By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump and the Federal Communications Commission have vowed to force American broadcast media outlets to make significant changes.
CBS may be just the beginning.
"President Trump is fundamentally reshaping the media landscape," FCC Chair Brendan Carr told CNBC Friday. "The media industry across this country needs a course correction."
On Thursday, the FCC voted 2-1 to approve the $8.4 billion merger between CBS parent Paramount Global and Skydance
Media after Skydance agreed to ensure CBS news and entertainment programming is free of bias, hire an ombudsman for at least two years to review complaints and end diversity programs.
Trump has repeatedly attacked broadcast networks for what he perceives as unbiased news coverage and called on Carr to rescind their licenses.
"The new owners of CBS came in and said, 'It's time for a change. We're going to reorient it towards getting rid of bias," Carr said. "At the end of the day that's what made the difference for us."
Carr's comments suggest the FCC will ramp up efforts to rid mainstream media of what he and President Trump consider a deep and enduring liberal bias, creating an opening for more conservative views among the biggest media companies.
The FCC regulates broadcast media outlets, which use the public airways and are required to act in the public interest. Carr has cited the public interest standard in seeking the changes at CBS.
Democratic FCC Commission Anna Gomez accused Paramount of "cowardly capitulation" to the Trump administration. She also said the FCC was imposing "never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law."
Earlier this month, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Trump, claiming CBS News' "60 Minutes" deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Paramount did not admit wrongdoing.
Some Democrats have called the payment a bribe and vowed to investigate. "Trump demands allegiance from everyone around him and it’s disgusting to see companies like Skydance and Paramount bowing to his endless and illegal demands," Representative Frank Pallone said.
Soon after being designated chair by Trump in January, Carr reinstated a "60 Minutes" complaint, as well as complaints about how Walt Disney's ABC News moderated the pre-election televised debate between then-President Joe Biden and Trump and Comcast's NBC for allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night Live" shortly before the election.
Disney and Comcast did not immediately comment Friday.
Carr told Reuters Thursday the FCC is not closing its investigation into the "60 Minutes" interview.
The FCC has required companies like T-Mobile and Verizon to end diversity programs before approving deals. Carr in February told Comcast he was opening a probe into its diversity efforts.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Edward Tobin)
