By Drew FitzGerald

Big media executives were hopeful that Trump 2.0 would usher in a period of light-touch regulation. Instead, President Trump's chosen communications regulator is turning the screws.

In the nearly three months since Trump picked him to lead the agency, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has wielded the threat of its regulatory power expansively. On Wednesday, he tied the agency's power to bless mergers to compliance with the administration's policies curbing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

"I would encourage any business that wants the FCC to approve a deal to end any invidious forms of DEI discrimination with all deliberate speed, " Carr said in a statement Wednesday.

On Tuesday, he told Comcast that he had asked the FCC's enforcement bureau to investigate the company and its NBCUniversal unit for promoting DEI "in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations." The message came after Trump ordered federal agencies to look for private-sector DEI policies that could constitute illegal discrimination.

Comcast said it was cooperating to answer the commission's questions. "For decades, our company has been built on a foundation of integrity and respect for all of our employees and customers," the company said.

Carr has served as an FCC commissioner since 2017. Trump picked him in November to lead the agency, and he assumed the chairmanship last month.

Soon after, he ordered an investigation into National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, alleging that their underwriting announcements veered into advertisements that violate member stations' noncommercial licenses. NPR said its announcements adhere to federal rules. PBS said "we work diligently to comply" with FCC regulations and welcomes the chance to demonstrate that.

The FCC has traditionally managed everything from cellphone signals and satellites to children's TV programming rules. Its enforcement bureau can issue fines and other penalties for illegal behavior, and investigations can prove costly even when they don't yield proof of misconduct. It also has the power to approve or scuttle transformative media and telecom deals.

CBS owner Paramount Global is among the companies facing a tougher regulatory review than its leaders initially expected. Carr last year said that a third-party news-distortion complaint about the way CBS's "60 Minutes" edited an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris could factor into the commission's review of Paramount's pending merger with Skydance Media.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Paramount executives were considering new options to smooth the path for their merger, including a potential settlement to resolve a personal lawsuit Trump brought against CBS over the "60 Minutes" segment .

CBS last week published a full transcript of the Harris interview and said it showed the broadcast wasn't doctored or deceitful. The FCC also posted the transcript on its website and solicited public comments on the issues raised in the third-party complaint.

Comcast's recent plan to spin off some cable-TV networks doesn't need clearance from the FCC , but any future deals involving its flagship NBC network's TV stations or Xfinity internet service could fall under the commission's purview.

Gigi Sohn, a public interest advocate who served as counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, said Carr's effort to pressure national media companies has stepped beyond a legitimate review of news content and turned into an intimidation campaign to force news services to soften their coverage of the president.

"All the saber rattling that's coming out of the FCC is operating as intended to scare the living daylights out of the networks," Sohn said.

The government's closer scrutiny on media outlets isn't universal. Carr has vowed to cut the thicket of rules that limit the ability of local TV station owners such as Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group to expand their footprints. Industry executives have said they expect new ownership rules will help them fend off rising competition from online media.

Carr's FCC also revived three media-related complaints that his Biden-designated predecessor had closed. It didn't reopen a fourth denied petition -- against Fox, which owns its eponymous cable news network on which Trump often appears, as well as some broadcast stations. Fox and The Wall Street Journal's parent company, News Corp, share common ownership.

An FCC spokesman said there was "a clear factual difference between the four complaints" because the Fox petition dealt with cable-news content. The commission also opened it to a public-comment process, he said, while the three remaining broadcast news items hadn't had the same exposure when they were dismissed.

"Americans no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly," Carr wrote in a December letter to Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, adding that the FCC would be monitoring the progress of the company's fee negotiations with local ABC affiliates to ensure they were in the public interest.

Like many companies across America, Disney this week made changes to its DEI programs. It updated a performance metric used to determine executive pay and softening content warnings on older movies, such as "Peter Pan" and "The Aristocats," on its Disney+ streaming service.

Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 13, 2025 10:53 ET (15:53 GMT)

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