Newsroom or PAC? Liberal group muddies online information wars

Courier’s operations differ from the NRCC in that it is a for-profit newsroom, and election law doesn’t regulate the press due to its First Amendment protections. As a result, Courier raises new digital-age questions about what is and is not a news organization — questions that political ad regulators are unlikely to answer, according to election experts, leaving this murky space open for “abuse,” said Brendan Fischer, the federal reform director at the Campaign Legal Center. “I don’t know how the FEC would treat Courier because the ‘media exemption’ is the third rail of campaign finance,” Fischer said. “Neither the Democrats or Republican want to be in the business of determining what is a media entity."

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