Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency has opened enforcement proceedings against The View. The action centers on whether the ABC program properly qualifies as “bona fide news.” This exemption allows certain news content to air political candidates without triggering equal time obligations.
Brendan Carr says FCC has started ‘enforcement proceedings’ against ABC’s The View
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said that the agency has launched enforcement proceedings against The View. The agency wants to review whether the program qualifies for the federal “bona fide news” exemption under political equal time rules.
Appearing on The Ingraham Angle, Carr said the review centers on the program’s claim to the “bona fide news” exemption under the Communications Act. Under federal law, programs deemed bona fide news are not required to offer equal airtime to opposing political candidates. He indicated that the commission is reviewing whether the show satisfies those requirements.
“Disney has a program called The View. And they’ve been asserting the position that The View is what is known as ‘bona fide news’ in the statute. But, Disney and The View have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news,” he noted. Carr added, “We’ve started enforcement proceedings, taking a look at that. And, again, we’re going to hold broadcasters accountable.”
The FCC Chair also praised Donald Trump for challenging the influence of “legacy media broadcasters.” He said, “I think President Trump played a key role in just smashing the facade that they still get to decide the narrative here.”
During the same interview, Carr also addressed claims by Stephen Colbert that CBS prevented him from airing an interview with Rep. Talarico due to the FCC’s equal time rules. Colbert had suggested the network prevented him from airing the segment because of equal time concerns. Carr disputed that claim, stating that CBS informed the host he could proceed with the interview but might need to comply with equal time. “But instead of doing that, they claim that they were victims,” he added.
