The Media Bureau sets aside its prior order in this proceeding.
With that, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reversed a late-hour decision by former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to have an Acting Media Bureau Chief dismiss on delegated authority a complaint against NBC and an Acting Enforcement Bureau Chief toss on similar authority complaints against CBS and ABC on the grounds that the actions were premature.
The decision by Carr led one Democrat-aligned Commissioner to slam the Chairman for “weaponization” of the FCC’s licensing authority.
Word that Carr had made the moves first surfaced in unconfirmed reports late Wednesday. By Thursday morning, the Commission had posted to its website a brief but succinct order signed by Erin Boone — who President Trump named the new Acting Media Bureau Chief, replacing Rosemary Harold after just nine days in the role (succeeding Holly Saurer) directed to WNBC-4 in New York parent NBCTelemundo.
Boone explained that the decision signed off by Harold on January 16 — under delegated authority — “was issued prematurely based on an insufficient investigatory record for the station-specific conduct at issue.”
As such, the Carr Commission “now concludes that this complaint requires further consideration.”
A CHALLENGE TO DELEGATED AUTHORITY
The Order from Boone, likely under a directive from Carr and the Trump Administration, falls in line with Republican Commissioner Nate Simington’s steadfast belief that the FCC’s delegated authority has been neutered — or at least been put into review — by the Supreme Court’s 2024 SEC v Jarkesy decision. That ruling declared that when it comes to forfeitures for those found to have violated agency regulatory policy, the federal courts have the final say-so and not an in-house administrative law judge.
The bigger issue for conservatives is that the Rosenworcel Commission used delegated authority — via an individual who was in the role as a caretaker for less than two weeks — to sweep aside the Center for American Rights (CAR)‘s claim that WNBC-TV violated the Commission’s Equal Opportunities Rule when Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch just days before the November election.
Later in the program, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who was running for reelection, also appeared. Opposing candidates did not appear.
It was Harold, and not Rosenworcel or the full Commission, who signed off on the dismissal of the complaint. As such, it was Harold who declared, “The Commission does not—and cannot and will not—act as a self-appointed, free-roving arbiter of truth in journalism.”
Like the Media Bureau decision recission, an FCC Enforcement Bureau order endorsed by Rosenworcel but signed off by Acting Chief Peter Hyun denied a CAR complaint filed on September 24, 2024 regarding WPVI-6 in Philadelphia, the ABC Owned Stations property serving the Delaware Valley. The issue, as voiced by President-elect Trump, was “news distortion” during the broadcast of the Presidential debate on September 10, 2024.
Hyun labeled the complaint as running contrary to longstanding principles that the Commission “does not – and cannot and will not – act as a self-appointed, freeroving arbiter of truth in journalism.”
Alas, Hyun was also a caretaker head of the Enforcement Bureau, as Carr on Wednesday announced that Patrick Webre is the new Acting Chief of the Enforcement Bureau.
Like Boone, Webre signed off on an Order reinstating this CAR complaint.
Webre also negated Hyun’s dismissal of a third CAR complaint. This was directed at WCBS-2, the CBS News & Stations property in New York. WCBS-2 was the subject of an October 16, 2024 complaint from CAR for its airing of a 60 Minutes interview with Vice President Harris. Conservatives took CBS to task for broadcasting a conversation with Harris that appeared to present a different edit or “distortion” of a previously issued teaser promoting her appearance on the program.
Lastly, a complaint that challenged the license renewal of WTXF-29 in Philadelphia will not be reinstated.
This will likely lead the Media and Democracy Project — with the assistance of former ABC and Disney executive Preston Padden — to sue the Commission in the D.C. federal appeals court in an effort to move ahead with its July 3, 2023 complaint to strip FOX Television Stations of its licenses. Crux to the petition is MAD’s argument that the airing of FOX News content following the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election on WTXF presented viewers with false and inaccurate information.
And, this is where the license renewal of WTXF by the Rosenworcel Commission and the “premature” dismissal of the CBS, ABC and NBC has, for some, set up an ideological battle that puts the Commission in a delicate position. One of those voicing this viewpoint is Anna M. Gómez, the junior Democrat on the FCC.
In a statement, Gómez slammed the Carr Commission for the reinstatement of the three complaints.
“As I stated last week, we cannot allow our licensing authority to be weaponized to curtail freedom of the press,” she said. “The First Amendment is a pillar of American democracy, and our country needs a press free from interference from regulators like me. In fact, the Communications Act explicitly prohibits the Commission from censoring broadcasters. We must respect the protections of the First Amendment and the restrictions in the Communications Act.”
