House Oversight Committee announced this week that it had launched an investigation into a news ratings system that purportedly ranks which news outlets are credible, with the probe centering on whether the ratings group’s contracts with federal agencies have an impact on what news it attempts to suppress.
Inspection Chairman James Comer, R-KY, On Thursday, he said his committee was investigating “NewsGuard’s impact on First Amendment protected speech and its potential as an opaque agent of censorship campaigns.”
one of Letter to Steven Brill and Gordon CrovitzComer, NewsGuard’s chief executive, sought documents about the group’s “business relationships with governmental entities, its determination in its policies to avoid any appearance of bias, its efforts to avoid and manage potential conflicts of interest arising from investor and other influences, and actions that may have the effect of invalidating factually accurate information.”
“Of primary concern to the committee is the Department of Defense’s contract awarded to NewsGuard in 2021, which raises questions about the involvement of federal agencies in potential censorship campaigns,” Comer wrote in the letter. “One concerned journalist expressed fear that NewsGuard’s activities were an extension of federal efforts — later struck down by the courts — to coerce social media companies and ‘destroy the financial survival of unapproved outlets. . . . ”
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Rep. James Comer, R-KY, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, during a hearing on March 20, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Comer told the two that his committee was “considering making an independent judgment about whether NewsGuard’s intervention was appropriate.” Protected speech is not sponsored in any way by any federal, state, local, or foreign government.”
Comer also noted in her letter that NewsGuard “publicizes” how its editorial staff “signs a pledge to refrain from any political activity, such as participation in or donations to political campaigns, opinionated postings on social media, attending protests, or other activities that could call into question my objectivity or create the appearance of political bias.”
“NewsGuard’s online list of employees lists several individuals’ social media accounts as ‘editorial,’ casting doubt on NewsGuard’s commitment to enforcing this pledge and anti-bias efforts,” Comer said.
NewsGuard has reportedly received nearly one million dollars from the federal government, most of which came from the Department of Defense. NewsGuard was also given an award after participating in a program co-sponsored by the State Department.COVID-19 misinformation and misinformation” technical challenge.
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Many advertisers use NewsGuard to find a specific audience for a product or service. Other advertisers reportedly use the service to avoid doing business with networks or outlets that sell “misinformation.” (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutson)
Many advertisers use this service to find a specific audience for a product or service. However, other advertisers reportedly use this service to avoid doing business with networks or outlets that sell “misinformation.”
“The Committee does not take issue with a business entity providing data-based analysis to other businesses and consumers to protect their brands. Rather, we are concerned with the potential involvement of government entities in interfering with free expression. Truthfulness and transparency about the purpose and origin of inquiries and the management of conflicts of interest that may affect the public interest are also relevant,” Comer said.
“This appears to be a very biased, very unfair service that’s getting federal funding. This may be another covert effort to censor conservative media outlets,” Comer said during a recent appearance on One America News. “What is their criteria that gives networks like MSNBC and CNN great grades, and then gives networks like OAN, Newsmax and Fox very poor grades?”
Rep. James Comer, R-KY, speaking during a news conference in Washington, DC, on April 30, 2024 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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NewsGuard is a web extension that “employs a team of journalists and experienced editors to produce credibility ratings and scores for news and information websites based on nine journalistic criteria,” according to Group websiteNews sources ranked by NewsGuard receive scores from a handful of journalists and “experienced editors” who are tasked with rating publishers on a scale from 0 to 100 based on “a set of apolitical criteria of journalistic practice”.
Comer has requested a number of documents from NewsGuard — including full versions of “current and past contracts with government entities” and “records of all disciplinary or corrective actions taken by NewsGuard in the past five years related to violations of the Editorial Staff Pledge” — with a submission deadline of on or before June 27, 2024.
