The FCC’s May Open Meeting produced a unanimous vote on four items, including streamlining the Disaster Information Reporting System, but after the meeting adjourned, Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez were far from one accord. Separate press conferences offered starkly different accounts of where the commission is headed.
On DIRS, the third report and order collapses 10 separate reporting forms into a single dynamic form, adds a one-click option for providers to indicate no change in network status from the prior day, strips non-essential fields, eliminates the requirement to file a final report 24 hours after deactivation, and exempts providers that do not own or operate their own facilities from filing obligations entirely.
Carr drew a direct line from the update to what he witnessed in Western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene: “In the middle of a disaster recovery effort, the FCC should be focused on helping crews reconnect communities, allowing them to clear barriers that slow down recovery efforts.” Commissioner Olivia Trusty called the system overdue for an update, and Commissioner Gomez highlighted DIRS’s role in connecting federal, state, local, and tribal emergency managers to real-time infrastructure data.
Carr: Disney Inquiry Advancing, Spectrum Path Taking Shape
Carr’s press conference covered a range of issues, with broadcaster spectrum flexibility and the Disney bona fide news inquiry drawing the most attention.
On spectrum, Carr said the commission has not settled on a specific path but described ATSC 3.0 as the most advanced option under active consideration. Connected vehicle mapping updates were offered as one potential application. A separate petition seeking to enable 5G and 6G use of broadcast spectrum has also been filed, and a second broadcast spectrum auction remains a theoretical option, though Carr indicated neither has progressed as far as the 3.0 transition work.
As expected, the ongoing Disney investigation over diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives drew the most extended exchange.
Carr commented that the proceeding has moved through two rounds of discovery and document production, with evidence suggesting Disney created racially segregated workspaces and made hiring, compensation, and promotion decisions based on race, gender, and other protected characteristics. He was careful to note Disney has not had a final decision entered against it and retains the right to present its own evidence.
Asked directly whether The View retains its bona fide news program exemption from the equal time rule, Carr declined to rule, saying Disney’s filing is now before the commission and will go through normal process. He also addressed Disney’s First Amendment argument against the equal time provision itself, framing it as an attack on a congressional framework designed to promote more candidate speech rather than restrict broadcaster speech and noting the obligation falls on the station, not the program.
On Comcast, Carr acknowledged an open investigation into the company’s DEI practices but said it has not advanced to the same stage as the Disney matter. He dismissed suggestions that his decisions reflect partisan influence. “We’re just going to keep rolling, regardless of what the headlines of the moment are,” he said.
Gomez: ‘A Sustained, Coordinated Campaign’
Minutes later, Gomez offered a sharply different characterization of the same proceedings.
Where Carr framed the Disney inquiry as a routine regulatory matter, Gomez called it something else entirely. a “sustained, coordinated campaign” to punish a broadcaster for content the administration dislikes — one she placed alongside court losses the administration has sustained in press freedom cases involving the New York Times, NPR, PBS, and the Associated Press.
Gomez went further on The View, describing the underlying process as structurally compromised. Based on Disney’s own filing, she said the commission selectively pressured ABC affiliates to file paperwork on a candidate appearance, then used those filings as evidence against Disney’s ABC station after letting the affiliates off the hook for filing late. She also noted Disney had documented that conservative voices and administration officials were invited to appear on The View and declined.
Gomez also raised concerns about the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery foreign ownership petition, calling it among the more serious matters before the commission. She said the petition seeks approval for up to 100% foreign ownership by sovereign wealth funds from countries she described as unfriendly to the press, and cited Bloomberg reporting that Chinese funding previously withdrawn from the deal may be returning. She called for a public commission vote, CFIUS review, and Team Telecom involvement.
“These are not just some foreign companies,” she said. “These are sovereign wealth funds controlled by countries that are not friendly to the press.”
The next FCC open meeting is scheduled for June 25.
