MRC's Bozell: Media Must Investigate Outrageous Obama HHS Gag Order

"The liberal media claim to champion free speech, but if they continue to turn a blind eye to this offense, we can only assume they approve of government censorship," Media Research Center President Brent Bozell argued in a statement released today.

Mr. Bozell was reacting to news of the federal Department of Health and Human Services placing a gag order on private health insurance companies communicating to their Medicare Advantage customers their concerns about Democratic health care reform proposals. The gag order is backed by a threat of federal prosecution.

Even so, this flagrant abuse of power by the Obama administration has been underreported in the mainstream media. The Washington Post has not printed one word about the violation, and while ABC News aired a segment on its September 22 broadcast, their rivals at the CBS "Evening News" and NBC "Nightly News" have ignored the transgression.

Mr. Bozell's full statement appears below the page break:

Where is the outrage from the media on this abuse of power? Here we have an orchestrated and deliberate attempt to keep American citizens in the dark, particularly vulnerable seniors. Their very health is at risk, yet all but ABC have chosen to keep their audiences in the dark about this abuse. If they aren't willing to probe and at least question the administration on this blatant offense, what else are they shoving under the rug?

The liberal media claim to champion free speech, but if they continue to turn a blind eye to this offense, we can only assume they approve of government censorship. And in this case, the stakes are much higher. Compliance with this deliberate attempt to hush anyone and anything that might derail Obama's government takeover is no longer just a violation of journalistic integrity, it is an offense that endangers the health and well being of our country's greatest generation.