WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- An influential member of Congress said he plans to investigate network TV news divisions after the November election, The Hollywood Reporter said Wednesday.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, told members of the Association for Maximum Service Television -- an industry group that promotes technical quality in television broadcasting -- concern over accuracy and fairness in TV news is a legitimate subject of inquiry for the House Commerce Committee, which Barton chairs.
"It won't be on the politics of it," Barton said. "It'll be on the procedures and mechanisms to safeguard the First Amendment."
Barton began talking about investigating the network news divisions after a recent controversy involving CBS' use of apparently inauthentic documents as part of a report on President Bush's military service record.
