FCC to Media: Tow the Party Line, or Lose Your Broadcast License

Straight up shameless tyranny, right out of the Project 2025 playbook.

So you don’t have to go to the X swamp, here’s the bare-knuckled threat posted by Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Saturday:

“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up …. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”

Media (including the news) and Entertainment are two of the seven areas that right-wing Project 2025 defined as targets of attack. The focus on these two areas means that the current administration and those who write the script for this administration (Commissioner Carr was one of the authors of Project 2025) intend to dominate these two aspects of American life so that their preferred version of the truth (alternative facts, etc.) becomes the only version and is eventually accepted as “The Truth” by a majority of Americans.

It is becoming more and more apparent that as a practical matter, these two areas have become closely associated, interrelated, if not almost completely intertwined.

Throughout history, and the history of this country, the two were separated, largely due to the objectives of their practitioners and the available technology. But with technological breakthroughs, mostly in the 20th century, in ways of broadcasting and recording what individuals produced, i.e., telegraph, phonograph, movies, video tape, radio, TV, etc., both mediums (news and entertainment) morphed into what we have today.

The advent of radio and television created a new environment for delivering the news, followed by satellites, computers, and cell phones for even faster and more targeted dissemination over ever greater distances.

Today we have multimedia conglomerates dominated by billionaires who have no background in journalism or the print media and who are primarily entertainment moguls with no real interest in providing news according to established standards of journalism regarding facts and truth. They are interested in entertainment as a way to gain viewership on a seemingly endless array of platforms and in making as much money as possible. They are only interested in serving the public good in so far as it furthers their money-making endeavors. For them news is a form of entertainment and the more “clicks” the better.

If this were to continue to be the case, it certainly would not make for a healthy environment and would not be good for our democracy. But, it appears that we are going down an even more ominous and dangerous path because the billionaires who happen to control the news and entertainment giants are all FOD (Friends of Donald). What this means is that facts don’t matter and truth is whatever is good for MAGA. We are being groomed to accept only what they want us to know and believe.

Imagine, if you will, a future where the president has declared war on another country, civilians as well as military personnel are being killed, and billions of dollars are being spent on bombs and munitions that could have been spent on the health and welfare of people in need. Beyond our borders, the chaos resulting from the war is rippling through the world economy in ways never before seen except during World Wars.

Unfortunately, we are not in a position to know what is happening because the billionaires controlling the media have their own agenda and could not care less about providing information that would be useful to average citizens and their decision making processes.

All of the traditional news outlets have become part of the “infotainment” companies that took shape during the Trump administration and are doing as they please because the Federal Communications Commission is no longer doing the job it was designed to do.Some more text

So, as citizens of a country where information is provided by the government, for the benefit of the regime rather than the citizens, we are left to wonder what is really happening and we are unable to make informed decisions based on objective facts and the best information that diverse sources could have provided. Instead, the regime presents us with videos mixing images of destruction with cartoon characters and video game scenarios that reinforce their version of reality and their success and indisputable domination.

Once our access to free flowing, honest reporting is lost and has been replaced by manufactured, entertainment style news, we will find it more difficult to know what is real, factual, and true. And without facts, the rule of law becomes impotent and we will witness democracy die an agonizing death.

This doesn’t have to happen and you can do your part to defend the Constitution and our democracy. Talk to your friends, stay in touch, pay attention and find your voice. You don’t have to do everything, but try to do something and be heard. You can take part in “No Kings” on March 28 and find strength in numbers as people all over America stand up and speak out. Go to indivisible.org and enter your zip code to get started.