Center for American Rights Urges FCC Action Over ABC Reporter's Post

In the letter, CAR pointed to a 1975 FCC ruling against a broadcaster that in part involved “slanted news broadcasts,” saying the airwaves shouldn’t be used to publicize the views of Moran or CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, who recently gave a speech also seen as critical of Trump.

Attorneys told us the FCC doesn’t have authority to act against ABC or CBS over speech from a reporter that didn’t occur on-air, but they also conceded that similar letters from CAR have led to FCC proceedings against the networks that the group targeted. “The only reason this is being filed is because you have leadership at the FCC that apparently doesn’t care about the law,” said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Robert Corn-Revere, a former FCC chief of staff. FIRE has filed in opposition to CAR in the agency’s news distortion proceeding against CBS. The FCC, ABC and CBS didn’t comment.

CAR’s letter said Moran’s post and Pelley's May commencement address form a “pattern” of “consistent, persistent, overt misuse of the public airwaves to advance a political viewpoint” on the part of CBS, ABC and NBC, “not through editorials but through workaday news reporting.” Pelley’s speech, which wasn’t part of a CBS newscast, didn’t mention Trump's name but criticized attacks on freedom of speech and diversity. The letter was addressed to Carr but also went to Gavin Wax, chief of staff to former FCC commissioner Nathan Simington, who wasn’t mentioned. Though Wax is rumored to be a possible replacement for Simington, Wax confirmed Wednesday that he isn’t employed at the FCC. "ABC, CBS, and NBC are leveraging publicly licensed airwaves to advance partisan agendas," Wax told us. "The FCC has both the authority and the responsibility to act -- and it must enforce the rules."

“The airwaves may not be used to publicize Terry Moran’s private views or Scott Pelley’s private views,” said CAR. “The airwaves belong to the American people, and they deserve better than what they have been getting from the network news.” Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that Moran’s post was a “vile smear” and that ABC should apologize.

CAR cited a 1975 FCC proceeding involving licenses owned by Indiana broadcaster Star Stations as a precedent for the agency acting against slanted news reporting, but multiple attorneys told us the case has little bearing on Moran’s post. That matter involved a station owner accused of giving preferential treatment to a 1964 Indiana Senate candidate in exchange for “help” with the FCC and included allegations against the station owner of witness intimidation, false financial reporting and lying to the commission. The FCC voted not to renew Star’s licenses, but that was because of broad misconduct by the licensee rather than news reports, said Corn-Revere.

Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer said the 1964 case “has nothing to do with the facts that they're complaining about here.” Public Knowledge has also been critical of CAR’s filings against TV networks.

Bergmayer and Corn-Revere said that since the 1970s and particularly after the repeal of the fairness doctrine in 1987, the FCC has historically avoided ruling on news content. “Whatever the FCC thought it could do in 1975, what CAR is asking for is completely abhorrent to the First Amendment,” Bergmayer said. Corn-Revere said there has been “a lot of water under the bridge since then, including the FCC itself deciding it would be in conflict with the First Amendment if it tried to enforce these kinds of policies.”

The letter also didn't point to a specific station and addressed journalists' private conduct that didn’t take place on the airwaves, the attorneys said. “It’s cancel culture run amok,” said Bergmayer. “They are trying to penalize companies for the opinions their employees have.” Corn-Revere pointed out that “there are no complaints filed by this watchdog group against conservative media organizations.”

Smithwick & Belendiuk broadcast attorney Arthur Belendiuk said taking up CAR’s complaint against ABC and CBS “would set an extremely dangerous precedent.” Belendiuk represents the Media and Democracy Project in its challenge against the license renewal of Fox’s WTXF Philadelphia.

The FCC is unlikely to take actions against ABC or CBS that could be appealed to a court, but it could open investigations or assert pressure in other ways, as it already has against networks, attorneys told us. The agency has followed a pattern of taking action against companies that avoids judicial review, they said. Belendiuk noted that ABC released Moran after pressure from Vance and White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, without FCC action.

“It's jawboning,” Bergmayer said. “It's intimidating companies into doing what you want.”