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Entertainment giant Disney has accused US President Donald Trump’s media regulator of trying to “sit in the editor’s chair” as it objects to an investigation into “The View,” a long-running talk show on ABC.
Disney confronts Trump
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has launched two investigations into Disney in recent months — one focusing on whether The View violated rules requiring broadcast stations to give equal airtime to opposing political candidates.
“The First Amendment does not permit government to sit in the editorial chair,” Disney said in a statement. “Yet that is the seat the committee now proposes to hold — determining which radio programs are considered legitimate news and, for those it finds inappropriate, forcing it to cede airtime to guests it never chose to host.”
Disney, the media giant that owns ABC and The View, confronted the Trump administration directly this year, according to the British Financial Times.
In response to Carr’s investigation, Disney ran ads on ABC calling on viewers to show their support through comments on the FCC’s website. More than 76,000 people submitted responses during the public comment period that ended Monday.
“Today, the program the committee is targeting is The View,” she said. “But the principle at stake is much larger: May a federal regulatory agency override a radio station’s editorial judgment about who to interview — a ruling that the Constitution grants to radio stations and their audiences, not to the state?”
Trump escalates his battle with the media
This tension between one of the most prominent American companies and the White House comes at a time when Trump has escalated his battle with the American media in his second term, and has filed lawsuits against many networks and newspapers.
The FCC’s investigation into “The View” is focusing on whether the program is classified as a news program, which would exempt it from equal time requirements under US law. The show, which has been airing since the 1990s, has received this exemption for decades.
“Nothing has changed about ‘The View’ that matters to the law since the committee last answered this question more than two decades ago. What has changed is not the show itself, but the political climate surrounding it,” Disney said Tuesday.
