FCC's Carr Again Highlights CBS ‘Bias’ Complaint

Incoming Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr has once again highlighted how he plans to take seriously complaints about political bias and “news distortion” at CBS News in the agency’s review of Skydance Media’s bid to merge with Paramount Global, reports TV Technology.

The claims were first made by the Center for American Rights in an October filing with the FCC and in a more recent letter to the agency.

In a post on X, which is owned by Elon Musk, who gave $277 million to back President-elect Donald Trump and Republican candidates and is now playing a major role in the administration’s deregulatory efforts, Carr wrote that “Paramount's sale of CBS broadcast licenses to Skydance remains pending before the FCC. This filing from CAR raises what it describes as significant concerns, including ones that go to CBS's adherence to the public interest standard. The FCC will need to address these concerns.”

Paramount's sale of CBS broadcast licenses to Skydance remains pending before the FCC.

This filing from CAR raises what it describes as significant concerns, including ones that go to CBS's adherence to the public interest standard.

The FCC will need to address these concerns. https://t.co/IYpvmV2677

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) December 18, 2024

Carr has raised those concerns several times in the past, both on social media and in interviews with NewsNation and Fox News. While he has tried to position himself as a “free speech” advocate of First Amendment rights, he has also indicated that the FCC will use the “public interest” regulatory requirements of broadcasters to examine potential bias in news operations during station license reviews. In addition, he has implied the regulator might crack down on fact-checking efforts as part of a larger effort “to smash” the “censorship cartel.”

That has prompted concern from critics that Carr will actually limit free speech in news operations.

In October, the Center for American Rights filed a formal complaint with the FCC against WCBS-TV New York for engaging in significant and intentional "news distortion" in the editing of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, segments of which ran on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and "60 Minutes" on Oct. 5 and 6.

CBS News has hotly disputed those claims.