Media Center

A group of minority-owned media, civil rights, and public interest groups today filed a petition for rulemaking at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) calling for new data collection and reporting on the diversity of content vendors used by FCC-licensed media and telecommunications companies.  FUSE, LLC, an independent, Latino-owned entertainment company dedicated to empowering young, multicultural voices, led the group that included Common Cause, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge, and the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry.  The petition proposes establishing a new report that tracks the diversity of content vendors used by FCC licensees, including on traditional platforms like broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, along with affiliated streaming services, like Disney’s Hulu+Live TV and Disney+, Amazon’s Prime, Fox’s Tubi and Alphabet/Google’s YouTube TV.

Today at 2:00 p.m., the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance’s Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight will hold a hearing on current laws and enforcement governing the political activities by tax exempt “dark money” groups. Beth Rotman, Common Cause Director of Money in Politics and Ethics, submitted written testimony to the subcommittee for today’s hearing record, detailing how a lack of enforcement by both the IRS and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has allowed “dark money” groups to evade existing disclosure laws related to political spending.

As 2022 congressional races ramp up, Common Cause is again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. Members of the House and Senate have received letters asking them to co-sponsor and support at least 15 democracy reform bills and informing them that their voting and co-sponsorship record will be published in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard,” which will be distributed to our 1.5 million members, as well as to state and national media, during the lead-up to Election Day.

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” in support of the Protecting Our Democracy Act (H.R. 5314), in order to provide greater checks and balances to the vast powers of the presidency in the wake of the unprecedented abuses of those powers by the administration of Donald Trump. The letter, sent yesterday to every Member of the House, emphasizes that the proposed legislation will create new mechanisms for transparency and accountability that will apply to all future presidents, regardless of their political party. The letter also notes that Common Cause plans to key-vote this legislation in our Democracy Scorecard, which we send to our 1.5 million members.  

"Allowing donors to repay candidates’ loans is a shell game that breeds cynicism about our elections. Campaign donations end up in the candidate’s pocket, after the election – while voters are deprived of information about who’s funding the candidate, while deciding how to vote."

In a letter to U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, the state legislators urge their federal counterparts to “do everything in your power to pass” the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.