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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/19/dept-of-very-bad-ideas-south-carolina-lawmaker-wants-to-create-registry-for-journalists/

>For political journalists, South Carolina was the center of the universe last week. The state hosted two presidential primary debates and trotted its governor into the national spotlight for a televised response to the president’s State of the Union address.

>But a Republican lawmaker there doesn’t think just anyone calling him or herself a journalist ought to be able to work in South Carolina. Only “responsible” journalists — those who pay to be registered and vetted by the state — should be allowed to cover presidential politics or any other kind of news.

>The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Tuesday afternoon that state Rep. Mike Pitts (R) had introduced a bill called the “South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law.” Reporter Gavin Jackson posted a summary of the bill — which includes “fines and criminal penalties for violation of the chapter” — on Twitter, but wrote that the full text was not yet available.

>The Post and Courier reported that “the bill would create requirements for people wanting to work as a journalist for a media outlet and also before that outlet could hire anyone for a reporting position.” It was not immediately clear what kinds of restrictions might apply to journalists based in other states who might be assigned to cover isolated news events in South Carolina, such as debates and campaign rallies. After Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina is next on the Republican primary calendar (the Democratic vote is a week later), making it an important, early-voting state for the presidential candidates and the reporters who cover them.

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