Complaints of media bias against CBS, ABC and NBC have been revived under President Trump’s new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr. These complaints, which allege bias in election coverage, were dismissed last week by former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who served under the Biden administration.
However, with Carr taking over leadership of the agency this week, the FCC will now continue investigating these complaints.
The allegations claim that affiliates of these major networks “distorted” their broadcasts to favor former Vice President Kamala Harris over then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during the height of the 2024 election cycle.
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In a move that reversed his predecessor’s decision, Carr stated that the dismissal of the complaints was “premature” and based on an “insufficient investigation,” warranting “further consideration.”
Under Carr’s leadership, the FCC will now take a second look at three complaints filed by the law firm Center for American Rights.
The three complaints in question are as follows:
- WPVI-TV, an ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, is accused of bias for favoring Kamala Harris over Donald Trump during the September presidential debate.
- New York’s WCBS-TV, a CBS affiliate, is accused of “news distortion” due to the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Harris.
- New York’s WNBC-TV, an NBC affiliate, is accused of violating the FCC’s “equal-time rule” when Kamala Harris appeared in a cameo on “Saturday Night Live” the weekend before the presidential election.
The equal-time rule mandates that broadcast stations provide equal coverage to competing political candidates. Rosenworcel, who dismissed the complaints in question, argued that Trump had been given equal airtime the following day during a NASCAR race and an NFL “Sunday Night Football” game. She also stated that the FCC should not be used as “the president’s speech police.”
During the election cycle, President Trump had called for ABC, CBS and NBC to lose their broadcasting rights over the issues outlined in the complaints. While national networks are not licensed by the FCC, the agency is responsible for licensing local network affiliates. This is why the complaints target the individual local affiliates.
The agency has the authority to impose a range of penalties on broadcast stations, including hefty fines and even revoking licenses. However, the FCC has stated that it rarely intervenes, due to the delicate balance between “news distortion” and the First Amendment rights to a free press.
Had Rosenworcel dismissed the complaints a few weeks earlier, it would have prevented Trump’s newly appointed FCC chair from reviving the cases. As it stands, under Carr’s leadership, the complaints will now undergo further review.
