Carr FCC sets aside Rosenworcel closure of "news distortion" complaints against CBS, ABC and NBC, but not Fox.
Comm. Gomez: "We must respect the protections of the First Amendment and the restrictions in the Communications Act.”
This is a breaking story.
The FCC (under Carr) has set aside the Rosenworcel administration’s closing of three complaints [ABC | CBS | NBC] filed by the Center for American Rights against WCBS-TV and WNBC-TV in New York and Disney-ABC owned WPVI, Philadelphia over complaints of "news distortion". These issues are related to the CBS presentation of the debate between candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz, the ABC presentation of the presidential debate on September 10 and the NBC appearances of candidates Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on "Saturday Night Live". The Carr Enforcement Bureau found that these previous Rosenworcel decisions were "issued prematurely based on an insufficient investigatory record station-specific conduct at issue" and concluded that the complaints require "further consideration".
In a statement released today, Commissioner Anna Gomez said “As I stated last week, we cannot allow our licensing authority to be weaponized to curtail freedom of the press. The First Amendment is a pillar of American democracy, and our country needs a press free from interference from regulators like me. In fact, the Communications Act explicitly prohibits the Commission from censoring broadcasters. We must respect the protections of the First Amendment and the restrictions in the Communications Act.”
A fourth complaint complaint filed by the Media and Democracy Project, against Fox-owned WTXF, Philadelphia stating that Fox “intentionally manipulated its audience” and “call into serious question whether Fox has operated its stations in the public interest, whether it has violated Commission policies and whether it has the requisite character to remain an FCC licensee”, which was also closed out by the Rosenworcel Enforcement Bureau was not set aside like the ones filed against the NBC, CBS and ABC-owned stations.