A leading Republican on the Federal Communications Commission is calling out Democrats for a “chilling” new demand.
According to reports, a progressive prosecutor in Baltimore, Maryland, is asking the commission to probe a local Fox News Channel affiliate.
“Chilling and direct attack”
Marilyn Mosby’s effort is focused on WBFF, which she said is engaging in “racist” and “extremely dangerous” news coverage of her as the station continues its reporting on a federal corruption probe into her office. She is also calling for an FCC investigation into the “white supremacist” rhetoric she accused Fox News host Tucker Carlson of using in his on-air commentary.
The FCC’s top Republican, Brendan Carr, called on the panel to deny Mosby’s request “with prejudice,” calling it a “chilling and direct attack on free speech and journalistic freedom.”
Noting the prosecutor’s issues with the “frequency” and “tone” of the network’s critical stories about her, which she described as a violation of FCC rules, Carr explained that WBFF has received awards for its reports — including those focused on Mosby.
For her part, Mosby expressed her outrage in the form of a letter accusing the network of an “intentional crusade,” citing as supposed evidence a number of articles casting her in an unfavorable light.
She further pointed to Carlson in an attempt to prove that Fox News gives a platform to “white supremacy” and complaining that the network has not given in to demands that he be fired.
“Surge in efforts by Democrats”
“Currently, the Fox national news network airs a nightly show with Tucker Carlson, despite recent calls by civil rights groups to terminate his employment because of Carlson’s frequent endorsements of white supremacy views,” she argued.
Carr responded by calling Mosby’s demand for an investigation the latest of a “surge in efforts by Democrat officials to pressure the FCC and its regulated entities into censoring news coverage and political speech that Democrats don’t like.”
Of course, Fox News has long been in the crosshairs of progressive activists with calls for an FCC probe into the channel growing louder in recent months. Nevertheless, Carlson has survived numerous attempts to shut down his top-rated weeknight program.
The affiliate station has defended itself and Carr was joined by other individuals and groups in denouncing Mosby’s demand.
In a statement on the matter, Radio Television Digital News Association Executive Director Dan Shelley asserted that news networks “have a constitutionally guaranteed obligation to serve their communities,” insisting that the handful of stories included in the complaint “reveal that Ms. Mosby either declined the station’s offers to comment in its news stories or did include comments sought by the station in response to its inquiries.”
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