The Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission announced this week that the FCC is investigating San Francisco-based radio station KCBS over its coverage of the administration’s mass deportation raids in San Jose, prompting First Amendment experts to express concerns about authoritarian-style censorship.
“This effort to control media content – a foundational trait of dictatorships – contains the hallmarks of government censorship,” Joseph Russomanno, professor emeritus at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, told The Independent.
“This is troubling on many fronts and will have a severe chilling effect on how news organizations do their jobs,” said Roy Gutterman, director of the Newhouse School’s Tully Center for Free Speech.
During an appearance on Fox & Friends on Thursday morning, FCC chief Brendan Carr took issue with KCBS 740 AM for revealing the live locations and vehicle descriptions of ICE officials who were conducting immigration raids in San Jose on January 26. The station has come under fire from right-wing listeners and conservative media personalities over the segment.
“I try to look on the bright side of things, and here I think that’s the fact, that we were having an unprecedented number of deportations taking place in this country, and for that, thank goodness for President Trump,” Carr stated.
“Promises made, promises kept. He came in and said he’s the person that can not only secure the border, but also deport people here illegally, and he’s carrying that out with unprecedented speed,” he added.
“This is really concerning, so what happened was you had ICE agents undercover doing operations in East San Jose, part of the town known for violent gang activity, and you had this radio station broadcasting the live location, identifying the unmarked vehicles that they were in.”
Notably, Carr’s remarks about East San Jose’s “violent gang activity” echoed that of far-right social media influencer Andy Ngo, who made similar complaints about KCBS’s reporting the same night the segment aired.
“We have sent a letter of inquiry, a formal investigation into that matter, and they have days left to respond to that inquiry and explain how this could possibly be consistent with their public interest obligations,” the FCC chairman concluded.
The commission’s enforcement bureau, according to Carr, is looking into whether the station violated its FCC license – which states that it must operate in the “public interest” – with the segment.
An additional wrinkle in this investigation is that KCBS is run by Audacy, an internet and radio company initially developed by CBS Radio. Last year, the company underwent a bankruptcy restructuring plan, and billionaire George Soros’ investment fund became the platform’s most significant stockholder.
Carr, then a Republican commission member, criticized the FCC for approving the investment by Soros, a liberal philanthropist who has long been a bogeyman for the right. Carr also said he would review the Audacy reorganization once Donald Trump appointed him chair of the FCC.
KCBS and Audacy declined to comment about the FCC’s investigation.
This latest probe comes as Carr has gone after other media outlets whom the president has blasted over what he feels is unfair and negative coverage of him over the years. Carr announced just last week that he was launching an investigation into NPR and PBS for potentially violating federal rules on sponsorships and commercials, a charge both organizations have denied.
The FCC head also recently demanded the full transcript and raw video of CBS News’ October interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, citing a “news distortion” complaint. Trump is suing the broadcast network for $10 billion for airing slightly different versions of Harris’ answer to one question, claiming CBS attempted to interfere in the election by deceptively editing the interview.
While the network has denied Trump’s accusations and said the lawsuit is “completely without merit,” Carr has said the allegations of “news distortion” could play a factor in his agency’s review of an upcoming merger involving the channel’s parent company Paramount Global, prompting its executives to pursue a possible settlement with the president.
The FCC’s bevy of media investigations and reinstated complaints against broadcasters (except for Fox News) has sparked concerns among free press advocates that Carr and the administration are seeking to intimidate and bully adversarial press outlets.
“The FCC’s incursion into news operations is unusual and highly suspect,” Gutterman stated. “This reflects the new chairman’s interest in pursuing the Administration’s regulation and punishment of news organizations.”
He added: “The FCC, under its new leadership, is venturing into areas that were traditionally outside its purview, whether we’re talking about newsrooms or a new definition of what constitutes advertising or how content is being handled online.”
Russomanno also noted that Carr’s actions are “clearly political in nature,” especially given the praise he exhibited in the recent Fox & Friends interview.
“Undoubtedly, this will result in a chilling effect, leading some broadcasters to dilute or eliminate specific reporting,” he warned. “This is precisely what the First Amendment’s freedom of press clause is supposed to prevent.”
“It is also clear that this is a continuation of the president’s perceived mandate to exact retribution on his political enemies,” Russomanno continued. “He and his believers seem to overlook that station licensing is not supposed to hinge on the content produced and shared with the public. This is at the foundation of the First Amendment protection provided to not only media organizations, but also to every citizen.”
He concluded: “All of this also reflects how the FCC, like other government institutions – i.e., the U.S. Supreme Court – has evolved into an extension of the political process. So many issues such as net neutrality are little more than political footballs, their fate linked to which party occupies the White House.”
