Another Victory for Citizens United
Citizens United continues its winning streak, this time in front of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Citizens United recently went to the FEC to argue that its films should qualify for what is known as the "media exemption" or "press exemption" under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). This exemption is what allows newspapers, TV networks, and other news outlets to cover and editorialize on political campaigns without having to negotiate all the red tape that organizations regulated by the FEC have to deal with, including disclosing donors' info.
The FEC has historically used a two-step process to determine whether an entity qualifies for the media exemption:
1. Is the entity in question a press or media entity?
2. Is the entity controlled or owned by a political party, committee, or candidate and is the entity acting as a press entity in conducting the activity in issue?
(There is obviously a lot more analysis packed into those two questions but that's the gist of it.)
The FEC agreed 4-1 that Citizens United films did quality for the press exemption and consequentially do not have to reveal their donors behind their political documentaries. Please click here for more from CQPolitics.
Citizens United President David Bossie issued the following statement in response to the opinion:
I am very pleased that a bipartisan majority of the Federal Election Commission saw fit to grant Citizens United the media exemption. As the producers of 14 feature-length and award-winning documentaries, Citizens United is an important voice that should not be subjected to extremely burdensome campaign finance regulations simply because we are not a multi-billion dollar media corporation. Since we produced our first film in 2004, all we have ever sought is to be treated by the government in the same manner as corporate film studios and other members of the establishment media, and I thank the Commission for leveling the playing field today.
We will update you with analysis as it becomes available.