The decision of ABC He arrived after the driver said that sectors on the right tried to use the murder of the conservative activist politically Charlie Kirkoccurred in Utah days ago.
Before this episode, CBS I had already announced in July that the humorist’s show Stephen Colbertanother critic of the Republican president, It would come out of the air In 2026.
Colbert himself questioned a Agreement between Trump and Paramountcompany linked to CBS, pointing out that paying U $ S16 million It was “a good bribe.” In December, ABC also disbursed U $ S15 million to close another legal dispute promoted by the former president.
The role of the FCC and the threat of licenses
The Kimmel case took greater dimension when the director of the FCC, Brendan Carrappointed by Trump, criticized the comedian’s statements and came to threaten to take the transmission license to ABC.
During a return trip from the United Kingdom aboard Air Force OneTrump attacked the media again: “All they do is criticize Trump.” Then he added: “They have a license. They are not allowed to do that. “
The political reaction did not take. The Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal described this attitude as “a censorship act unprecedented government. “
For Ken Paulsondirector of Center for Freedom of Expression of the State University of Middle Tennessee“The problem is that companies are based solely on financial considerations and do not protect the interests of the public.”
Another controversial history in the US
The episode linked to Colbert coincided with the decision of the FCC to authorize the acquisition of Global Paramount by Skydance. Days after authorization, the producer promised to implement “measures aimed at correcting biases that have undermined trust (from the public) in the national media.”
According to Jeffrey McCallUniversity professor DEPAUW“ABC had all legal means to defend (Jimmy Kimmel), but they decided that it was no longer viable from the point of view of audiences and income.”
From conservative media, some editorialists compared the suspension of Kimmel with the exit of Tucker Carlson In 2023 of Fox Newsafter the loss of advertisers, and with the dismissal of Roseanne Barr In 2018 for a racist tweet.
However, Paulson replied: “This is not comparable at all. When The public is unhappychains can take it into account. When it is the government, it is coercion. “
Trump himself suggested on Thursday that licenses could be suspended to the chains that are positioned “against him.”
Donald Trump and the risks for media pluralism
Congress, in tune with the republican government line, approved in July the Progressive elimination of subsidies to the public audiovisual sector in the next two years.
Although the FCC only has Authority on chains Open television, some analysts fear that the family Ellisonclose to Trump and current owner of Paramount Global, advance on Warner Bros Discovery and, in particular, on CNN.
In a column published in The New York Times, William Cohan He warned: “CBS and CNN could soon become something too similar to what the Murdoch serve us daily,” in reference to Fox News and to the tabloid The New York Post. According to him, “this would further break the fragile armor of American democracy.”
Source: Ambito
