Following the Trump administration's recent efforts to push networks to air “patriotic, pro-America” content in celebration of the country’s 250th year of independence comes a new long-term plan to "rebalance" the media to maintain this heightened nationalist sentiment permanently, according to reports.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr told The New York Post's podcast that broadcasters had accumulated such influence over audiences that new plans, which would give regional affiliates more programming power, would address and "rebalance" what he characterised as programming currently targeting an elite social class.
This change would allow broadcasters to “stand up” for their communities and air more patriotic programming, The Post reported.
The introduction of direct streaming services and the revenue it generates for companies producing programming has disempowered local broadcasters, Carr said, effectively reducing them “to mouthpieces for the foie gras, oftentimes, they are producing in New York or Hollywood.”
Carr highlighted Jimmy Kimmel's suspension by ABC as an example of how changes could work in practice. Kimmel's five-day pause in broadcasting came after the comedian's remarks in the wake of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, and Carr said this may be how such "rebalancing" could occur.
At the time, the FCC, under Carr, warned ABC and its local affiliates that they could face repercussions if Kimmel was not punished. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action," Carr warned at the time.
But on this week's podcast, Carr characterised the incident differently. He said, "We want to empower those local TV stations to actually stand up for their local communities. If New York or Hollywood is pushing programming that they don't think is a good fit then they can take action.
He added: "In fact that is what happened in the Kimmel episode, where you had owners of those local TV stations that said 'right now, in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination … we don't want to run that'. So they didn't."
Following ABC's announcement that they were suspending Kimmel, Trump applauded the network for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done” and claimed that Kimmel “has ZERO talent” in posts on his Truth Social network.
At the time, former President Barack Obama warned the Trump administration had reached a “new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”
He added that media companies needed to stand up to “government coercion” rather than capitulate to it.
Carr's comments this week underscore concerns that the Trump administration as a whole is moving ever closer towards stomping on First Amendment rights by trying to influence what broadcasters air.
This week's Pod Force One podcast opened with host Miranda Devine saying that Trump remains delighted with Carr's work, and that the president "keeps tweeting what a great job you're doing", and that he'd been described as “the media pitbull" by The Hollywood Reporter.
Explaining why trust in "legacy media" is reportedly declining, Carr said one key reason was that the media was "out of touch" with the American public, who can now access "real news and information, including through social media".
"What's really key here is President Trump is fundamentally reshaping the entire media ecosystem, and he's doing it in ways that people don't understand.
"The core way he's doing this is by rejecting the idea that legacy media gets to set the narrative."
He said this has represented "an 'emperor has no clothes' moment for the legacy media, because they can't control the narrative".
Last month, Carr urged broadcasters to join the organization’s "Pledge America Campaign" to air “patriotic, pro-America content that celebrates the American journey and inspires its citizens by highlighting the historic accomplishments of this great nation from our founding through the Trump Administration today.”
Carr's latest comments come amid backlash this week after he threatened broadcasters’ licenses following Trump’s complaints about media coverage of his Iran War.
His threats came after the president had repeatedly railed against outlets over stories he didn’t like and also threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses for coverage he disagreed with.
“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote Saturday on X.
This prompted rapid concerns among political opponents about a move towards censorship and control of the media.
California Governor Gavin Newsom suggested the warning is “flagrantly unconstitutional,” while Senator Mark Kelly called it an “overreach by the FCC.”
Representative Ted Lieu told the FCC chair to “take your fascist s*** and shove it.”
“If you implement your flagrantly anti First Amendment actions, you will be sued and you will lose,” he wrote on X. “And legal discovery will be awesome. Because the American people can then find out what the Administration keeps hiding.”
Senator Chris Murphy also accused the administration of “telling news stations to provide favorable coverage of the war or their licenses will be pulled.”
“A truly extraordinary moment,” he wrote on X. “We aren't on the verge of a totalitarian takeover. WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. Act like it.”
The outcry over the Trump administration's pre-occupation with the media comes after Hollywood celebrated an Oscar's win for "Best Documentary Feature" awarded to “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” in which a teacher in Russia chronicles the Putin regime's propaganda and patriotism program for the nation's youth following the invasion of Ukraine.
The film highlights efforts by Putin's government to ensure greater nationalistic messaging across the media and in schools, glorifying the country and its leadership.
At the awards ceremony on Sunday, the director of the film, David Borenstein, drew a direct comparison with Putin's Russia and Trump's America, warning the film "is about how you lose your country ... You lose it through countless small acts of complicity.”
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