People are so mad at the governor of Indiana

Actually, if you want to get technical, the Constitution guarantees freedom of the press from interference by the government as well.

I'd say this, a "news service" explicitly meant to compete with media outlets, constitutes interference.

 

Where?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

What people are objecting to, as previously noted is 1. The waste of taxpayer dollars and 2. Terming it as a "news service".

No. 1 is self-explanatory. No.2 falls under the lines of propaganda, similar to terming an anti-union law as "right to work".

Had he just said he was expanding his office's publicity department, there wouldn't be much of an uproar, besides the complaints of wasting money. But by terming it a "news service", he's trying to give equal credibility to his propaganda arm as it is to legitimate news services.

 

Of course he is. It's a smart move.

 

A state-run news service - what could possibly go wrong?

It is, first and foremost, a waste of taxpayer money.

Additionally, there are lot of ways this kind of idea can go sideways and have unintended consequences. What if the state-run news services draws readers away from the Star and other news outlets and puts them out of business? Wouldn't that squash the free and independent media? (And, yes, I know this is an extreme example, unlikely to occur.)

Even if the results are not that drastic, what if the Star's website loses page views and its circulation declines (further). The company's business can still be negatively impacted if advertisers see dwindling numbers in the newspaper's audience.

The state government should not be competing against businesses, it should be supporting them. Trying to break news and become the go-to news portal for Indiana citizens no doubt puts the government at financial odds with the local media.

 

If this were legit competition and newspapers were driven out of business because government entities were spending taxpayers dollars competing or interfering with them, it could be a problem.

Fortunately, as dumb as some people are and as eager as they are to believe anything on the Internet, folks still don't trust an entity to truly report factually and fully on itself.

 

Pence should have just worked out a deal with Fox to have a HoosierFox.com news outlet.

 

Who is Pence hiring to cover the Pacers and Colts? Has he posted those jobs yet?

 

By your standard, every time Josh Earnest opens his mouth constitutes interference.

 

If Mike Pence had a D after his name instead of an R this would not be an issue.