January 2, 2001
Don't blame media for the election 2000 mess
New Cato study rejects hearings on media mistakes, draws other election lessons
WASHINGTONThe television networks were roundly criticized for prematurely calling the presidential race on election night, but congressional hearings into media mistakes are a bad idea that could suppress free expression, a new Cato Institute study says.
"Supporters of a free society should worry that congressional hearings would have a chilling effect on the news media," according to Cato scholars John Samples, Tom G. Palmer and Patrick Basham in "Lessons of Election 2000." "Any government regulation of when and how the media report the results of exit polls would contravene the prohibitions explicitly stated in the First Amendment," they say.
The Cato report contains six lessons in all. In addition to shielding the media from government intrusion, the report recommends:
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