How close is FCC chair Brendan Carr to the Trump White House? New records offer a look.
The FCC is supposed to operate as an independent agency. New records reveal extensive ties among its chair, the White House and conservative media.
The Federal Communications Commission is supposed to be an independent government agency that “regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.”
But it’s pretty clear that under FCC chair Brendan Carr, the agency has been acting on behalf of President Donald Trump through threats and actions against network programming that Trump doesn’t like.
Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press
Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America
Related Knowledge Center: Media and the law
Toxic politics and vast shifts in the technology landscape have created a plethora of thorny issues — both legal and ethical — for newsrooms, courts, and regulators.
The Meta-FTC trial | Section 230