Good and Bad News on Fake News

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Following the FCC's Public Notice on "fake news," the U.S. Senate approved, by 98 to 0, a measure requiring "clear notification within the text or audio of the prepackaged news story" for all fake news produced with federal funding. The measure was offered by Senator Robert Byrd and inserted into an emergency spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan operations. But not all of Washington DC has seen the light on fake news. Representative George Miller warned that the Department of Education's investigation into the Ketchum - Armstrong Williams payola scandal is being obstructed. The Department's Inspector General was "'denied access' to some current and former White House employees," while Secretary Margaret Spellings is "considering invoking special privileges that would force the investigator to shield parts of his findings from the public," according to Miller.