Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is leveraging his position to push back against media coverage of U.S. military actions in Iran that President Trump disapproves of, marking an unprecedented escalation in his clashes with the press.
On Saturday, Carr posted a message on X suggesting that TV stations could lose their government licenses to use public airwaves if they “don’t operate in the public interest.” He shared a social media post from Trump, who criticized New York Times and Wall Street Journal stories reporting that five refueling tankers were hit during an Iranian missile strike on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Seizing on Trump’s message, Carr issued a warning to TV outlets, which are often targets of the president’s ire when he disagrees with their coverage. This marks the latest attempt by the FCC chair to pressure media companies critical of the Trump administration. Since assuming the role last year, Carr has repeatedly threatened to use his authority to penalize TV and radio stations that cross the administration.
Carr’s behavior has alarmed free speech advocates. In his post, he wrote, “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions also known as the fake news have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” without providing evidence to support his claims. He added, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
His threats are framed around the FCC’s public interest obligation for broadcasters using the airwaves. Carr made similar remarks last fall, prompting two major TV station groups to keep ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air for a week following critical remarks made by the host about slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Meanwhile, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have repeatedly attacked news organizations for any reporting that does not portray the war in Iran as a resounding success. On Friday, Hegseth targeted CNN, stating, “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.” Ellison, CEO of Paramount, who along with his father has close ties to the White House, will gain control over CNN in addition to CBS if the company’s acquisition of CNN’s parent Warner Bros. Discovery is finalized.
Carr made the appointment of an ombudsman for CBS News a condition for approving Ellison’s Skydance Partners’ acquisition deal last year. Paramount also faced scrutiny after paying $16 million to settle Trump’s legal challenge against “60 Minutes” related to an interview with his 2024 opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris—a case widely regarded as frivolous by legal experts.
It’s important to note that the FCC does not have jurisdiction over CNN. This explains why most of Carr’s criticism is directed at ABC, CBS, and NBC, which broadcast via local TV stations. Carr once remarked on X, “More Americans trust gas station sushi than the legacy national media.”
In response to Carr’s statements, Trump tweeted on Sunday that he was “thrilled” and would support efforts to confront what he described as “Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.” Trump accused these outlets of receiving “Billions of Dollars of FREE American Airwaves,” yet using them to “perpetuate LIES” in both news and entertainment, singling out late-night hosts who earn “gigantic Salaries for horrible ratings.”
Washington-based public interest communications attorney Andrew Jay Schwartzman believes Carr’s conduct and threats violate the First Amendment. He noted that any attempt to revoke broadcast licenses would be mired in lengthy legal battles. “Even if he started to try to deny a license renewal as quickly as he could, Brendan Carr would be long gone before that case would be over,” Schwartzman explained. “The law intentionally sets a very steep burden for the FCC to deny a license renewal; the process takes many years, during which time the licensee continues to operate normally under ‘continuing operating authority.’”
Carr’s remarks attracted immediate criticism from Democrats and First Amendment advocates, who emphasized that the FCC’s role does not include policing news coverage. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said in a statement Monday, “Once again, this FCC pretends it has the power to control news coverage. In reality, the FCC has vanishingly little power over national news networks. It licenses local broadcast stations, not networks, and no licenses are up for renewal until 2028.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom also weighed in, posting, “If Trump doesn’t like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license. That is flagrantly unconstitutional.”
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), typically a Trump ally, expressed concerns about Carr’s approach. “I’m a big supporter of the First Amendment,” Johnson told Fox News on Sunday. “I do not like the heavy hand of government no matter who’s wielding it. I’d rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible.”
Gomez added that while efforts to revoke licenses are unlikely to succeed, Carr’s threats and attacks on the media may create a chilling effect and undermine public confidence in the press. “Over the past year, this FCC has attacked the media as part of a years-long campaign by this Administration and its allies to discredit factual, independent coverage while blaming the press for growing public distrust,” she said. “Meanwhile, it is the FCC’s own credibility and public trust that are rapidly eroding.”
Trump is not the first president to target TV station licenses in response to unfavorable news coverage. During the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, President Richard Nixon’s allies attempted to challenge the licenses of three stations owned by the Washington Post. However, that effort did not progress significantly.
The last Los Angeles station to lose its broadcast license was KHJ in 1987. The case involved RKO General—a media company owned by the General Tire and Rubber Co.—and was related to corporate misconduct rather than broadcast content. The process to revoke RKO’s licenses took seven years from the FCC’s initial vote.
Schwartzman remarked, “Since then, only small mom-and-pop radio stations have been litigated. Those cases almost always involve lying to the government, felony convictions, or failure to pay regulatory fees. In one recent case, a small owner convicted of tax evasion still kept his license.”
There are also logistical challenges for the FCC in enforcing Carr’s threats. As Gomez pointed out, the FCC only has regulatory control over the TV stations that carry network signals. If stations dropped network programming, they could violate affiliation contracts and potentially lose rights to popular content like NFL football, which generate significant ratings and revenue.
In a related incident, Sinclair Broadcast Group demanded that Jimmy Kimmel apologize to Charlie Kirk’s family and contribute to Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, before allowing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to air again.
As the dispute between the FCC and the media continues, concerns about free press protections and government overreach remain at the forefront of this ongoing debate.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-03-16/why-fcc-is-unlikely-to-pull-tv-licenses-over-iran-news-coverage