FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on Saturday that stations need to “correct course” or risk having their broadcast licenses revoked, citing President Donald Trump’s recent displeasure with mainstream media coverage of the Iran war.
“Broadcast stations that spread misinformation and distortions of news, also known as fake news, have a chance to correct course before their licenses come up for renewal,” Kerr wrote. “The law is clear: broadcasters must operate in the public interest. If they don’t comply, their licenses will be revoked.”
Carr linked to President Trump’s Truth social post in which the president denounced “intentionally misleading headlines” about a U.S. tanker jet targeted in Saudi Arabia. President Trump insisted that no planes were “hit” or “destroyed” and that four of the five planes involved in the attack were “already back in the air.” President Trump went on to accuse “sleazy ‘newspapers'” like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal of “hoping we’ll lose the war.”
It is important to note that the FCC chairman does not have authority over papers like the WSJ or NYT. But Mr. Carr has been outspoken about silencing unfavorable television coverage of the Trump administration, and appears to be preemptively setting off warning lights to disrupt broadcast coverage.
Carr has yet to criticize a major news organization during the Trump administration’s tenure. Rather, his greatest influence was in the realm of talk shows and late-night television. In February, the FFC chairman appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” and acknowledged that he had begun enforcement proceedings on ABC’s “The View” over what the commission said was a violation of equal time rules regarding political candidates.
“Gone are the days when these traditional media outlets dictated what we could say, what we could think, and who we could vote for,” Kerr said during his appearance. “I think President Trump has played an important role in breaking through the façade that they can still dictate the narrative of this country.”
Because talk shows resemble news programs, they have long been exempt from equal-time rules that require equal coverage of both sides of the political spectrum. But Carr has publicly said he intends to change that. “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” is the latest victim of this change. Colbert said in February that his home network CBS refused to air an interview with Texas Rep. James Tallarico for fear the FCC would come knocking with equal time violations.
