American Democrats accuse Republican President Donald Trump of using the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a weapon to control broadcasters, violating the Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech.
Trump argues that conservative voices are not heard on U.S. broadcast television, whose license renewals fall under FCC discretion (VideoAge‘s Water Cooler, September 14, 2026).
However, Jonathan Kaufman, director of Northeastern University’s School of Journalism in Boston, Massachusetts, argued in a September 13 New York Times article that former FCC chairman Mark Fowler — appointed in 1981 by conservative President Ronald Reagan — eliminated the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine, which since 1949 had required U.S. broadcasters to present balanced viewpoints on public issues.
“Its demise,” explained Kaufman, “set off an explosion of hyperpartisan media, starting in 1988 with [conservative radio host] Rush Limbaugh [1951-2021] and conservative talk radio, later followed [in 1996] by the birth of [conservative] FOX News.”
From the viewpoint of current Trump conservatives, American broadcast stations, no longer bound by the Fairness Doctrine, present news slanted towards liberal views. However, rather than seeking to restore the Doctrine, these conservatives want to use the FCC to quell unfavorable reporting.
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