U.S. Government Debating Bill That Helps Stomp Out Independent Journalism And Defend The Big Media Outlets

First brought to the table on March 10th, 2021, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota presented a bill that would allow for the American government to protect established and big media outlets, while essentially squashing independent journalists and content creators.

Now, “S.673 – Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021,” has gained some co-sponsors, and was recently presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a review of the legislation.

So how did this bill come about? Patrick Wood of Technocracy News & Trends recounts of an event that happened almost exactly a year ago, when Facebook squared off against the country of Australia, and ultimately banned all news stories for the nation on their platform.

The WinePress reported on this when it happened, and wrote, “Social Media is more powerful than the governments.” Moreover, in response to the move, I commented with:

The WinePress reported a month ago that Berners-Lee – [the man who is attributed for creating the world wide web (www.) as we know today] – is calling for a total reset of the internet. He and his companies are already in the works of creating an entirely new internet system. He says it’s largely due to fascist groups like Facebook doing what they have been doing; and now, entire continents can get turned off and on with a click of the mouse.

Social media is just an extension of the media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc, want to control our speech and force feed us with information they want us to know. I had noted in one of our reports following Trump’s censorship on social media, the following day his accounts were reactivated and [he] made more political speeches, and then was eventually terminated [again]. That just shows that the governments work hand-in-hand with big tech to control the narrative.

It seems to me that Australia is a “casualty of war” or a testing ground perhaps. Do a mega-censorship and see what the fallout is. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

The censorship is only getting to get worse. And doing a complete do over of the system, like Berners-Lee is designing, will not fix the problem. The greed of man will quickly take control of that as well. Only in the inevitable do over, only the ones ‘they’ allow to use their software will be “censorship free.”

Four days later Facebook ultimately backtracked on this. When that happened, Wood reported this:

In an extraordinary backflip, Facebook announced Tuesday it will reverse its block on Australian users sharing news on its site and accept proposed government media bargaining laws that force it to pay for content.

The capitulation came after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called Facebook “arrogant,” warning against “Big Tech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them.”

Because of this, it gave inspiration and vision for politicians like Amy Klobuchar to draft a bill that was identical to the results of the Australian-Facebook compromise.

And so, on March 10th, 2021, Klobuchar quickly introduced S.673, called “the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” – a title Wood calls “misleading.”

The bill, when first introduced, went nowhere and was forgotten rather quickly. But since then it has gathered bipartisan sponsorship, and was recently presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee two days ago for debate.

You can read and download the bill for yourself:

Who are the co-sponsors (‘*’ indicates a member of the Judiciary Committee)?:

1. Sen. John Kennedy [R-LA]*
2. Sen. Cory Booker [D-NJ]*
3. Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY]
4. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]*
5. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, [R-WY]
6. Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]*
7. Sen. Susan M. Collins [R-ME]

‘The intent was to make it easy for content providers to beat up social media giants to create a revenue stream in compensation for articles posted there,’ Wood describes. ‘[But] instead of going after media giants for Antitrust violations, S.673 grants complete immunity from Antitrust laws:’

(b) Limitation Of Liability.—A news content creator may not be held liable under the antitrust laws for engaging in negotiations with any other news content creator during the 4-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act to collectively withhold content from, or negotiate with, an online content distributor regarding the terms on which the news content of the news content creator may be distributed by the online content distributor.

Wood says that this basically allows for a “news cartel” that can synchronously and reciprocally target different platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on; with no threat of breaking the Antitrust laws. But in reality, per the wording in the bill, they really are breaking the Antitrust laws and given immunity from being prosecuted.

In other words, it’s the classic story of the fox guarding the hen house, to protect their own interests first.

Wood asserts that ‘Cartels only appear for one reason: monopoly domination. In this case, it would be Big Media dominating the use of and payment for, news content.’

But what about the “little guy:” small news outlets, bloggers, independent investigative and video journalists? Where do they fall into all of this? Well, if the fox is left to guard the henhouse, the big media will have all the much easier time drowning out the smaller men and women from speaking. Only their information can be accepted, only their faces can be seen, only their interests groups will be accepted, defended, and supported. ‘But, alas, if the cartel does so, it will be immune from Antitrust laws,’ adds Wood.

Well, per the bill, the smaller and independent “print, broadcast, or digital news organization” that does not have –

A dedicated professional editorial staff that creates and distributes original news and related content concerning local, national, or international matters of public interest on at least a weekly basis;

and is marketed through subscriptions, advertising, or sponsorship; and provides original news and related content with the editorial content consisting of not less than 25 percent current news and related content;

or broadcasts original news and related content pursuant to a license granted by the Federal Communications Commission under title III of the Communications Act of 1934.

-Could basically get locked out by this newly formed cartel group that decides who best fits this description, and who they choose to let in.

Citing a report from Politico:

“The JCPA is part of a global trend of governments siding with news publishers against the social media giants.” Of course, this is absolutely true. “News Publishers” are the mouthpieces of government propaganda and they are all declining at an alarming rate. Big Social, on the other hand, pumps out Technocrat propaganda and is growing by leaps and bounds. The government will always protect its own at the expense of others.

Said Patrick Wood

Adding to that, it was Nazi’s propaganda ministry mastermind Joseph Goebbels that once said,

Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.

Wood notes five major problems with the premise of this bill, points which he calls ‘dangerously wrong on multiple levels:’

• The First Amendment starts out with the phrase, “Congress shall make no law“ and continues “that would abridge the freedom of the press”. There is no question that S.673 exceeds constitutional authority.
• The government has no business meddling with private industry, unless it has broken existing laws.
• Any appeal by private entities for government protection should always be rejected.
• The government should never pick or promote winners and losers in private industry.
• No entity should be granted immunity from established laws.

Breitbart, one of the few bigger outlets opposed to this, wrote in a statement responding to the bill and remarks from Politico, said,

Even conservative news organizations like Newsmax, Town Hall, and the Washington Examiner, hoping for similar benefits, are backing the bill, even though its goal is to protect the discredited corporate media from online competition.

If the (JCPA) passes, big corporate media companies would be able to form a legal cartel that could strike deals with Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other tech giants that would prioritize their content to the detriment of podcasters, YouTubers, Substack authors, and other forms of independent media.

Wood concludes his report by stating, ‘Breitbart is correct by not backing S.673, but it is almost completely alone in doing so. The rest of the so-called conservative media world should be ashamed of themselves for selling out to unconstitutional and immoral principles, thus exposing their own money-grubbing organizations.’

But why this bill in the first place?

The press is our chief ideological weapon.

Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of that country’s Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964.

With a cartel in place, presuming this bill gets passed, all dissenting voices and the real insights of the people will be squashed little a bug, and have its guts scraped out on the baking hot pavement. With the little guy out of the way, not only can certain narratives be heard alone, it allows for the established companies to make much, much more money.

As deceased comedian George Carlin once said,

It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it! You and I are not in the big club.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

I have a few things to say, so please bear with me.

It was going to happen eventually, I suppose, but maybe that is me just being usual pessimistic-self. We the little guy doesn’t matter: if you want to play in the sandbox, you got to play by their rules, or risk getting your castle kicked over and sand pelted in your face.

Almost one year ago to date, I reported on what Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said of his company at the time:

In the journalism business, the journalism trade, you work out what your market is and you produce your best product you can possibly produce for that target market.

The success of Fox News throughout its entire history has been to provide the absolute best news and opinion for a market we believe is firmly center-right. And we don’t pivot or change that. And we haven’t pivoted or changed that throughout the history of Fox News. So, we’ll continue to provide the best journalism with the best hosts with the best analysis with the best opinions going forward, as we have throughout the past news cycles.

We believe where we’re targeted, to the center right, is exactly where we should be targeted. We don’t need to go further right. We don’t believe America is further right, and we’re obviously not going to pivot left.

Clearly, that is NOT news: that is just controlling market share of a product and service, and working to be the best at it. All this is just pushing an agenda, and Fox News takes up the so-called “center-right;” and if you don’t like that, then there are flavors of propaganda to choose from, that will only report and skew information they want you to see, with an already pre-decided disposition.

And as alluded to in this report, the underlying goal extends farther than just controlling the narrative: it is all about maximizing profits.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

1 Timothy 6:10

Moreover, what this bill is a perfect example of what fascism, by definition, looks like.

Fascism should more appropriately called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power.

We also see Rand Paul climb out of the shadows and expose his true colors to us, again. Rand Paul is a total fraud and scumbag, like I’ve said now for sometime: and yet the sheeple still go along for the ride with this joker. The last time The WinePress formally reported on that clown, he got on Fox News and told the audience we need NEW Covid vaccines; because the current ones are not working like they once did! Of course, he will not discuss a single life that has been culled by these death shots, but now, wants to enrich the lives of big pharma even MORE! Just that one instance, plus this proposed bill, encapsulates everything about this guy – all of them really.

The Media Is Now Gearing The Masses To Accept An Army-Designed Covid Vaccine, And Scares Of Covid In Animals

But clearly, this bill targets people like The WinePress, and many others like it. Normally, I do not go around slashing the site’s metrics, as not to boast and bring glory to myself; but in this situation, it’s worth mentioning (without getting into precise numbers), that The WinePress has drawn in many hundreds of thousands of views in just one year. The most viewed report, “Agenda 2030: You’ll Own Nothing And Be Happy,” has gotten a TON of views. I am NOT saying this bill was written to counteract The WinePress specifically, but I am just pointing out, do you think the corporate oligarchs like seeing a little “serf” like me calling out their agendas and lies, and linking it with scripture to boot?!

The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out.

Proverbs 28:11

There is no secret that The WinePress is run by one man: me. I get help from many people, sure, but it is still just me doing all the reporting and legwork. So, this bill has The WinePress in its crosshairs. Moreover, did you catch the wording in the bill, about sites “with the editorial content consisting of not less than 25 percent current news and related content.” In other words, the government doesn’t want you to go back in history and hold the government, media, the scores of “Bigs,” accountable: they want to constantly spin your wheels, not giving you time to think and check them out. Constant propaganda.

We shall see what transpires, but, I know this much:

And [Jesus Christ] is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Colossians 1:17

It’s in the Lord’s hands what shall befall The WP, whether this fascist bill gets passed. Regulars know that I have been warning that an eventual cyber attack or “glitch,” will happen, and sites like The WinePress will “magically disappear.” Or something along these lines. My point is, The WinePress will eventually come to an end. Until then, and if the whole world and friends were to turn on me, I shall continue to fight as I have.

[10] If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. [11] If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; [12] If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

Proverbs 24:10-12

Please, help get the word out. Voting will not fix a darn thing: that’s just the stuff of legend at this point.

For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.

Proverbs 28:2

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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