Anna Gomez called the threat to NBC's Kristen Welker 'dangerous.' The more precise diagnosis: the FCC's structure was always vulnerable to a president willing to use it this way.
A bipartisan group of former FCC officials filed a formal warning this week: the early license review targeting ABC's eight stations is designed to intimidate broadcasters, not adjudicate a legal violation. The chilling effect isn't a side consequence — it's the goal.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr is moving to eliminate a TV ownership cap that Congress wrote into law specifically to stop the FCC from changing it. The companies positioned to benefit are already in the middle of a federal lawsuit over the same rule.