FCC Finally Goes After Corporate Media, And Dems Are Outraged
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr recently made headlines wiht a remark suggesting that more Americans trust gas station sushi than conventional national media. This statement reflects his approach to confronting perceived bias and misconduct within major media institutions. His office is currently dealing with a complaint from the Center for American Rights regarding CBS’s editing of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, wich many everyday americans criticized during a public comment period.Responses from left-leaning senators, such as Richard Blumenthal, who initiated an inquiry into the FCC’s political targeting of newsrooms, and others expressing concern over the agency’s actions, highlight a deepening divide over media regulation and First Amendment rights.
The critique of Carr’s initiatives underscores hypocrisy, as the same senators once supported FCC investigations into conservative media like Sinclair broadcasting for similar reasons. This pattern points to selective enforcement based on political ideology, with claims of media bias eliciting outrage from some, while actions against other broadcasts are overlooked. The current climate shows a critically important erosion of trust in media and government institutions,with only 31% of Americans expressing confidence in media,and 32% in Congress,contributing to the ongoing debate about the role of government in media oversight and the definition of free speech. Daniel Suhr, the president of the Center for American Rights, calls attention to the distinction between free speech and news distortion, emphasizing the importance of addressing misconduct in media practices.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr joked recently that “[m]ore Americans trust gas station sushi than the legacy national media.” That statement, sad but true (or perhaps not so sad), is indicative of the new Trump chair’s approach to his job: to call out the powerhouse institutions that have long gotten a free pass on their relentless bias, illegal DEI practices, and general disservice to the American people. The chairman has had enough, and the left is losing its collective mind as a result.
The current iteration of that fight is prompted by a complaint filed by my organization, the Center for American Rights, against CBS for its misleading editing of then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with 60 Minutes. The chairman has taken those charges seriously (as he should) and held a public comment period that ended this week. Numerous everyday Americans spoke up, critical of CBS’s electioneering, while left-wing senators and media groups are outraged at the supposed assault on the First Amendment.
Typical is Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who has opened an “Inquiry into FCC’s Political Targeting of Newsrooms” from his post as ranking member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. In his release announcing the probe, Blumenthal lambasts the FCC for its “unprecedented, intrusive investigations against media broadcasters under arbitrary and capricious pretenses.” The senator is concerned that these “vexatious investigation[s]” by the FCC “may be designed to intimidate newsrooms,” so he’s apparently decided to launch his own investigation to intimidate the chairman into dropping the commission’s investigations.
Democrat Sens. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, and Gary Peters of Michigan sent a similar letter blasting the chairman, intoning against the agency “weaponizing its authority over broadcasters and public media for political purposes.”
That’s rich coming from anyone who supported the Biden administration’s weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice against pro-life grandmas and K-12 school moms. But it’s especially ironic coming from Blumenthal and Markey.
Just seven short years ago, they were among a dozen senatorial signatories on a letter to the Federal Communications Commission calling for action against Sinclair Broadcast Group. These self-styled “strong defenders of the First Amendment” apparently thought there was nothing wrong with an FCC inquiry into the conservative-leaning editorial practices of Sinclair. The senators accused Sinclair of a “systemic news distortion operation” in violation of longstanding FCC precedent against such practices.
President Biden’s FCC chair similarly held a public comment period on news distortion charges lodged against a Fox-owned local affiliate several years ago.
The senators and their left-wing echo chamber decry “selective enforcement.” “Selective enforcement” is when Fox and Sinclair are constantly under regulatory pressure from Democrats at the FCC and in Congress and from their outside allies, but then unchecked “press freedom” is the sacrosanct principle when CBS or NBC allegedly transgress the same lines when Republicans are in power.
And selective outrage is what happens when a Democrat chair is praised for aggressively pursuing her agenda to enforce DEI, but then a Republican chairman is accused of trampling on the First Amendment when he warns companies against DEI in the wake of an on-point U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Of course, corporate media’s relentless corruption in slanting and distorting the news is a huge reason why only 31 percent of Americans trust the media. And hypocrisy from the likes of senators like Blumenthal and Markey is no doubt why only 32 percent of Americans trust Congress.
The Federalist knows better than anyone else the trouble that comes when an arm of the administrative state pursues an agenda to punish free speech. But distorting the news and engaging in race-based discrimination obviously aren’t free speech. Bravo to the chairman for recognizing the difference. And no wonder most Americans don’t trust the corporate media.
Daniel Suhr is president of the Center for American Rights, a Chicago-based public-interest law firm.
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