FCC chair Carr says he is weighing 'a lot of actions' against networks airing 'fake polls' and partisan coverage before the midterms
Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr said on a Fox News broadcast that he is looking at a lot of actions to prevent networks from airing fake polls and partisan coverage ahead of the midterm elections.
What happened
The Hill reports that Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, said on Sunday that he is "looking at a lot of actions" to prevent networks from airing fake polls and partisan coverage ahead of midterm elections. He made the comments on Fox News's "The Sunday Briefing" with Peter Doocy, saying networks are intended to operate in the public interest and "not some sort of narrow partisan interest," and adding that he thinks President Trump is over the target. He named a specific instrument, saying "the FCC may put guidance out soon to remind broadcasters about their obligations with respect to not air fake polls, particularly if they're done to suppress people heading into the fall." The Hill records that his comments came after Trump urged the agency to punish NBC News's Kristen Welker, and that Carr has launched investigations into NBC's and ABC's diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices.
Why it matters
The commission licenses the stations that carry this coverage, so a chair naming that coverage as the thing he is weighing actions against points a licensing power at editorial judgment. He named the instrument himself: guidance to broadcasters about not airing fake polls. Stated from the chair's own seat and tied to the coverage of an election, it sets the terms newsrooms have to weigh before the vote, whether or not any action follows.