FCC Chairman Suggests CBS News Could Lose Its Broadcast License Over Kamala Harris Interview as ‘60 Minutes’ Keeps Attacking Trump

The Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, is turning up the pressure on CBS News by openly suggesting during an interview that it could lose its broadcast license for its editing of Vice President Harris’s October 2024 interview with “60 Minutes.”The interview comes as Mr. Carr’s agency is reviewing a news distortion complaint against CBS for its editing of the Harris interview, in which a “word salad” beginning to an answer about Israel was removed, making the response sound more coherent. Last month, President Trump, who is suing the network for $20 billion for the edits, posted on Truth Social that CBS News should lose its broadcast license and urged the FCC to impose the “maximum fines and punishment.” In an interview on Monday with CNBC’s Sara Eisen, Mr. Carr said the news distortion investigation has not reached a conclusion, but said there could be consequences for the network. When asked if he is threatening to yank CBS’s broadcast license, he said, “It’s not a threat. That’s a penalty that is in the Communications Act.”Ms. Eisen asked about the last time the FCC revoked a broadcast license, and Mr. Carr responded, “It’s been a long time, and I think that’s part of the issue. If you step back, you know, trust in the national mainstream media is at an all-time low.”“What we’ve seen is you’ve got national news media — ABC, NBC, CBS — and they’re exercising more and more control over those local TV stations,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a good thing for the country, so we’re trying to reverse that.”The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr. Via CNBCCBS is one of a handful of legacy “broadcast networks” (the others include ABC, NBC, and Fox) that transmit their programming over public airwaves. This makes them legally required to provide balanced and responsible news coverage, as well as family-appropriate entertainment programming. Cursing is still not allowed on broadcast networks, and CBS was fined $550,000 by the FCC for singer Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. (In 2012, a judge threw out the fine). In the case of the news distortion investigation, the more likely outcome would be a fine, rather than the loss of a broadcast license. CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Mr. Carr’s CNBC interview comes as CBS’s parent company, Paramount, is reportedly in mediation talks with Mr. Trump to settle his lawsuit. Executives at Paramount have reportedly agreed internally to pay between $15 million and $20 million to settle the suit, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, Mr. Trump is expected to push for a much higher sum. During a Cabinet meeting in February, he told reporters he believes that CBS should have to pay “a lot” for the Harris interview, which he alleges could have cost him the 2024 election. The FCC is also reviewing the planned merger of Paramount and Skydance, which would be worth billions of dollars if the government blesses it. Mr. Carr has said the Harris interview might factor into the review of the merger. He’s also forcing Paramount to abandon its “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives. These initiatives likely involve commitments CBS made immediately following the death of George Floyd to buy more content from black producers.The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWhile Mr. Carr has steadfastly resisted requests to drop the news distortion complaint, and is now raising the prospect of revoking CBS’s broadcast license, some media reporters believe the pressure from the government is just “noise” to give Mr. Trump a victory.Puck’s Matthew Belloni noted in an episode of his podcast, “The Town,” in April that the non-executive chairwoman of Paramount, Shari Redstone, and Larry Ellison, the father of Skydance CEO David Ellison, have been supportive of Mr. Trump. “These are his friends, right? So I think this is all noise. [Trump’s] going to get his victory, he may even get an apology from CBS, which will be insane if they apologize for this,” Mr. Belloni said. The CEO of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, and the outgoing executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, have reportedly said that an apology for the Harris interview is a “red line” they will not cross, according to a liberal media columnist, Oliver Darcy. CBS News has been denounced by President Trump for its editing of the ’60 Minutes’ Kamala Harris interview. Via CBS NewsMr. Belloni predicted a potential settlement of Trump’s lawsuit could be as much as $50 million and that an apology for the edits would drive CBS News executives “crazy” and could lead Ms. McMahon to resign. Executives at Paramount and Skydance reportedly believe that the way to ensure the deal goes through is to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit. Puck has reported separately that the Redstone family badly needs the Skydance acquisition to go through. Paramount’s value has cratered in recent years, and if the deal fails to go through, the Redstones will have to pay a huge kill fee and also will continue to have the albatross of Paramount around their necks.Indeed, regardless of whether Mr. Carr is serious about potentially revoking CBS’s license, executives at Paramount reportedly are not taking any chances. Mr. Belloni’s colleague, Dylan Byers, reported that Ms. Redstone inquired whether “60 Minutes” could hold off on stories about the Trump administration until the Skydance deal is approved due to concerns that critical stories could lead to further government scrutiny.So far, it appears the executives at CBS News have rebuffed her request, and “60 Minutes” seems intent on finishing its season — which ends in two weeks — with anti-Trump stories. Vice President Harris sits down with Bill Whitaker for her ’60 Minutes’ interview. Via CBS NewsMr. Owens said in a resignation memo that he felt he had lost the ability to “make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes.’” On that week’s episode of “60 Minutes,” journalist Scott Pelley informed viewers of Mr. Owens’s departure in a rare on-air rebuke of network executives. “Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” Mr. Pelley said. “None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires,” he added.Mr. Darcy reported that Ms. McMahon and the co-executive of Paramount, George Cheeks, knew of Mr. Pelley’s intentions and did not intervene to stop it.In the weeks leading up to his resignation announcement, and since, the storied news program has run negative stories about the Trump administration’s cuts to USAID and the NIH and the president’s vision for acquiring Greenland and achieving a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Shari Redstone attends a screening of ‘We Will Dance Again’ at Temple Emanu-El on September 18, 2024, at New York City. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Paramount+This past Sunday, the show ran a story critical of Mr. Trump’s battle with law firms that have employed prosecutors in cases against him and also donated pro bono work to undermine his policies, as well as to represent a former special counsel, Jack Smith.It is possible Paramount and Mr. Trump could come to an agreement to settle his lawsuit before the current season of “60 Minutes” ends. If such a deal is made before the end of the season, “The Breaker” podcast reports, the staff of the program will seek to publicly make their views known on the decision. However, it is unclear whether Paramount executives would intervene to stop it or fire staff who refuse to issue or endorse the apology.

FCC Chairman Suggests CBS News Could Lose Its Broadcast License Over Kamala Harris Interview as ‘60 Minutes’ Keeps Attacking Trump

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