — and an even greater amount of misinformation.Legitimate media sources are critically important to our government…

How is it possible that this moron got elected to anything? Who put him even close to having his finger on the levers of power… even if it is in Michigan?

The First Amendment is pretty clear.

A free press is all about a free press.

We don’t license journalists in this country (like they do in Cuba or Zimbabwe or China). And we don’t license them for a reason.  We like a free press.  We like a very wide diversity of voices and opinions.

The last thing I want is some dope like State Senator Bruce Patterson deciding who is a journalist and who is not.

We already have a very good process for vetting what is a ‘legitimate media source’ and what is not – it’s called the free marketplace of ideas. You are free to publish any kind of crap you like, but if no one reads it, who cares.  The public is way more sophisticated and way more intelligent than State Senator Bruce Patterson. They are more than capable of making their own decisions without his gratuitous assistance.

Go home State Senator Bruce Patterson.

Go away.

Go home and read the Constitution.. and maybe take a basic course in 8th Grade American Studies.

It is true that the web has flooded our world with information an journalism. It was not always such. Once, it was so expensive to own a press or to put up a TV station and get FCC licenses that only a tiny handful of people got to express their views or present ‘the news’.

Now, all that has changed, and no doubt State Senator Bruce Patterson finds it all a bit overwhelming.

He thinks that people need ‘help’ (his help) to sift out the ‘moral’ from the ‘immoral’ journalists.

He said he feels that there’s no way to tell who’s a legitimate journalist and who’s just rewriting other reporters’ reporting and twisting facts.

What is a ‘legitimate journalist’ anyway?

Was Thomas Paine a ‘legitimate journalist’? Not in the eyes of the British.

Are the people who write for The Huffington Post ‘legitimate journalsits’? Probably not according to the State Senator.

And what does the State Senator want journalists to do to prove they are ‘moral’?

According to the bill, reporters who register will have to pay an application and registration fee and provide a “Board of Michigan Registered Reporters” with proof of:

— “Good moral character” and demonstrate they have industry “ethics standards acceptable to the board.”

— Possession of a degree in journalism or other degree substantially equivalent.

— Not less than 3 years experience as a reporter or any other relevant background information.

— Awards or recognition related to being a reporter.

— Three or more writing samples.

What a complete and utter pile of crap.

I hope that the Michigan State Legislature has the good sense to kill this bill before it gets started.
And as soon as the next election rolls along, I am sending a big fat check to whoever is running against this moron, State Senator Bruce Patterson.

After he is thrown out of the State Legislature, maybe he can get a job teaching journalism at the University of North Korea, where they license journalists of ‘good moral character’.

He would be happier there.