Compared to President-elect Trump's fear-mongering voice, Chicken Little is a minor leaguer. Appointment of Brendan Kerr As Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Kerr, along with centre-left politicians and pundits, is despised by various establishment corporate media and media activist organizations. But among the wide range of appointments made by the president-elect, Mr. Carr stands out as a highly qualified and experienced appointee.
While some of President Trump's appointments may be curious, Mr. Carr has an outstanding track record for the office he holds.
That hasn't stopped angry voices from claiming that Carr intends to violate the First Amendment. progressive news outlet Mother Jones claimed in the headline Kerr says he wants to “intimidate broadcasters” and is “anti-media.” leftist new republic rang out a high-pitched headline Carr said it would be a “terrible turn” for President Trump's “war on the press.” What I'm afraid of is Carr enables further media integrationpromoting misinformation on social media platforms, quashing dissent in the media field, and punishing news organizations for content he does not approve of.
Much of the criticism against Carr is that his writings in project 2025a policy blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation. While many political activists have been ranting about Project 2025, Carr's contribution about the media industry is nothing more than a boilerplate Republican position. There is nothing new or particularly surprising about Mr. Carr's plan to scrutinize the power of Big Tech, force broadcasters to serve the public interest, and reevaluate net neutrality.
Unlike Some of President Trump's appointmentsCarr, who will be parachuted into his work as a maverick and subversive, has special qualifications as FCC chairman. He has already served on the commission for seven years, and previously served as the FCC's general counsel under Chairman Ajit Pai. Mr. Kerr previously worked in the private sector as an attorney at Wiley Lane, a prominent law firm specializing in communications policy and litigation. He also clerked for a judge on the United States Court of Appeals.
Carr was appointed by President Trump in his first term as FCC commissioner, but was renominated by President Biden in 2023 and confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate. So he comes into the chair role with at least some history of bipartisan support. And if past is prologue, the newly created FCC will operate much like a regular regulatory agency. The FCC under President Trump during the Pai era was not particularly controversial or aggressive, even though Carr was chief counsel and held a seat on the commission itself at the time. .
Carr is too smart to wade into the straw man quagmire floated by his shrill detractors. He certainly won't seek retaliation against major media outlets that oppose President Trump over the content of their journalism. He knows these outlets will sprint to the nearest federal judge and win on First Amendment grounds.
In reality, the FCC does not have the means to exact harsh retaliation against journalists who are President Trump's enemies. Print publications, broadcast networks, and Internet news sources are not content monitored by the FCC. Frankly, local radio stations licensed by the FCC are constantly renewing their licenses, with little regard for journalistic content.
Mr. Carr will and should raise a critical eyebrow when he sees bad behavior in the media, as he did during the presidential campaign. When NBC initially appeared to be violating the FCC's equal opportunity political guidelines for broadcasters by giving Kamala Harris free and flattering airtime, saturday night live, Carr was quick to point out the mistake.. Eventually NBCfixed the issue By offering equal time to Mr. Trump.
Mergers and consolidations of media companies are on the rise. There's a good chance it will fall under the jurisdiction of the Car FCC, and that's likely to happen eventually regardless of who chairs the commission. In any case, the bigger player in this space is actually the Federal Trade Commission.
If Kerr becomes chairman, big tech companies are sure to come under a lot of scrutiny. The question had been on Carr's mind for some time. Most Americans agree that major technology platforms should be challenged for their transparency and censorship practices. Citizens will support whatever Carr fights. He calls this the “censorship cartel.”
The media landscape needs reform, and Mr. Kerr deserves the opportunity to give the FCC the stamp of approval to do so. Critics need to remember that Mr. Carr has two Democrats on the five-member FCC to monitor his policies. Carr's critics shouldn't fire him just because he was chosen by Trump or because they believe in public interest standards that hold the media industry accountable.
In addition to making markets work, Kerr believes in the FCC's role as a traffic police officer, monitoring the media world on behalf of the public.
Jeffrey M. McCallHe is a media critic and communications professor at DePauw University. He has worked as a radio news director, newspaper reporter, and political media consultant.
