House GOP launches investigation into federally funded news ratings group's impact on free speech

The House Oversight Committee announced this week that it has launched an probe into a news-rating strategy that purportedly ranks which quality outlets are trustworthy, with the absorption of the probe surrounding whether the ratings group's contracts with national agencies person an power connected what quality it attempts to suppress.

Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said Thursday his committee was investigating NewsGuard's interaction "on protected First Amendment code and its imaginable to service arsenic a non-transparent cause of censorship campaigns."

In a letter to Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, NewsGuard’s main enforcement officers, Comer requested documents connected the group's "business relationships with authorities entities, its adherence to its ain policies intended to defender against appearances of bias, however it tries to debar and negociate imaginable conflicts of involvement arising from its investors and different influences, and actions that whitethorn person the interaction of delegitimizing factually close information."

"A superior interest for the Committee is the Department of Defense declaration NewsGuard was awarded successful 2021, which raises questions astir the engagement of national agencies successful imaginable censorship campaigns," Comer wrote successful the letter. "One acrophobic writer expressed fearfulness that NewsGuard’s activities are an hold of national efforts — since struck down by courts — to coerce societal media companies and to 'destroy the fiscal endurance of disfavored outlets. . . . "

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Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., president of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, during a proceeding successful Washington, D.C., connected March 20, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Comer told the duo that his committee is looking to "make an autarkic determination astir whether NewsGuard’s involution connected protected speech has been successful immoderate mode sponsored by a federal, state, local, oregon overseas government."

Comer besides pointed retired successful his missive that NewsGuard "touts" however its editorial employees motion a pledge to "refrain from immoderate governmental activities, specified arsenic information successful oregon donations to governmental campaigns, opinionated societal media posting, engagement successful protests, oregon different activities that could telephone into question my fairness oregon make the quality of governmental bias."

"The societal media accounts of respective individuals listed arsenic 'editorial' connected NewsGuard’s online database of employees casts uncertainty connected NewsGuard’s committedness to enforcing this pledge and anti-bias efforts," Comer said.

NewsGuard has reportedly received astir a cardinal dollars from the national government, astir of which came from the Department of Defense. NewsGuard was besides awarded a prize aft participating successful a State Department co-sponsored "COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation" tech challenge.

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Several advertisers usage NewsGuard arsenic a mode to find niche audiences for a merchandise oregon service. Other advertisers reportedly usage the work to forestall doing concern with networks oregon outlets that peddle "misinformation." (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)

Several advertisers usage the work arsenic a mode to find niche audiences for a merchandise oregon service. Other advertisers, however, reportedly usage the work to forestall doing concern with networks oregon outlets that peddle "misinformation."

"The Committee does not instrumentality contented with a concern entity providing different businesses and customers with data-based investigation to support their brands. Rather, we are acrophobic with the imaginable engagement of authorities entities successful interfering with escaped expression. Truthfulness and transparency astir the intent and root of inquiries and managing conflicts of involvement that whitethorn interaction the nationalist bully are besides relevant," Comer added.

"This appears to beryllium a precise biased, precise unfair work that’s getting national funds. It could beryllium different backdoor effort astatine censoring blimpish media outlets," Comer said during a caller quality connected One America News. "What’s their criteria that conscionable hap to springiness networks similar MSNBC and CNN tremendous grades, and past networks similar OAN, Newsmax and Fox precise mediocre grades?"

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks during a quality league connected April 30, 2024, successful Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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NewsGuard is simply a web hold that "employs a squad of journalists and experienced editors to nutrient reliability ratings and scores for quality and accusation websites based connected 9 journalistic criteria," according to the group's website. News sources that are ranked by NewsGuard person scores from definite journalists and "experienced editors" who are tasked with standing publishers connected a standard of 0 to 100, based connected "a acceptable of apolitical criteria of journalistic practice."

Comer requested a fig of documents from NewsGuard — including implicit versions of "current and past contracts with authorities entities" and "records of each disciplinary oregon corrective actions taken by NewsGuard implicit the past 5 years related to violations" of its editorial worker pledge — that are owed connected oregon earlier June 27, 2024.