FCC chairman defends actions against ABC, says broadcasters must operate 'in the public interest'

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday defended his agency’s recent actions against ABC, saying broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest” and the FCC is merely trying to restore that standard.Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, “struck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.” “Look, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we’re not there,” Carr told anchor Maria Bartiromo. “So I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.”

The FCC has been pushing ABCThe remarks came a day after ABC, issuing another salvo in an ever-escalating battle with President Donald Trump’s FCC, again accused the agency of a brazen attempt to chill its constitutionally protected free speech — and by extension, that of every media outlet in the country. ABC accused the agency of retaliating against it simply because it doesn’t like the political content of ABC’s shows.

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