WASHINGTON—In the wake of ABC's efforts to combat an Federal Communications Commission probe into whether “The View” deserves a “news exemption” from equal political time rules, the regulator has received 27,885 comments as of 6 p.m. June 23.
ABC reported that most of those came in following ABC’s public push to mobilize fans to defend the show. During the Monday June 22 episode of "The View" ABC began airing an ad calling for viewers to file comments with the FCC. The ad encourages viewers to scan a QR code which directs them to the FCC site where they can file comments.
The case stems from a wider policy by the agency to enforce public interest rules on broadcasters deemed to be airing biased news coverage. That has led to ongoing investigations by the FCC into coverage of President Trump by stations owned by ABC, CBS and NBC.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr has repeatedly defended the agency’s authority to sanction stations and possibly even yank their licences for violating public interest standards even though a number of former FCC commissioners and staffers have called the policy “unconstitutional.”
Separately, the Media Bureau issued an advisory in January casting doubt on the 20-year-old exemption classifying late-night programming and talk shows as news programs, which means that they are not subject to equal time rules. The advisory said that stations airing `partisan' talk shows and late night programs must comply with equal time rules.
The FCC is also investigating Disney’s ABC for its DEI practices and has also ordered the ABC- owned stations to file for early renewal of their licenses. ABC blasted the early renewal demand as “unconstitutional retaliation” for news coverage that has been critical of the Trump administration.
So far the public comments to the FCC’s inquiry into `The View’ indicated significant opposition to Chairman Carr’s policies across the ideological spectrum, including free speech advocates, civil rights groups, conservative groups, journalism organizations, and consumer advocates. Many warned that revisiting the FCC's longstanding precedent amounted to an attack on free speech, with implications far beyond a single TV show.
ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology, Future of Free Speech, National Coalition Against Censorship argued that the Commission is abandoning 40 years of precedent and that “this proceeding violates the constitutional rights of all our nation’s broadcasters, as well as the public who relies upon them for their access to news and information.”
Likewise, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) noted that “no living former FCC Commissioner has endorsed Chairman Carr’s current view of his regulatory authority, while a bipartisan group of former Chairmen and Commissioners, along with other high-level staff, have condemned it.”
Free Press complained that the “Commission’s actions have poisoned the well, depriving KTRK of a fair enforcement process, and depriving ABC of fair administration of Section 315(a) as it pertains to The View. Carr’s agency’s actions have been capricious, selective, and corrupt. The Commission is targeting KTRK and ABC with punitive action for its lawful speech, in order to chill ABC’s and other broadcaster’s First Amendment-protected speech.”
The group also stressed that while “Carr claims that he’s simply looking out for the public’s interest, and not carrying out a politically motivated vendetta against ABC and the President’s enemies…this claim quickly falls apart when considering Carr’s explicit efforts here to exclude right-wing talk radio broadcast programs from his review of the equal opportunities rule.”
