FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez Urges Broadcasters to Push Back on Election-Year Intimidation
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on October 23 that Commissioner Anna Gomez had urged the U.S. broadcast industry to take a more aggressive approach in confronting the administration's actions toward major networks and stations, and released her letter to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). The FCC titled the release "Gomez Urges Broadcasters to Push Back on Election-Year Intimidation." GSM compiled this report from the FCC's official release and Reuters reporting.
Anna Gomez is currently the FCC's sole Democratic commissioner. In her letter and public remarks, she said the administration is running a coordinated, government-wide effort to reshape the media into its sanctioned messenger, and pointed to a warning from FCC Chair Brendan Carr that U.S. broadcast networks could violate their regulatory obligations by airing "entirely fake polls" before the November 3 election. She said Carr was seeking to pressure networks into not running polls the administration dislikes, which she said was not proper.
She also noted that in April Carr ordered an unprecedented early license review for all eight of Disney's company-owned ABC television stations. Gomez said the broadcast industry had been largely quiet through the first year of what she called a campaign of censorship and control, though it had not stayed completely silent, and that an industry facing an effort to turn licensing authority into leverage over election-year coverage needs more than a couple of tempered statements. A spokesperson for Carr did not immediately comment.
NAB President Curtis LeGeyt said in a statement that the group appreciated Gomez's recognition of the value of local broadcasters and her commitment to the First Amendment principles that underpin a free press, and that the association would continue working with her and all policymakers to protect broadcasters' rights.
The FCC is the federal independent agency that regulates radio, television, wire, satellite and cable communications across the United States, headquartered in Washington, D.C. With the November 3 midterm elections approaching, disputes over pre-election polling coverage and broadcast license reviews are expected to remain a focus of friction between the FCC and the broadcast industry.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：联邦通信委员会（FCC）委员 Anna Gomez 官方肖像。图片来源：联邦通信委员会，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Official portrait of FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez. Source: Federal Communications Commission, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
