The incoming chair of the Federal Communications Commission reportedly has accused ABC News of contributing to the “erosion in public trust” of the mainstream media.
CNN reported that Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed commissioner who will become chair next month, sent a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger about the Disney-owned ABC Network’s nationwide negotiations with its affiliated stations.
“Dear Mr. Iger, Americans no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,” began Carr’s letter.
“ABC’s own conduct has certainly contributed to this erosion in public trust. For instance, ABC News recently agreed to pay $15 million to President [Donald] Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum and an additional $1 million in attorney fees to settle a defamation case,” continued Carr.
According to a court document filed December 14, Carr was referencing the ABC News agreement to give $15 million to Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over comments news anchor George Stephanopoulos made while on air about the civil case brought against President-elect Donald Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll.
The lawsuit, filed March 19 in U.S. District Court in Southern Florida, accused Stephanopoulos of making the statements with disregard for the truth and malice. The anchor said incorrectly that Trump was found civilly liable for “rape.”
Carr, in his letter to Iger, also stressed the importance of local news media outlets informing the public.
“The fact that a massive trust divide has emerged between local news outlets and national programmers like ABC only increases the importance of retransmission consent revenues remaining available for local broadcast television stations to invest in their local news operations and content that serves their communities,” wrote Carr.
FCC is responsible for station licenses and renewals
The FCC is responsible for managing television station licenses, and renewals are rarely contested and rarely denied.
The commission also gives retransmission consent, so cable distributors pay local stations for the right to retransmit their signals.
Carr concluded his letter by saying he would be “monitoring the outcome” of the ABC retransmission negotiations “to ensure that those negotiations enable local broadcast TV stations to meet their federal obligations and serve the needs of their local communities.”
Last month, Carr wrote to the CEOs of Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet, demanding that they fess up about their censorship activities that target conservatives.
He asked the Big Tech companies to explain how advertising agencies work with left-wing media monitors like NewsGuard.
