Following President-elect Donald Trump's nomination to chair the Federal Communications Commission, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger criticized the way ABC News was run, saying, “Americans no longer want the national news media to be completely independent.'' “I don't trust the media to report accurately and fairly.” ”
Brendan Kerr sent a letter to Iger after ABC News won a more than $15 million settlement in Trump's defamation lawsuit against the Disney-owned news organization.
“Dear Mr. Iger, Americans no longer trust the national news media to report completely, accurately, and fairly,” Kerr wrote, according to a copy of the Dec. 21 correspondence posted by journalist Brian Stelter. “No,” he wrote.
Kerr said a recent Gallup poll found that only 31 percent of Americans trust the news media a lot or a lot, down from a high of 70 percent. . “The ABC's own actions have certainly contributed to the erosion of public trust.”
ABC News recently agreed to pay $15 million to Trump's Future Presidential Foundation and Museum, plus $1 million in additional legal fees to resolve the defamation suit.
President Trump sued ABC News after host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly claimed on air that Trump was “responsible for rape” earlier this year. The New York jury in question found Trump responsible for “sexual abuse” and acquitted him of rape charges.
Mr. Kerr's letter to Mr. Iger focused primarily on ongoing negotiations between ABC and its affiliate stations, and Mr. Kerr said that many of the local stations in ABC's local network provide local news to viewers. expressed concern over the growing influence of In particular, Kerr said the financial agreements with ABC and its affiliates include a fee structure that ultimately benefits Disney's streaming service and disadvantages local stations and their ability to provide local news. Said to bring.
He noted that Americans continue to trust local news more than national news, and the power imbalance negatively impacts local news gathering.
President Trump praised Carr as a “free speech fighter” who would stand up against Big Tech's censorship system and defend the rights of ordinary Americans.
ABC News has displayed clear bias against Trump multiple times throughout the recent election cycle.
During the presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, moderators David Muir and Lindsay Davis repeatedly interrupted Trump's remarks to conduct live fact checks, but Harris's I never neglected it.
One of Muir's fact checks on Trump even turned out to be false.
Also supervised by ABC News The Viewco-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg have consistently used their platforms to hurl insults at Trump and his supporters.
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