Democrats Press MVPDs Carrying Conservative News; Carr Pushes Back
Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney, both D-Calif., pressed major cable, satellite and streaming services Monday to explain their decision to carry politically conservative media outlets Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network. The lawmakers consider them “misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm.” The inquiries drew swift criticism from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and some of the media outlets. The letters went to Google parent Alphabet, Altice, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Dish Network, Hulu, Roku and Verizon.
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Former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien and Columbia University Tow Center for Digital Journalism Director Emily Bell, meanwhile, are among those set to testify at Wednesday's House Communications Subcommittee hearing on broadcasting and cable companies’ role in spreading disinformation (see 2102170062), the House Commerce Committee said Monday. Also appearing will be George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley and Marked by COVID co-founder Kristin Urquiza.
All forms of lies “undergird the radicalization of seditious individuals” involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection (see 2101060057) and “contribute to a growing distrust of public health measures necessary to crush the pandemic,” wrote Eshoo and McNerney. Fox News, Newsmax and OANN “aired misinformation” about the 2020 presidential election and “have been key vectors of spreading misinformation” on the pandemic, they said.
“To our knowledge, the cable, satellite, and over-the-top companies that disseminate these media outlets to American viewers have done nothing in response to the misinformation aired by these outlets,” Eshoo and McNerney said. “What moral or ethical principles (including those related to journalistic integrity, violence, medical information, and public health) do you apply in deciding which channels to carry or when to take adverse actions against a channel?” They wanted to know "whether the content purveyors plan to continue carrying” Fox News, Newsmax and OANN.
None of the services Eshoo and McNerney wrote Monday commented.
Carr, Fox News and Newsmax countered Eshoo and McNerney. Carr said the lawmakers “selectively targeted” the three outlets “for their coverage of political events” and urged his fellow commissioners to also condemn it. OANN didn't comment.
Eshoo and McNerney “are sending a message that is as clear as it is troubling -- these regulated entities will pay a price if the targeted newsrooms do not conform to Democrats’ preferred political narratives,” Carr said. “This is a chilling transgression of the free speech rights that every media outlet in this country enjoys.” Their “demand to know the ‘moral principles’ that guide a private entity’s decision about what news to carry cannot be reconciled with bedrock principles of free speech and journalistic freedom,” he said. “A newsroom’s decision about what stories to cover and how to frame them should be beyond the reach of any government official.”
“For individual members of Congress to highlight political speech they do not like and demand cable distributors engage in viewpoint discrimination sets a terrible precedent," Fox News said. It claimed it was the most-watched cable news channel last year and said it makes a clear distinction between news and opinion content.
“House Democrats’ attack on free speech and basic First Amendment rights should send chills down the spines of all Americans," Newsmax said. "Newsmax reported fairly and accurately on allegations and claims made by both sides during the recent election contest. We did not see that same balanced coverage when CNN and MSNBC pushed for years the Russian collusion hoax, airing numerous claims and interviews with Democrat leaders that turned out to be patently false.”