The Future of Conservative Media

The slaying of conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk as he spoke at a campus rally in Utah was a tragedy on many levels: the wrenching of a devoted family man from his wife and young children; the fatal silencing of a speaker in a nation where freedom of speech is a constitutional guarantee; and a manifestation of the increasingly brutal partisanship gripping this country.

This senseless killing also has drawn newfound attention to the environment in which Charlie Kirk thrived – the catalyst that propelled him to the forefront of a movement, making him a hero to millions and a public figure to all: conservative media.   

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Local Broadcasters Need Level Playing Field To Compete, Innovate, Serve the Public

America’s broadcasters are beacons of our democracy. Every day, they exercise their First Amendment right to report, inform, and help citizens understand the issues that affect their daily lives.

And let’s face it: This is a challenging time to be a broadcast journalist. As the truth competes with falsehoods on social media and political polarization gets the headlines, exercising our First Amendment right to inform the public and provide the facts has never been more challenging – or essential.

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Big Tech and Principled Policy

As the election draws closer and the stakes become clearer, we should not forget the outsized influence of Big Tech in our country.  

Not long ago, Facebook and Twitter emerged as key figures in U.S. elections when foreign propaganda, fake news, and objectionable content became a part of the process. Since then, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X have become embedded in the fabric of American society, affecting democracy itself.  

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The Ticking Clock on Legally Restricting TikTok

Amidst the growing concern over TikTok’s massive availability in the United States, Congress now is ramping up its public scrutiny of that company, which is owned by China’s ByteDance. That foreign ownership has raised serious concerns regarding whether the company might constitute a national security threat that warrants an outright nationwide ban.

Such a ban, which has been advocated by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, raises First Amendment concerns that the government may not be able to justify under the constitutional strict scrutiny test of the Supreme Court that likely would apply in this case. It is unclear, and at this point unlikely, that a sufficient showing could be made to convince a federal court that the gravity of the national security risk in practice would justify restricting the ability of 150 million Americans to use the app for sending and receiving information.

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TikTok Is China’s Trojan Horse

People are easy to dupe.  Give us something for free and we will open the door to just about anything in return, including our most sensitive family, health, and financial information. 

The ancient Greeks knew something about the human psyche when they built a massive wooden horse and put it outside the enemy gates at Troy.  Unsuspecting Trojans marveled at the gift and ushered it inside unexamined.  Hidden in the horse were the Greek men of war who emerged to sack the city. 

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