FEC Commissioner Shares Campaign Finance Challenges скачать в хорошем качестве

FEC Commissioner Shares Campaign Finance Challenges

How journalists help blow the whistle on campaign finance violations. While the Federal Election Commission is trying to stay on top of campaign finances as technology rapidly changes, journalists can help look out for violations. by Hope Kahn, National Press Foundation As political ads have shifted from traditional media to online – including social media – the Federal Election Commission has struggled to keep up due to a lack of consensus. “If you’re on the TV, we can regulate you. If you’re on a piece of paper, we can regulate you. But if you’re on the internet, we have challenges in making sure that disclosure and disclaimer information is provided because this agency has not updated its regulations to sufficiently address,” Federal Election Commissioner Shana Broussard told Paul Miller fellows on June 6. For journalists covering campaigns, a Request for Additional Information (RFAI) is an important resource. RFAIs can be the source of a news article on campaign potential missteps, especially during the current period of huge campaign spending. In fact, the 2020 election cycle spending was the highest in history with the total coming in at nearly $14.4 billion. Journalists are “integral to the agency’s fundamental mission of promoting transparency in elections,” Broussard said. “We have a great staff and they do a fantastic job of collecting and making public contributions and expenditure information, but all of you are often the ones bringing that information to the attention of the American public.” Another challenge the FEC is currently facing is the use of “dark money” in elections. In 2010, a Supreme Court decision invalidated the FECs ban on corporate and union spending on independent expenditures. Broussard said they were able to come up with a bipartisan statement, “making it clear that we are no longer going to turn a blind eye to contributions through LLCs to mask their identities.” Still, “there’s plenty of other dark money ways.” Speaker: Shana Broussard, Commissioner, Federal Election Commission Takeaways, transcript and resources: https://nationalpress.org/topic/fec-c... NPF website: https://nationalpress.org/ Help support the Paul Miller Fellowship by visiting nationalpress.org/donate. NPF is solely responsible for the content.