It was widely expected that President Trump’s choice of leading the Federal Communications Committee, Brendan Car, would make life more difficult for media institutions that were not in line with the agenda of the Supreme Commander.
In his first week at the head of the strong agency that oversees national communications, he did this specifically, as he revived complaints about the alleged liberal media bias. Throughout the election campaign, Trump criticized some broadcasting stations, saying that the Federal Communications Committee should withdraw their broadcast licenses.
ABC, NBC and CBS felt Trump’s contempt.
On Wednesday, Car revived the complaints filed against these three. One of them targeted NBC channel to be shown by former Vice President Kamala Harris in a comic play entitled “Saturday Night Live” four days before the November elections, saying that the network was not providing equal access to Trump. There is a second complaint related to the ABC News Treatment with Trump-Eharis’s debate in September. Trump complained about that ABC It was unfair to him.
The former president of the Federal Communications Committee, Jessica Rosenorssel, a democracy, has rejected four complaints in her last week in her position, noting the protection of the first amendment of the broadcasters. In addition to the complaints of ABC and NBC, it canceled a complaint against CBS to amend an interview with Harris in the 60 Minute program in addition to a request from liberals to punish Robert Marduk from Fox Corp and his son Lachlan due to the amplification of the Fox News channel. One of the lies of Trump elections for 2020.
Although Carr agreed to refuse to complain against the Murdoch family, he soon returned others to the committee’s list.
Daniel Souhr, head of the Conservative American Rights Center, said Chicago, who submitted complaints to the CBS and ABC and ABC stations, alleged the media’s bias, that he felt as if he were “legal lazaros” after the transformation this week in the Federal Communications Committee.
“I commend the president’s decision to revive complaints and ensure that the committee carries out the due care to review what we feel are very dangerous concerns about bias,” Sogher said in an interview with the Times newspaper. “We are trying to recount to these broadcasters to restore the public’s confidence in them.”
Car, a 46 -year -old lawyer from Washington, DC, who has worked in the committee since 2017, has also dismantled the FBI initiatives for diversity, equality and inclusion. And he signed an order to cancel the encouragement of the inclusion of the strategic plan for the Federal Communications Committee and withdraw funds allocated to diversity programs from the agency’s budget.
“The leadership of President Trump in this regard will achieve great results for the American people,” Car said in a statement. “Today, I announce that I have finished promoting the Dei Federal Communications Committee and I will focus the agency’s work on implementing the task of the Federal Communications Committee efficiently, as determined by Congress.”
These moves have prompted the Federal Communications Committee to turn a sharp controversy over whether Trump will review his authority to punish the media that he does not like. some Media experts feel anxious Trump’s speech, along with the compliance of federal organizers, can have a frightening effect that leads to a less critical press coverage.
CBS and its mother company Paramount Global feel pressure.
Last fall, Trump retreated from a planned interview on the “60 minutes” program on CBS, protested against the news magazine’s plans to verify his statements. After the emergence of Harris, the democratic candidate, in the program, Trump complained about the deception of CBS News She edited a clip from her interview To put it in a better light. The network showed that Harris provides different answers to a question about the efforts of President Biden’s administration to stop War in the Middle East.
Trump soon filed a $ 10 billion lawsuit in Texas against the CBS network due to the clip, describing it as “party and illegal acts in the elections and interfered with the voters.” The first amendment experts described the lawsuit that Trump filed as a trick.
CBS News denied that she manipulated Harris’s words. The CBS network said that the producers of the “60 minutes” program presented an excerpt from Harris’s interview with the “face of the nation” program broadcast by the network on Sunday morning, which “used a longer section of its answer than its answer.” [what was] In “60 minutes”. The same question. The same answer. But a different part of the response. ”
“When we edit any interview, whether it is political, sports, or a movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and at the heart of the topic,” said CBS in a statement. “The part of her answer was a 60 -minute program.”
This case caused a headache of Paramount, which is seeking to obtain federal approval for the proposed acquisition of Sky Dance Media, which is affiliated with David Ellison for $ 8 billion. Some analysts expect that the Federal Communications Committee’s complaint will be an obstacle to Paramount and Skydance, as the two companies seek to finish the merger this spring, giving the Ellison family to control one of the oldest studios and networks in Hollywood.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Paramount CEOs are considering settling the case Facilitate the merger process. Paramount and Skaids rejected the comment.
Donald Trump is taking the constitutional oath to the forty -seventh president of the United States on Monday.
(Morey Jash / Associated Press)
After the elections, Car of the Federal Communications Committee told Fox News that he will closely examine the expected Paramount-Skydance Federation.
As part of his complaint against the CBS network, the US Secret Center for Rights also requested the Federal Communications Committee to review the Skydance relationship with the Chinese technology and media company, which invested in Ellison. Some in Congress called for an additional review.
On Wednesday, Representative John Mullenar (Republican from the state of Michigan), Chairman of the Chinese China Choice Committee in the House of Representatives, said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Foreign Investment Treasury Committee in the United States should take a look.
“We have heard from many Hollywood executives about the outbreak of self -censorship designed to win the support of the Chinese Communist Party,” Republican from Michigan said. “Given that the Ministry of Defense has classified Tinetnet as a Chinese military company this month only, the foreign investment committee in the United States must closely examine the proposed merger.”
NBC has tried to reduce Trump’s anger because Harris appeared in the Sature Night Live by giving him free time on the air during the NASCAR race and a prominent football match to try to achieve equal opportunities.
The ABC TV station of Walt Disney in Philadelphia was the third complaint goal of the American Rights Center. WPVI-TV station broadcasts September debate, which was widely viewed on ABC NewsThe only confrontation between Harris and Trump.
In a separate conflict, Disney agreed last month to pay one million dollars for the legal fees of Trump and donate Other $ 15 million Trump’s future presidential library to settle the lawsuit that Trump filed against it ABC News And anchor George Stefanopoulos After the journalist confirmed during an interview on the air that a jury in a civil court found that Trump was “responsible for rape” in a civil case. In fact, jury decided that Trump is responsible for “sexual assault”.
The settlement was launched to warnings to the defenders of the press. Some felt that Disney has quickly settled the Stephenopoulos case to gain the upcoming support of the Trump administration.
Maya Rudolph, on the left, and Kamala Harris in the Saturday Night Live program.
(Will Heath / NBC)
Rosenworssel said, in a statement issued earlier this month, that the Federal Communications Committee should warn against becoming “the president’s speech police.”
She did not clarify her decision to reject the complaint against Fox.
Murdoch’s critics filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Committee after that Fox News channel paid $ 78.5 million to settle a defamation suit It was raised by Dominion Voting Systems due to the lies scattered on the Fox News network about its voting machines during the 2020 elections. The group said that the 93 -year -old Australian business pole and his son Latchelan, CEO of Fox, lacks the ethical personality needed to obtain broadcast licenses .
Patrick Weber, Acting Chairman of the Execution Office of the Federal Communications Committee, wrote in an order issued on Wednesday that the decisions of Rosenworceel for ABC, CBS and NBC issues “was issued prematurely based on a record of sufficient investigation of the behavior of the relevant station.”
Despite this procedure, it is not clear whether complaints will move forward.
Federal Communications Committee officials (FCC) must now investigate them. Ultimately, the entire committee will vote on any executive procedure.
The former senior official of the Federal Communications Committee (FCC), Blair Levin, who is now an analyst at New Street Research, wrote on Thursday in a memorandum to customers that it is rare for the government to cancel a TV station license.
“Although the president’s threat is that companies should lose their licenses, we believe that the risk of this happens is very low,” Levin said in the report.
