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Trump Wants To Challenge Licenses

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TheBigA

Walk of Fame Participant
So now the president wants to challenge the licenses of NBC over "fake news."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...nd-networks-after-nuclear-arsenal-report.html

Back in the 60s, this was a big fear of this at the networks. Lyndon Johnson made a similar threat to CBS and to the Washington Post (who owned radio & TV stations at the time). Bill Paley wrote about it in his autobiography. So did Katherine Graham. Nothing ever came of it, although a few years later, the FCC came up with their rule that newspapers can't own broadcasting, and that rule stands to this day.

At some point, this is going to end up in the courts. It might be good to settle what is real news and what is fake news.
 
Trump can't do that any more than the Democrats could "take away Fox News' broadcast license". Real news vs. fake news? Good luck determining that when Trump fans and Trump himself consider any news that's critical of Trump to be "fake news" and Trump reinforces that to his supporters daily.
 
That's why I think it's a good idea to bring it into the courts. Because at some point, it becomes a first amendment issue. Using the power of the federal government to inhibit or stifle criticism and free speech is exactly why the framers made it the FIRST amendment.
 
That, and only networks that are Owners and Operators would be affected to the extent NBC call letter stations would be under scrutiny. The comments/reporting that the President is so pissed about, are made at the NBC network level via MSNBC, which operates without a broadcast license.

Unless we cross the line of censorship on the Internet or subscription cable, Fake News, in whatever form, rolls on.
 
Nothing is gonna come out of this though. Mainly because Sinclair a Pro-Trump TV broadcast owner have contracts to NBC affiliates in some parts of the country like Las Vegas and Reno.

Sure Trump will say lets go after KNBC and WNBC's license but I say nothing is going to happen though.
 
Hypothetical: Today it's NBC. If tomorrow Trump has a burr up his rear end about CBS, what's the chance the Trump DOJ could "examine" CBS's news coverage before approving the Entercom merger?
 
gr8oldies said:
Hypothetical: Today it's NBC. If tomorrow Trump has a burr up his rear end about CBS, what's the chance the Trump DOJ could "examine" CBS's news coverage before approving the Entercom merger?
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Previous presidents have used the DOJ and the FBI to investigate their enemies, so it's possible. The truth is that CBS News isn't part of the Entercom merger. But the truth has never been the issue. If it was, you'd see Pentagon officials supporting the president's claim.
 
gr8oldies said:
Hypothetical: Today it's NBC. If tomorrow Trump has a burr up his rear end about CBS, what's the chance the Trump DOJ could "examine" CBS's news coverage before approving the Entercom merger?
Click to expand...

CBS News does not have connections to Entercom. But the soon to be defunct CBS Radio does have a deal with Entercom like KCBS Radio,KNX, WCBS Radio and still I say nothing is going to happen here. I say if this license issue does come up then you will have Nexstar, Sinclair, Raycom, Scripps and Hearst wondering what national content are they allowed to air or what will happen to the contract between the network that Trump is targeting and the station owners. Its not just going to affect the network O&O's in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco that's affected by this issue though.
 
TheBigA said:
That's why I think it's a good idea to bring it into the courts. Because at some point, it becomes a first amendment issue. Using the power of the federal government to inhibit or stifle criticism and free speech is exactly why the framers made it the FIRST amendment.
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Which has never been 100% in congruity with the FCC. There have always been things you can say which CAN put your broadcast license in jeopardy. I don't think anything will happen, other than NBC MAY tell their people to cool it in order to avoid the hassle. This is no doubt what Trump is aiming for.

I feel sorry for Mr. Berry having to police these boards in a country where seemingly
EVERYTHING has become politicized.
 
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...der-of-1st-amendment-silent-on-trump-nbc-spat

Update the FCC is under fire specifically Pai over how to respond to Trump's threat to go after NBC.

I don't think Pai the FCC leader could respond in a situation like this rant though. I don't think anything is going to happen though. If the FCC did what Trump suggested like Pai goes after the license of NBC O&O's like KNBC,WRC,WNBC,WMAQ,WBTS,and KNTV I think this is going to make other station owners like Nexstar, Sinclair, Raycom, Hearst, Tegna and Scripps wonder if they are going to have to end the contracts with NBC in some parts of the country though.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
I don't think anything will happen, other than NBC MAY tell their people to cool it in order to avoid the hassle.
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Except that the NBC news reporting has been good for ratings.

The way the Washington Post handled threats from the Nixon administration was not to stop their reporting of Watergate, but just make sure their information was indisputable.

Can a president order the FCC to revoke licenses? Here's some discussion on the subject:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ident-trump-really-revoke-broadcast-licenses/

He doesn't necessarily have to actually do anything. All he has to do is sow seeds of doubt. That's the way the tweet was written and it tends to be his MO.
 
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TheBigA said:
Except that the NBC news reporting has been good for ratings.

The way the Washington Post handled threats from the Nixon administration was not to stop their reporting of Watergate, but just make sure their information was indisputable.

Can a president order the FCC to revoke licenses? Here's some discussion on the subject:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ident-trump-really-revoke-broadcast-licenses/

He doesn't necessarily have to actually do anything. All he has to do is sow seeds of doubt. That's the way the tweet was written and it tends to be his MO.
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Also Trump and his cabinet has a tendency to start feuds very easily all one has to do is look at the ESPN talk show host(Jemele Hill) and NFL get targeted by the President and this month long feud that has came into play. Also I'm not surprised if NBC Staff members and the News Director of NBC News and NBC Owned stations find them selves in a similar situation where they end up feuding with Trump and his cabinet over any news story involving Trump and his cabinet.
 
RadioPatrol said:
Also Trump and his cabinet has a tendency to start feuds very easily all one has to do is look at the ESPN talk show host(Jemele Hill) and NFL get targeted by the President
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These are three different issues, all involving media. I would doubt any NBC news reporter or executive would make the mistake of actually engaging with the president, other than to stand by their reporting. What we've learned by watching the NFL or ESPN is you don't win when you take him on. Any engagement is futile. In the case on NBC News, the issue isn't a pundit or player's opinion, but actual reporting from inside sources. If he disputes the reporting, there are likely notes from the actual meeting that could be produced to prove who's right.
 
Interesting interview though and yes its a free speech issue here with local tv stations and networks as one of the FCC leaders has discussed it though.
 
RadioPatrol said:
Interesting interview though and yes its a free speech issue here with local tv stations and networks as one of the FCC leaders has discussed it though.
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As she pointed out, the last time it came up was with Nixon, and we know how that story ended. He also had something known as his "enemies list," and a lot of well known reporters were on it. They were subject to occasional phone calls from the FBI and the Justice Department. That may be the next step.
 
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