The Next FCC

[boombox4]

The people who voted for Trump didn't elect him because they wanted him to get rid of NPR and CPB. According to exit polling the main issues for voters were the democracy and the economy, followed by abortion and immigration. NPR, CPB funding wasn't on their radar screen. Maybe a couple thousand of the 73 million voters who voted for the orange man give two whits about NPR, public radio, or CPB funding. Probably most of the 73 million aren't aware of non-commercial radio funding, or how it operates. They're probably listening to your music stations instead.

Project 2025 has so much verbiage in it that domestic broadcasting amounts to 13 paragraphs, in just two and a half pages (pages 246-248) of the over 900 page document, where it deals with CPB, NPR, PBS, and NCE stations. The document calls for the President to use budgeting as a tool to cut the spending, claiming that the public radio stations already are 'commercial' because of underwriting (not true, of course, but rhetoric is rhetoric and it's sad when untrue rhetoric is guiding public policy).

From page 247: "The President can just tell Congress.... that he will not sign an appropriations bill that contains a penny for CPB..."

However, as BigA often points out, that has to pass muster in Congress, which actually does the spending. And that could be problematic, even in red states.

NBC News article on exit polling:

NBC News Exit Poll: Voters express deep concern about America's democracy and economy

Women are twice as likely as men to rank abortion as their top issue, according to preliminary results from the national survey.

www.nbcnews.com

Here's all 922 pages of Project 2025:

https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

 

[TheBigA]

Carr did not write about it, but read the section about CPB. It goes well beyond CPB and gets into NCE stations, regardless of whether or not they get CPB funding.

Correct. Mike Gonzalez wrote the CPB section. Completely ignores the fact that red states own a lot of public radio stations, either directly or through state colleges. The fact is that strict conservative constitutionalists would have states all sell their media operations as well as educational institutions. I don't see that suggestion in Project 2025.

BTW Project 2025 groups Pacifica with NPR. However, Pacifica has a very public policy that it accepts no federal funding. The same is true of Democracy Now.

 

[TheBigA]

The people who voted for Trump didn't elect him because they wanted him to get rid of NPR and CPB.

It really doesn't matter why they elected him or what they wanted him to do. Once he's in, he brings in his people, and they have a lot of leeway with how they govern. Every decision isn't subject to a vote by the public, and Trump can't run for re-election. So he has no obligation to follow what the people want.

From page 247: "The President can just tell Congress.... that he will not sign an appropriations bill that contains a penny for CPB..."

Sure he can. He told congress he won't sign a continuing resolution. But he did several times, and he wasn't happy about it.

 

[boombox4]

It really doesn't matter why they elected him or what they wanted him to do. Once he's in, he brings in his people, and they have a lot of leeway with how they govern. Every decision isn't subject to a vote by the public, and Trump can't run for re-election. So he has no obligation to follow what the people want.

The voters polled weren't just voting for President. They were also voting for Congressional members -- Senate as well as House. That's where the problem with implementing a lot of Trumpian stuff will lie. Last time he was going to give us a free wall, as well as replace ACA. He failed on both counts, even with a Trumpy, GOP Congress.

 

[TheBigA]

He failed on both counts, even with a Trumpy, GOP Congress.

The people in congress who opposed him are gone, replaced by people who won't oppose.

In 2003, when Michael Powell was chairman of the FCC, he pushed through changes to the ownership rules. Congress overruled:

FCC Releases New Media Ownership Rules

The Federal Communications Commission late Wednesday published its final report on the revised media ownership rules, even as lawmakers and consumer rights groups announced various plans aimed at making sure the new rules never take effect.

www.pbs.org

Then a few years later, when Kevin Martin was chairman of the FCC, he came up with changes to the ownership rules. He got brought in to congress, and his changes were overruled. That won't happen this time.

Dorgan Offers Resolution of Disapproval, Challenges FCC Ownership Rule Rewrite | TVWeek

www.tvweek.com

 

[Mediafrog+]

The people in congress who opposed him are gone, replaced by people who won't oppose.

That is the key difference this time. Many like to talk about “separation of power” along with “checks and balances” that will keep Trump under control. But we now have a situation where both the legislative and judicial branches of government are stacked with loyal disciples of Trump who will do his bidding. Any sort of pushback is minimized or eliminated.

 

[gr8oldies]

They might pursue it, but chances of actually doing it are slim. They last time congress passed a budget was 1997. Since then, it's been endless continuing resolutions. During all four Trump admins, and all four Biden admins. When you pass a continuing resolution, that means all department budgets are locked at the previous funding levels. It shouldn't be this hard. It's really the only thing congress is constitutionally mandated to do. And it can't get it done. So chances aren't good that things will change in 2025. Not that CPB should count on that. They should all be talking internally about a plan b.

Elon Musk will learn the difference between running a company and a government. The states all depend on federal funding. It's been that way for over 100 years. Sure there are a handful of states that probably don't need it. But a lot of red states have public broadcasting authorities that need CPB funding, and they won't vote no. A lot of red states have NPR stations owned by state universities, such as Texas, Ohio, and Iowa. They need that CPB funding to balance their state budgets. They don't want to raise local taxes to replace federal funding. So we'll see how they handle services their local constituents love.

The country is operating under a continuing resolution right now that expires December 20. We'll see how motivated these lame ducks are to get things done when they return.

I've heard part of "Mike Johnson's little secret" is refusing a CR and letting the government shut down until the inauguration.
Like it's mentioned, any assumptions about how government has operated in the past should not be assumed. If the libs are owned and minorities are harmed, that's all that will matter.

 

[TheBigA]

Any sort of pushback is minimized or eliminated.

With the FCC, the first place we'll see this will be in the vote for commissioners. On January 20th, the current chairman will resign. That will leave an even split, 2 repubs, 2 dems. What happened to Biden was that all of his nominees for fcc were put on hold. This went on for two years. The FCC couldn't get anything done. That won't happen this time.

I'd expect one of the first items on the FCC agenda will be net neutrality. Here's what happened under Biden:

Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to restore rules to prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from favoring some sites and apps over others — for instance, by slowing or blocking certain content or by offering higher speeds to customers willing to pay extra.

apnews.com

When the issue comes up this time, it will be reversed.

 

[TheBigA]

I've heard part of "Mike Johnson's little secret" is refusing a CR and letting the government shut down until the inauguration.

What that does is kill any attempts by the lame duck congress to pass laws or change rules that will affect the next administration.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

The voters polled weren't just voting for President. They were also voting for Congressional members -- Senate as well as House. That's where the problem with implementing a lot of Trumpian stuff will lie. Last time he was going to give us a free wall, as well as replace ACA. He failed on both counts, even with a Trumpy, GOP Congress.

Virtually anyone who opposed anything and does not fall in line with whatever Trump wants has been purged. (See Cheney, et al). This congress is not that congress. His loyalists remain; new loyalists have replaced those who dared cross him (in his warped view of what constitutes "crossed") and the few who maybe haven't swallowed a whole pitcher of the Kool-Aid have been at the very least driven to submission.

Past words do not matter. Past history does not matter. Remember SCOTUS nominees saying Roe was settled law? Yeah. How'd that work out?

No one is arguing the annihilation of CPB is a the top of Project 2025. But once the loyalists are installed with dominion over their own areas, it needn't be on top of the priority list. It needn't even be listed. The direction is crystal clear. They couldn't be more clear if they made a neon sign. Norms and conventions will be bulldozed. Anything that falls into the big bucket of "woke" (including anything that does not fawn endlessly over the occupant of the oval office) is going to have a bullseye on it.

This isn't just rhetoric this time. We are not heading into an administration that just happens to have some different priorities. The likes of Musk, Bannon, Miller etc. are being given free reign to create a Christian Nationalist nation with no resistance outside of what some blue state governors might muster. You may support that, you may oppose it. You may welcome it with open arms. You may be looking to flee the country. It makes no difference in the end. The government and the country will be fundamentally changed for generations as a result of this election. Not incrementally, not some things here and there. We're talking a stark "before" and "after" division the likes of which we haven't seen in any of our lifetimes in this nation.

 

[CTListener]

No one is arguing the annihi

Oh no! Have they come to muzzle you?

 

[RadioGuy1864]

BTW Project 2025 groups Pacifica with NPR. However, Pacifica has a very public policy that it accepts no federal funding. The same is true of Democracy Now.

The fact that anyone would include Pacifica in a serious discussion of broadcasting shows a total lack of knowledge of the industry.

 

[TheBigA]

The fact that anyone would include Pacifica in a serious discussion of broadcasting shows a total lack of knowledge of the industry.

Gonzales doesn't know the industry. He knows ideology. That's what his article was about.

 

[TexasTom]

While I think that many of the general fears of what will happen under a Trump administration are justified, as others have said it seems unlikely that radio will be anything other than a distraction for the Trump FCC. Why? Because I see little reason to think that Trump cares about radio, as opposed to television. Let's face it -- we've heard multiple instances where he expresses the opinion that a television network should be stripped of its license (and, yes, we all know that networks aren't licensed, but apparently Trump doesn't know that) because of some news program or late night talk show that made him mad, but I can't recall him ever commenting anything that was on broadcast radio. Not saying it has never happened, but clearly radio barely makes his radar compared to television.

Aside from that, while he is going to see less resistance to some of his worst ideas than he did the first time around, that isn't the same as no resistance. So at the very least, I'd figure that will slow him down. Possibly it will do more than just slow him down, depending on how many judges are willing to stand up to him and the extent to which the Supreme Court decides to be a check on him.

 

[TheBigA]

Interesting battle shaping up between Brendan Carr and Elon Musk. Carr wants to "reign in big tech" and Elon does not. We'll see who wins.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Set Off a Race to the Bottom

Social media companies that once at least tried to promote a healthy information ecosystem have largely given up—and insiders say Musk’s example gave them cover.

www.wired.com

Carr wants to repeal Section 230 that protects social media sites from lawsuits. Musk is making changes to X so that he will avoid lawsuits over site content.

 

[CTListener]

Interesting battle shaping up between Brendan Carr and Elon Musk. Carr wants to "reign in big tech" and Elon does not. We'll see who wins.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Set Off a Race to the Bottom

Social media companies that once at least tried to promote a healthy information ecosystem have largely given up—and insiders say Musk’s example gave them cover.

www.wired.com

Carr wants to repeal Section 230 that protects social media sites from lawsuits. Musk is making changes to X so that he will avoid lawsuits over site content.

I remember reading or hearing during the day after the election that Trump Media was among the biggest gainers on the stock market. That, of course, is the Trump company that operates his social media site, Truth Social. Do you see Musk's X and Trump's Truth merging at some point? And will it be a partnership or will one corporate entity buy out and absorb the other?

 

[gr8oldies]

I remember reading or hearing during the day after the election that Trump Media was among the biggest gainers on the stock market. That, of course, is the Trump company that operates his social media site, Truth Social. Do you see Musk's X and Trump's Truth merging at some point? And will it be a partnership or will one corporate entity buy out and absorb the other?

Hard to tell. Among normal folks there's a big exodus to Bluesky.

 

[TheBigA]

Do you see Musk's X and Trump's Truth merging at some point? And will it be a partnership or will one corporate entity buy out and absorb the other?

He doesn't need Truth Social anymore, but I don't see him partnering with anybody. He just wants the cash.

 

[gr8oldies]

He doesn't need Truth Social anymore, but I don't see him partnering with anybody. He just wants the cash.

We're calling Twitter "X-Chan" these days

 

[TheBigA]

Here is an article about the next administration and big tech. As we said, Brendan Carr says the FCC will "reign in big tech." But the president's views on that have changed thanks to his ownership of Truth Social and his relationship with Elon Musk. This article says the monopoly investigation of Google may get less attention. He may want to reverse the current threats against TikTok. My sense is that Carr may not be able to do as much with tech as he wants.

What Trump's win could mean for Big Tech

The tech industry is bracing itself for Trump's second administration

theweek.com