O'Rielly Seeks FCC Change To 'Stop Unfairly Censoring Commissioners'

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly asked the FCC to "Stop Unfairly Censoring Commissioners." In a blog post with that title Wednesday, he sought a change in the way the agency is applying a rule intended to protect nonpublic information, which he said "hinders commissioners' ability to engage in the fulsome dialogue and obtain the data needed to most thoroughly and thoughtfully consider and comment on items." O'Rielly also said the rule is "being applied discriminatorily as Commissioners are silenced while the Chairman, the Commission’s media relations team and select staff are not only allowed to openly discuss items, but also post blogs, tweet, issue fact sheets, brief the press, and inform favored outside parties" about the content of items. "While I’d prefer to make certain draft documents available to the public and will continue to fight for this, other changes could help improve transparency in the meantime," he said. "As a first step, let’s make it standard procedure that all Commissioners and their staffs can discuss the substance of items on circulation or a meeting agenda, minus adjudicatory law enforcement items. To effectuate this, the Chairman should provide blanket written approval to the Commissioners to permit open discussion about the items before us."