In the midst of the controversy of Jimmy Kimmel, the head of the Broadcast television hall says that the Democrats also put pressure on the media
Tackling the thorny situation of Jimmy Kimmel, the head of the National Association of Broadcasters said that “the government’s pressure on the media” also occurred during the Obama and Biden administrations.
Weighing after Kimmel’s suspension in a blog article that did not mention ABC, Disney or President Trump by name, the CEO of the NAB, Curtis Legeyt, called this “an unprecedented period in media history” requiring “a direct conversation on what is at stake”.
Kimmel’s show was suspended indefinitely by ABC after the owners of major stations Nexstar and Sinclair removed it, citing jokes by the end of the evening host on the reaction to the death of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The withdrawal of the program followed threats open to Disney by the president of the FCC, Brendan Carr. Discussions are underway between the stakeholders to seek an impasse resolution, with indications in recent days that a way back for the show was more likely that it was not abandoned for good.
Legeyt affirmed the rights of the first amendment to the broadcasters, who “must be able to make decisions concerning the content of our waves free from the influence of the government”. Even the perception that the broadcasters are affected by the pressure of the government “is a problem for our credibility and the confidence that we have built with our audience”.
At the same time, Legeyt notes that government pressure on the media “to cover events in a particular way is not new and that it comes from the two political parties. During the Obama administration, journalists have criticized the use of the spying law to investigate journalists and demand their confidential sources. Under the Biden Administration, reporters face the suggestion of the broadcasters should be penalized to disseminate content contrary to a particular point of view.
“These attempts were therefore false, and they are wrong now.”
The NAB is the main organization of lobbying for television and radio broadcasters.
The group based in Washington, whose power has reflected in the middle of the cord cut and the transition to streaming, has been in an awkward position for decades with regard to the FCC and its members. This tension has been entered in recent months, as Ted Johnson by Deadline reported.
The organization has disseminated advertisements on social networks renting the president of the FCC, Brendan Carr, for helping to “empower our members” by fighting to loosen the regulations limiting the commercial activities of the broadcasters. The praise for him came when Carr had launched surveys or investigations on the broadcasting networks, some of their stations and other points of sale, including NAB members. These probes were triggered by questions ranging from diversity, actions and practices of inclusion to the decision -making of the editorial room.
In addition to the “obvious constitutional problems” raised by the situation of Kimmel, Legeyt continued in the blog post, there is the difficult state of financial affairs for industry. “The radiudiffusers are already fighting for our future, faced with extraordinary disturbances in the Big Tech media ecosystem,” he wrote. “If the very act of possessing or transferring a dissemination permit involves the risk of political interference, it will distance investments from local stations at the very moment when we need more resources to maintain local journalism.”
NAB’s efforts to support its members when faced with a myriad of commercial challenges, concluded the executive, will be “futile if we cannot assume our most sacred responsibility: report to our communities without fear of government reprisals”.
