{"id":5964,"date":"2026-07-31T21:39:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5964"},"modified":"2026-07-31T21:39:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:39:32","slug":"fcc-chairman-defends-actions-against-abc-says-broadcasters-must-operate-in-the-public-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5964","title":{"rendered":"FCC chairman defends actions against ABC, says broadcasters must operate \u2018in the public interest\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Jocelyn Noveck | Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday defended his agency\u2019s recent actions against ABC, saying broadcasters have a duty to \u201coperate in the public interest\u201d and the FCC is merely trying to restore that standard.<\/p>\n

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Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, \u201cstruck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cLook, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we\u2019re not there,\u201d Carr told anchor Maria Bartiromo. \u201cSo I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FCC has been pushing ABC<\/h4>\n

The remarks came a day after ABC, issuing another salvo in an ever-escalating battle with President Donald Trump\u2019s FCC, again accused the agency of a brazen attempt to chill its constitutionally protected free speech \u2014 and by extension, that of every media outlet in the country.<\/p>\n

ABC accused the agency of retaliating against it simply because it doesn\u2019t like the political content of ABC\u2019s shows.<\/p>\n

The network\u2019s new comments came in its latest filing to the agency, expressing its formal opposition to the FCC\u2019s early review, launched in April, of eight ABC local broadcast licenses well before they expire.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThere is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations,\u201d the filing said. \u201cEach is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC\u2019s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country,\u201d it continued. \u201cAccommodate the Administration\u2019s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price. \u2026 The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely. \u201c<\/p>\n

The license review is only one part of a long-simmering confrontation between ABC and the FCC. The network is also battling Carr\u2019s efforts to make \u201cThe View,\u201d a talk show whose hosts and guests have frequently angered Trump, subject to equal-time rules \u2014 a question ABC says the agency itself resolved more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n

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The rules require granting equal airtime to competing candidates for office. Bona fide news programs are exempt. The FCC qualified the show as such in a 2002 decision.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Kimmel has also been a target<\/h4>\n

Trump has also repeatedly called for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired.<\/p>\n

When the FCC launched its early review of ABC\u2019s licenses in April, it came amid a fight with Kimmel over a joke that offended Trump. The agency, however, cited diversity, equity and inclusion practices at the company, and Carr brought them up in the Fox interview.<\/p>\n

Operating in the public interest, he said, \u201cmeans you can\u2019t run news distortions, broadcast hoax. You can\u2019t be engaging in this invidious form of DEI discrimination.\u201d He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n

In its filing Thursday, ABC referred to over 140,000 comments from viewers, part of the public comment period on the issue, posted to the FCC website \u2014 more than 95% of which it said were supportive of ABC\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outpouring of support for the Stations has been unprecedented for a license renewal proceeding,\u201d it said. \u201cThese supporters span the ideological spectrum but share a fundamental commitment to free speech and press freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its lengthy filing, ABC also noted how rare it is that the FCC would call for early license renewal applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the day before the Commission took this step, it had not called for license renewal applications ahead of schedule for more than fifty years,\u201d ABC said. \u201cThe Commission\u2019s departure from those norms lays bare what is really going on: the Administration is retaliating against ABC for the exercise of its First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat alone should stop these proceedings in their tracks.\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABC has accused the agency of retaliating against it simply because it doesn\u2019t like the political content of ABC\u2019s shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFCC chairman defends actions against ABC, says broadcasters must operate \u2018in the public interest\u2019 - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5964\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FCC chairman defends actions against ABC, says broadcasters must operate \u2018in the public interest\u2019 - 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