FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez is asking the National Association of Broadcasters to speak up more forcefully for stations she says are under pressure from the agency.
In a letter dated Oct. 22 to NAB President Curtis LeGeyt, Gomez urged the association to warn its members about what she called a coordinated administration effort to pressure broadcasters. She noted that many stations lack the legal resources to push back on their own ahead of the midterm elections. Radio Ink reports the letter follows FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s suggestion that stations airing certain polling could face news distortion or broadcast hoax investigations.
Gomez laid out how narrow those rules are. As she describes FCC guidance, news distortion requires documented evidence that a broadcaster deliberately distorted a factual report on a significant event, and the hoax rule applies only to knowingly false reports about a crime or catastrophe that directly cause immediate, substantial public harm.
She also objected to Media Bureau changes to the bona fide news interview exemption under Section 315 and to which spenders qualify for the lowest unit charge, saying neither was adopted by the full Commission. Gomez credited NAB for opposing the FCC’s early license renewal order but said its response so far hasn’t matched the scale of what members face, and she offered to work with the association on getting stations accurate information about the law.
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