Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr joked recently that” ]m ] ore Americans trust gas station sushi than the legacy national media”. That statement, sad but true ( or perhaps not so sad ), is indicative of the new Trump chair’s approach to his work: to call out the superpower organizations that have longer gotten a free pass on their relentless discrimination, illegal DEI methods, and general injustice to the American people. The president has had enough, and the remaining is losing its collective thinking as a result.
The latest generation of that battle is prompted by a problem filed by my business, the Center for American Rights, against CBS for its false editing of then-Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ interview with 60 Minutes. The president has taken those expenses really ( as he should ) and held a public opinion period that ended this year. Many everyday Americans spoke up, essential of CBS‘s campaigning, while left-wing lawmakers and media parties are outraged at the supposed abuse on the First Amendment.
Standard is Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who has opened an” Inquiry into FCC’s Political Targeting of Newsrooms” from his post as standing part of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. In his discharge announcing the sensor, Blumenthal lambasts the FCC for its “unprecedented, aggressive investigations against media commentators under arbitrary and capricious presumptions”. The senator is concerned that these “vexatious investigation ]s ]” by the FCC “may be designed to intimidate newsrooms”, so he’s apparently decided to launch his own investigation to intimidate the chairman into dropping the commission’s investigations.  ,
Democrat Sens. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, and Gary Peters of Michigan sent a similar email blasting the president, intoning against the firm “weaponizing its power over broadcasters and open media for political purposes”.
That’s rich coming from anyone who supported the Biden administration’s weaponization of the U. S. Department of Justice against pro-life grandmas and K-12 school moms. But it’s especially ironic coming from Blumenthal and Markey.  ,
Just seven short years ago, they were among a dozen senatorial signatories on a letter to the Federal Communications Commission calling for action against Sinclair Broadcast Group. These self-styled” strong defenders of the First Amendment” apparently thought there was nothing wrong with an FCC inquiry into the conservative-leaning editorial practices of Sinclair. The senators accused Sinclair of a” systemic news distortion operation” in violation of longstanding FCC precedent against such practices.
President Biden’s FCC chair similarly held a public comment period on news distortion charges lodged against a Fox-owned local affiliate several years ago.  ,
The senators and their left-wing echo chamber decry” selective enforcement”. ” Selective enforcement” is when Fox and Sinclair are constantly under regulatory pressure from Democrats at the FCC and in Congress and from their outside allies, but then unchecked “press freedom” is the sacrosanct principle when CBS or NBC allegedly transgress the same lines when Republicans are in power.  ,
And selective outrage is what happens when a Democrat chair is praised for aggressively pursuing her agenda to enforce DEI, but then a Republican chairman is accused of trampling on the First Amendment when he warns companies against DEI in the wake of an on-point U. S. Supreme Court precedent.
Of course, corporate media’s relentless corruption in slanting and distorting the news is a huge reason why only 31 percent of Americans trust-media-remains-trend-low.aspx” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>trust the media. And hypocrisy from the likes of senators like Blumenthal and Markey is no doubt why only 32 percent of Americans trust-media-remains-trend-low.aspx” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>trust Congress.  ,
The Federalist knows better than anyone else the trouble that comes when an arm of the administrative state pursues an agenda to punish free speech. But distorting the news and engaging in race-based discrimination obviously aren’t free speech. Bravo to the chairman for recognizing the difference. And no wonder most Americans don’t trust the corporate media.
Daniel Suhr is president of the Center for American Rights, a Chicago-based public-interest law firm.
