Letter to the Honorable John Thune and Bill Nelson, Chairman and Ranking Member of Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee - United States Media Landscape

Letter

Dear Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson:

Joseph Pulitzer famously said, "Our Republic and its press will rise and fall together." There is a clear link between the strength of our nation's democracy and its free press. Our reverence for free public debate is enshrined in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of the press and guards against censorship.

The journalism industry is grappling with a changing media landscape: from the changing dynamics of how people access news, to changing financial calculations, to the proliferation of so-called "fake news" (both actual disinformation campaigns and the use of the term to slander legitimate news reporting), to a challenging relationship between news media and the Executive branch. There have been a series of recent incidents in which hostility has been exercised against members of the press by members of the Administration, including just last week when a reporter was allegedly manhandled and threatened by security guards after a news conference at the Federal Communications Commission headquarters. Given the importance of robust journalism to our democracy, we write to urge the committee to once again hold a hearing on the current state of the U.S. media landscape to refresh the public record.

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation plays an important role in shaping the environment in which journalism and media exist. With oversight jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission's role in broadcast media licensing and communications networks, the Committee is poised to examine the state of independent news, journalism, and the broadcast media landscape.

As you know, in May 2009, the Committee hosted a hearing on the Future of Journalism, at which Members were given an opportunity to hear from industry stakeholders about this important sector of our economy. Much has changed in the last eight years. For example, newspaper circulation has declined by an average of 4.2 percent per year in those years. The percentage of adults who use at least one social media website has increased from 38 percent to 68 percent, and the percentage of adults who primarily receive their news from social media is at a record 62 percent.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter. We look forward to further examining the state of journalism through the lens of the Committee of Commerce, Science, and Transportation. We applaud your leadership of this Committee and look forward to working with you on this over the coming few months.

Sincerely,

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