FCC Hires Bush Administration Shill

Reuters has a watered-down version of the story:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An outspoken anti-pornography advocate has been hired by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to advise the agency on consumer issues involving the cable and broadcast industry, which has been under scrutiny for airing racy material.

Penny Nance, who previously ran the "Kids First Coalition" which advocates on the issues of adoption, crime, pornography, abortion and computer safety, has been hired as a part-time adviser in the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, an agency spokesman said.

Nance, a self-described religious conservative, has testified before Congress and has been interviewed on cable television about Internet child pornography. She did not return calls seeking comment.

Reuters left out "Bush Administration shill" in Nance's list of disqualifying attributes. Media Matters chronicled Nance's shilling on Faux last summer:

NANCE: Well, I'm clearly in favor of President [George W.] Bush because I believe he is the man that American women trust to protect our children and he cares about the safety and well-being of our children.

NANCE: [W]hat American women are looking for, what we security moms are looking for is tough leadership, the kind of man President [George W.] Bush is.

Watch for the FCC to levy huge fines against broadcasters who expose innocent children to the truth about George W. Bush.

Nance is aligned with all the big name wingnut media crusaders:

In January, Nance joined others in the letter urging Bush to appoint as FCC chair someone committed to enforcing indecency laws. Other signatories included stalwarts of the conservative political movement such as Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and Phyllis Schlafly, president of Eagle Forum, as well as longtime FCC critics Donald Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, and Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, who both argue the agency has shirked its responsibility to crack down on indecent broadcasts.

"The breakdown of standards on TV and radio is a 'moral values' problem we cannot ignore," said the letter to Bush, which was widely interpreted in D.C. as a plea to appoint Martin. It called for "repeated and expanded" fines "until broadcasters understand they are not above the law." It also cited "a huge indecency problem on basic cable channels."

Actually, I can't feel too sorry for the media monoliths that have spent so much time sucking up to and shilling for Bush. They have nobody to blame but themselves when their Bushlicking backfires and hits them in their bottom line.