Utah Edges Toward Authoritarian Censorship

Utah Edges Toward Authoritarian Censorship

– By Ed Kociela –

What does the Utah Legislature have in common with Russian President Vladimir Putin?

A lot more than we should tolerate, especially at this moment.

Putin wants to control the media, wants to control what Russian teachers say in their classrooms, doesn’t give a damn about the environment, and couldn’t care less about human rights and freedom. He is the epitome of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and jingoism that we actually saw trying to take root in the United States one president ago.

On the whole, the U.S. rejected that brand of insanity when it booted Donald Trump from office. Now, if we could only do the same with his handler, Putin, we might be able to put that part of the world on a path to peace, love and harmony.

Except, here in Utah, we need to clean up our own backyard first, especially after reviewing the predictable, but nonetheless traumatic results of the recent Utah legislative session.

The Legislature stripped local decision-making regarding COVID-19 masking regulations, did nothing to clean up the air, failed to repeal the death penalty once again, added some cosmetic changes to the election system that do relatively nothing while costing at least $500,000, banned transgender female athletes from competition, and placed blinders on the media assigned to covering their legislative sessions by approving a rule that would require credentialed news media to only have access to legislative floors, hallways, and lounge if they have permission from a senator or Senate media designee and must “promptly exit the designated area after completing the specific interview.” It also added restrictions to accessing information regarding police-involved deaths, shielding the actions of the cops to provide cover for those who would take advantage of the badge to deliver what they consider street justice or to, let’s be blunt, indulge their inner racism. These last two items are of particular concern because in depriving the press free access to government activities it also shuts down public access to the actions of this legislative body, hiding it in the shadows instead of allowing it to sit in the sunshine of public scrutiny.

We see this happening in Russia right now, this very moment, as Putin puts a lid on the media — from Facebook to the legitimate press. You cannot write an op-ed piece over there that is critical of Putin’s wanton invasion of the Ukraine, cannot deal in the numbers of casualties — civilian and military — or cost of the war. Cannot question the morality or political reasoning for this unwarranted invasion. Already Putin has branded videos from the West showing the destruction in the Ukraine as false and misleading, of being fake news. How you can fake a video of a missile strike on a building, however, escapes me. And, God help anybody who takes to Russian streets to protest the invasion and egregious war crimes being committed by Putin and his troops.

It’s pretty much the same in Salt Lake City where the Capitol lounge lizards only take direction from LDS Church officials — the Utah oligarchy.

I’ve worked with our legislators on many occasions over the years and have yet to see a clearly unique or progressive thought emerge from any one of them. Even the Democrats seated in the Capitol are connected to the herd. They may wear blue, but they see red.

The U.S. Constitution is a document that guarantees a government of the people, by the people, for the people. That means strict oversight, whether through in-person attendance by voters or via surrogates like the media, charged with being the public’s trustworthy watchdogs to report openly and fairly on the goings-on of our elected officials. There is no middle ground here, no compromise in that freedom of speech, no interference that could or should be granted to allow our elected officials to operate in the shadows. It’s about transparency, laying the cards on the table face up and playing out the hand by allowing public question and debate. That simply cannot be done unless there is an unfettered press reporting without fear or favor.

I cannot think of a president, let alone a state legislator, who held a honeymoon relationship with the media throughout their term. Trump, who called the media the “enemy of the people,” wasn’t the first to have an uneasy relationship with the press. Throughout U.S. history there have been dustups — from Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln to Thomas Jefferson and just about every other occupant of the White House and the press. Some, like the relationship between the media and Trump and Richard Nixon, were of a much larger scale, but even John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, who came across as very pres savvy, had their moments as well.

Doing the people’s business should not be done in secret because the reasoning behind certain bills or votes can often be as important as the legislation itself. That is the job of the media, to ensure transparency in all our elected officials do. You need to know and I need to know what is going on and why. We need to understand who benefits and who doesn’t. We need to know that there was no collusion or untoward outside influence on decisions made and that just cannot happen when the people’s business is cloaked in the shadows. It is why there are gallery seats for the public, whether at the lowest city council levels or the floor of the U.S. Senate. And, since we all cannot attend each and every meeting, we rely on the media to report on what went down, why, and learn who was behind it all.

The danger, of course, in a media clampdown is the proliferation of fake news — propaganda ginned up by specific ideological groups with no basis in fact or legitimacy, just the spin of insiders with a particular agenda that they would like to keep hidden.

So, the question I have for any member of the Utah Legislature is this: What have you got to hide?

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