By David Shepardson
Washington (Reuters) -The only democrat of the Federal Communications Commission called on Tuesday to do large companies to resist the Trump governance against broadcasters and others.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr, a Republican, had just earlier defended his recent comments that push Disney and local broadcasters to stop broadcasting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“We need companies to stop capitulation. They fray our first amendment and our democracy every time they capitulate,” said FCC commissioner Anna Gomez.
“But I understand their companies,” she added. “They have obligations towards their shareholders, so it is also our obligation not to threaten and not to let these complaints hang over people's heads.”
The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Ted Cruz, a Republican in Texas, had said that one day the threats of Carr could harm conservative media if they were employed by a future democratic government. “We do not want to see the government's armament by any government against any perspective – and that is certainly not what we do here,” Carr said.
On Friday, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group ended their priority over the late night show on their 70 ABC-Lied stations for almost a quarter of American households, days after ABC resumed Kimmel's show.
During his two conditions, Trump threatened to dissolve permits of local broadcasts related companies of the national networks and earlier this month suggested that CARR could withdraw licenses against broadcasters for mainly negative news broadcasts.
“This administration uses the FCC Regulatory Authority about licensees to censor content,” said Gomez.
Carr defended his comments and said that the FCC is enforcing the standard for public interest. He did not apologize for his “we can do this in the easy way or the hard way” comment aimed at broadcasters about the Kimmel show that came under heavy criticism.
He said that comments had been misunderstood and praised local broadcasters for the use of their authority to prevent programming.
“Perhaps there is now a consent structure where they feel that they or other groups or global stations can push back,” Carr. “You have to shift the power.”
(Reporting by David Shepardsonized by Bill Berkrot)
