WASHINGTON—In a strongly worded response to threats by President Trump and Federal Communication Commission Chair Brendan Carr to yank broadcast licenses from stations who have aired "fake news" critical of the administration as part of their coverage of the war with Iran, FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez issued the statement arguing that the agency does not have the authority to regulate news coverage and that broadcasters need to resist the “chilling effect” those threats might have on news coverage.
“Once again, this FCC pretends it has the power to control news coverage,” Gomez said. “In reality, the FCC has vanishingly little power over national news networks. It licenses local broadcast stations, not networks, and no licenses are up for renewal until 2028. Early renewal attempts are exceedingly rare, and the process is so demanding that any effort would almost certainly fail, especially given the well-documented First Amendment violations underlying these moves. These threats are grounded in neither reality nor law and would not survive judicial scrutiny, just as other recent attempts by this Administration to push beyond constitutional limits have repeatedly failed in court.”
That does not mean, however, that threats to yank licenses aren’t very worrisome, Gomez argued, repeating previously stated concerns that the threats can have a chilling impact on coverage and encourage media outlets to avoid regulatory problems by self-censoring critical coverage of the administration.
Article continues below“The concern over the chilling effect of these actions, however, is very real,” the Commissioner said. “Over the past year, this FCC has attacked the media as part of a years-long campaign by this Administration and its allies to discredit factual, independent coverage while blaming the press for growing public distrust. Meanwhile, it is the FCC’s own credibility and public trust that are rapidly eroding.
“Out of the many politically motivated FCC investigations targeting perceived government critics, not a single one has resulted in an enforcement action,” she said. “This follows a well-established pattern of threatened investigations, broadcast license revocations, and regulatory harassment aimed at pressuring broadcasters and their corporate parents to comply or capitulate in advance. We cannot give this FCC more power than it has. Broadcasters, journalists, and the public should recognize these empty threats for what they are and fight to defend the First Amendment against any attempt to control or intimidate the press.”
While the FCC has not attempted to investigate “news bias” in broadcast news in recent decades, FCC Chair Carr has repeatedly argued that it does in fact have the authority to do so. Under his leadership the agency is currently carrying out several investigations for “news bias” against ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates. It has also been investigating TV late night shows for alleged "news bias" and violations of equal time rules for political candidates.
Carr has said that the same rules against bias apply to both TV and radio but has not opened investigations into radio stations carrying conservative political shows and has generally sidestepped questions about radio.
Worries that rules relating to either “news bias” or “equal time” for political candidates could be applied to AM radio stations that regularly air conservative talk and political shows, has prompted pushback from conservative senators like Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sean Hannity, who has a popular show on the Fox News cable channel, which is not licensed by the FCC, and a syndicated talk show that airs on many broadcast radio stations licensed by the agency.
“Talk radio is successful because people are smart and understand we are the antidote to corrupt and abusively biased left wing legacy media,” Hannity said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “We need less government regulation and more freedom. Let the American people decide where to get their information from without any government interference.”
