{"id":19458,"date":"2026-04-10T06:13:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/19458\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:13:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:13:27","slug":"fcc-chairman-threatens-broadcasters-after-trumps-tirade-over-war-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/19458\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC Chairman Threatens Broadcasters After Trump’s Tirade Over War Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUPDATED, 3\/15 with additional comment: Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s FCC<\/a> chairman threatened broadcaster licenses and warned that news outlets should \u201ccourse correct\u201d before their renewals come up after the president blasted the media over their coverage of the Iran war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tBrendan Carr<\/a> wrote on X on Saturday, \u201cBroadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions \u2013 also known as the fake news \u2013 have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCarr linked to Trump\u2019s Truth Social post, in which the president singled out headlines reporting on an Iranian strike on five Air Force refueling planes in Saudi Arabia. Trump called it an \u201cintentionally misleading headline\u201d and wrote that the aircraft was of \u201cno further use.\u201d \u201cFour of the five had virtually no damage,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other Lowlife \u2018Papers\u2019 and Media actually want us to lose the War.\u201d <\/p>\n

Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions \u2013 also known as the fake news \u2013 have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. <\/p>\n

The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/7bBgnsbalw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe FCC doesn\u2019t regulate newspapers, but Carr\u2019s message appeared to be another flex warning to broadcasters of potential action, even as First Amendment groups say that efforts to dictate news coverage violate the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his latest and previous attacks on the media, Carr has repeatedly cited the FCC\u2019s \u201cnews distortion<\/a>\u201d policy, which prohibits broadcasters from deliberately distorting a factual news report. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn its guidance, the FCC says, \u201cThe FCC\u2019s authority to take action on complaints about the accuracy or bias of news networks, stations, reporters or commentators in how they cover \u2013 or sometimes opt to not \u00a0cover \u2013 events is narrow. The agency is prohibited by law from engaging in censorship or infringing on First Amendment rights of the press.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe FCC\u2019s next round of license renewals for stations come in 2028. Challenges to those renewals can drag on for years.<\/p>\n

\n\tSen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) wrote on X about Carr\u2019s post, \u201cThis is a clear directive to provide positive war coverage or else licenses may not be renewed. This is worse than the comedian stuff, and by a lot. The stakes here are much higher. He\u2019s not talking about late night shows, he\u2019s talking about how a war is covered.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tCarr also has gone after late night and daytime talk shows, warning that they may violate the agency\u2019s Equal Time Rule if they feature political candidates as guests.<\/p>\n

\n\tCarr has conducted inquiries on other matters, including the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris in 2024. Yet he has not issued any kind of sanction on a number of items. If he were to do so, networks could challenge those fines or other sanctions in court on First Amendment grounds.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, has said that the threats of agency action are the point. There\u2019s even a term for it: \u201cjawboning,\u201d<\/a> or \u201cregulation by raised eyebrow,\u201d intended to elicit an action from a private company by mere pressure from a government entity.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an X post, Gomez wrote about Carr\u2019s latest warning, \u201cThe FCC can issue threats all day long, but it is powerless to carry them out. Such threats violate the First Amendment and will go nowhere. Broadcasters should continue covering the news, fiercely and independently, without fear of government pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWill Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said in a statement, \u201cBrendan Carr\u2019s authoritarian warning \u2014 that networks risk their broadcasting licenses for Iran war reporting that the government doesn\u2019t like \u2014 is outrageous. When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCreeley noted that Carr in 2019 said, \u201cShould the government censor speech it doesn\u2019t like? Of course not. The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the \u2018public interest.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCreeley said, \u201cBut today, Carr cites the \u2018public interest\u2019 to blatantly threaten news outlets because the president doesn\u2019t like their reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTara Puckey, the CEO of Radio Television Digital News Association, said in a statement, \u201cLet\u2019s be direct: what Chair Carr is describing is government control of the press. He can call it public interest. He can call it accountability. It\u2019s neither. Using federal regulatory power to threaten broadcast licenses over coverage decisions is unconstitutional \u2014 full stop. The First Amendment does not have a carve out for news the FCC chair finds inconvenient.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tA spokesperson for the National Association of Broadcasters did not return a request for comment. <\/p>\n