Syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer was not pleased that the Federal Communications Commission plans to send researchers in to study TV newsrooms, saying such plans are an “outrage disguised as a study.”

“If government were to bring any coffee into FOX, I’d get a taster before I would touch it,” Krauthammer said of government intervention on freedom of the press in the newsroom on “Special Report” with Bret Baier Thursday night.

“As if the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] and the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] haven’t done enough damage, the FCC now has to trample on what rights are remaining,” Krauthammer said. “This is an outrage disguised as a study.”

“The FCC,” he added, “regulates the media and it has the power to remove your license – meaning to ruin you overnight.”

According to the Wall Street Journal op-ed from FCC commissioner Ajit Pai:

The purpose of the [“Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs,” or CIN], according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about “the process by which stories are selected” and how often stations cover “critical information needs,” along with “perceived station bias” and “perceived responsiveness to underserved populations.”

“And who decides if it’s a ‘critical information need?’ Krauthammer asked. “’Critical information need’ is a concept that you have in Kiev or in Moscow, you don’t have it in the United States. This is an absolute outrage.”

The panel agreed.

Watch here on Fox:

Related: Shockwaves over Obama administration’s plan to put government monitors in newsrooms

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Janeen Capizola

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." And fun! This conservative-minded political junkie, mom of three, dancer and one-time NFL cheerleader holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science. [email protected]. Twitter: @JaneenBPR

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