The lone Democratic voice at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is hoping to find an ally in the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) as her office attempts to thwart election-related interference by the agency’s Chairman, Brendan Carr.
In a four-page letter to NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt obtained by The Desk on Friday, Gomez accused the administration of using the FCC to pressure broadcasters over editorial decisions, particularly as television stations prepare to cover the November midterm elections.
“This Administration is running a coordinated, government-wide effort to reshape the media into its sanctioned messenger, and the Federal Communications Commission has become one of its most active instruments,” Gomez wrote.
The letter comes two days after Carr tweeted a threat to broadcasters who report on polls that are designed to mislead voters during the midterm election. The warning came after some news organizations incorporated data into their political reporting that was later determined to be fabricated as part of an intentional test of the media industry’s gullibility.
It is not illegal for news organizations to report on polling data in good faith, and many do in order to gauge voter interest in candidates and causes. Reliable voter surveys conducted by legitimate organizations over the past few months have shown a near-equal amount of concern and criticism against Republican and Democratic candidates alike, though voters have placed a higher degree of blame on President Donald Trump and his supporters for domestic economic issues and social unrest.
Carr and Trump would rather broadcasters not focus on those polls as they fight to retain Republican seats in Congress. His threat earlier in the week was part of a long string of power trips meant to scare broadcasters into thinking their FCC-issued licenses could be in jeopardy if they do not report news programming that aligns with the current administration’s wish list. Already, eight local ABC-owned TV stations are being subjected to an early license renewal process over TV programming and internal hiring programs that Carr and Trump do not like.
The NAB typically lobbies the government on various initiatives, including efforts to increase mass media consolidation, by pointing to local news programming as proof that commercial broadcasters perform acts of good public service, as their licenses require. Gomez is hoping to tap into that sentiment by finding an ally in the NAB, which criticized Carr for his antics involving ABC but has otherwise tried to curry favor with the administration.
In her letter, Gomez wrote that the NAB “is one of the few institutions with the reach to warn the entire broadcast industry about a threat that is now actively targeting broadcasters across the country.”
Gomez reassured the NAB that the agency’s own news distortion policies — which prevent broadcasters from airing untrue reports if they have knowledge of falsehoods beforehand — establishes a narrow standard for enforcement.
News distortion cases generally require evidence that a broadcaster deliberately falsified or manipulated factual reporting. The agency’s broadcast hoax rule addresses knowingly false information about crimes or catastrophes under specific circumstances.
“Reporting the results of a poll this Administration happens to dislike does not come close to meeting those standards,” Gomez wrote.
The NAB has not issued a public comment about Gomez’s letter as of Friday afternoon.
