Jessica Rosenworcel, the outgoing Democratic chair of the FCC, is taking decisive action before her term ends on January 20. She has rejected four efforts to weaponize the government's TV licensing authority for political purposes. Rosenworcel is concerned that President-elect Donald Trump and his pick for FCC chair, Brendan Carr, might use the agency to punish media outlets.
In a statement obtained by CNN, Rosenworcel announced the dismissal of all pending petitions and complaints before the FCC that she asserted "seek to curtail freedom of the press." She emphasized that the FCC should not act as the President's speech police or journalism’s censor-in-chief.
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| Rosenworcel |
The FCC has historically prided itself on its independence. However, Brendan Carr, who will take charge at the agency next week, has echoed Trump's grievances with media outlets and spoken sympathetically about some of the pending complaints against station owners.
By dismissing the pending petitions, Rosenworcel is putting the Biden-era FCC on the record about the role of government before the second Trump era begins. The complainants could re-file once Carr takes charge. One of the dismissed petitions targeted Fox's Philly TV station to hold the Murdochs accountable for Fox News Channel's falsehoods. The other three complaints were pro-Trump and filed by the Center for American Rights, a conservative nonprofit.
Rosenworcel emphasized that all four cases "ask the FCC to penalize broadcast television stations because they dislike station behavior, content, or coverage," which she asserts is not the role of the US government
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