The U.S. House Judiciary Committee posted a "press release" Wednesday on its website that looks more like something published on BuzzFeed than an actual news release. ZDNet.com reported Friday that the overall theme centered around the question of why President Obama won't enforce federal immigration law.
The irony not lost on the author of the article is that the Judiciary Committee, made up of lawmakers who supported legislation like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), used "animations protected by copyright laws." Yet, the point of it was to say that Obama needs to enforce federal law.
To see the press release, click here. Keep in mind that members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- of the U.S. Congress -- thought this was a good idea.
"Remember, back in 2011, when the Web went dark to prevent the SOPA bill from passing. That was the Stop Online Piracy Act and it was basically designed to pretty much deny us all sorts of rights online...[...]See Chairman Bob Goodlatte's name at the very top? He was a sponsor of SOPA. So were other current House Judiciary Committee members Lamar Smith, Steven Chabot, John Conyers, Judy Chu, and Ted Deutch.These six (three Dem and three GOP) spent a tremendous effort to destroy fair use for all Americans and here they are, a few years later, violating copyright and just barely hanging onto a fair use thread, right on the official site of the Judiciary Committee."
Read the full article here.
Though purely an editorial, the article raises another good point. This is supposed to be a press release for professional journalists to use from U.S. lawmakers. The intention may have been to target a younger audience, much like BuzzFeed targets teenagers and young adults, but the people in this age demographic aren't looking out for judiciary press releases -- the press is.
It is, frankly, patronizing and insulting to members of the press, young adults, and the average American.