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Ars Technica

US Politics

US Politics

The speech police: Chairman Brendan Carr and the FCC’s news distortion policy

Ars Technica
Summary
Nutrition label

82% Informative

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is taking a hard line against broadcast TV stations accused of bias against Republicans and President Trump .

Carr is invoking the rarely enforced news distortion policy that was developed starting in the late 1960s .

The FCC has regulatory authority over broadcasters with licenses to use the public airwaves.

VR Score

81

Informative language

76

Neutral language

86

Article tone

formal

Language

English

Language complexity

76

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

35

https://democrats-energycommerce.house.gov/media/press-releases/ec-democrats-launch-investigation-fcc-chairman-carrs-repeated-attacks-firsthttps://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/political_programming_fact_sheet.pdfhttps://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-408899A1.pdfhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10811680.2018.1551020https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cbs-urges-fcc-quickly-reject-60-minutes-harris-complaint-2025-03-25/https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1031942059931/1https://nypost.com/2025/03/28/media/why-the-paramount-skydance-merger-remains-in-fcc-purgatory/https://www.fcc.gov/transaction/skydance-paramounthttps://www.americanrights.org/cases/center-for-american-rights-files-fcc-and-fec-legal-complaints-over-abc-news-debate-biashttps://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/brendan-carr.jpghttps://www.americanrights.org/cases/cbs-accused-of-news-distortion-in-vice-president-kamala-harris-interview-center-for-american-rights-files-formal-fcc-complainthttps://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-87-266A1.pdfhttps://techfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TechFreedom-Comments-in-CBS-News-Distortion-3-7-25.pdfhttps://bsky.app/profile/melissagiragrant.com/post/3linm6qw7kc2thttps://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/kamala-harris-60-minutes.jpghttps://www.fcc.gov/broadcast-news-distortionhttps://www.americanactionforum.org/comments-for-record/the-fcc-should-eliminate-the-news-distortion-rule/https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/the-fccs-news-distortion-rules-highlight-need-for-updates/https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-295673A1.pdfhttps://www.thefire.org/news/fire-calls-out-60-minutes-investigation-political-stunt-comment-fcchttps://protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Former-Commissioners-News-Distortion-Comment.pdfhttps://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-57A1.pdfhttps://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-107A1.pdfhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-publishes-transcripts-video-requested-by-fcc/https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=commhttps://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/10403196499219/1https://youtu.be/WIxA8MF5r5Y?t=505https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-nominee-fcc-chair-says-legacy-media-status-quo-needs-changehttps://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1032499356434/1https://www.americanrights.org/cases/nbc-hit-with-fcc-complaint-over-vice-president-harris-snl-appearancehttps://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/778/16/253127/https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1030142451715/1https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-ushttps://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pbq6fcc0iltxnx3ahukmz/Transcript-Transcribed-Unedited-Interview-Footage-8-of-14.pdf?rlkey=7xvynvcj6is6eukyclmbg7i6u&e=1&st=gzy0zb4u&dl=0https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kBqZo-10xBLE0Y1dhvBpzZnvcRUvH0H4/view

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