The Trump administration’s communications licensing czar fired a warning shot at the U.S. broadcast industry on Saturday, threatening to cancel spectrum permits for broadcasters that promote what he called “news hoaxes and distortions.”
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr posted on social media that broadcasters who spread “fake news – now have the opportunity to course-correct before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and will lose their licenses if they don’t.”
The FCC has control over the electromagnetic spectrum, colloquially called radio waves, including “commercial and noncommercial fixed and mobile wireless services, television and radio broadcasts, satellite, and other services” under the Communications Act of 1934.
Carr’s warning comes amid sustained complaints from Trump and members of the administration about his treatment from what he derisively calls “the mainstream media” and what he views as unflattering or unpatriotic coverage of the conflict in Iran.
In his post, Carr copied a Truth Social post from Trump complaining about “misleading” coverage of Iran.
“Once again, an intentionally misleading headline from the fake news media about the five tanker planes that were supposedly shot down at an airport in Saudi Arabia and were no longer of any use,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
Trump singled out the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, saying that they “and other low-life ‘newspapers’ and media outlets actually want us to lose the war,” and called the media reports “the exact opposite of the real facts!”
“They are truly sick and demented people who have no idea the damage they are causing to the United States of America,” he added.
Trump’s comments came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accused of being sensitive to his media portrayals and attempting to restrict accredited Pentagon journalists, criticized media coverage of the conflict.
Hegseth on Friday offered a lengthy dissection of what he called “fake news” regarding reports of US-Israeli action in Iran.
“Some on this team, in the press, they just can’t stop. Let me make a few suggestions. People watch TV and see billboards, they see headlines. I used to be in that business. And I know it’s all written intentionally,” he said.
Hegseth highlighted headlines reading “Middle East war escalates” along with images of civilian or energy targets attacked by Iran.
“How about ‘Iran increasingly desperate’?” said.
Hegseth then referenced the acquisition of CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, owned by billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David Ellison. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said.
In his first interview as Paramount CEO last week, Ellison pledged to support editorial independence at CNN, where staff have expressed anxiety about the change in ownership and the potential implications for their editorial stance.
“CNN is an incredible brand with an incredible team,” Ellison said, “and we absolutely believe in the independence that obviously needs to be maintained for those incredible journalists, and we want to support that going forward.”
In his post on Saturday, Carr said, without any evidence, that it was in the news industry’s “own commercial interests” as trust in traditional media has fallen to an all-time low of just 9% and they are ratings disasters.
He indicated that he could use access to the broadcasting and communications spectrum, which is considered a public good, to rectify the problem, creating another possible confrontation between the government and the media.
“The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by giving them free access to the nation’s airwaves,” Carr wrote. “It is very important to restore trust in the media, which has earned the label of fake news.”
Carr also raised a filing complaint about media reporting on the 2024 election, which widely predicted a Democratic presidential victory when in reality Republican candidate Trump won a plurality of the popular vote.
“When a political candidate is able to achieve a landslide election victory despite deception and distortion, something is very wrong,” Carr said. “It means the public has lost faith and trust in the media.”
