In mid-March the Federal Communication Commission opened an investigation on ABC and the Walt Disney Company for malpractice of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies.
The FCC is headed by Brendan Carr, who was appointed by President Donald Trump as chair.
According to an article by National Public Radio, Carr was concerned that the networks were “promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
The legitimacy of President Trump’s Appointees has been in question over the last few months.
Dr. Russ Witcher, Professor of Journalism at Tennessee Technological University, spoke on the FCC. Witcher said, “They really don’t have the power to tell…ABC…CBS…NBC…anything to my knowledge…about programming.”
According to fcc.gov, “The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.”
The FCC monitors indecency and the content that is being broadcasted. Witcher said they do not have governance over programming.
Witcher stated “It’d probably take more time…but it looked like it’d be wiser if they’re going to use the FCC…to go through the affiliates and say…you know…get rid of this DEI policy.”
With this thought, The Trump Administration could get rid of DEI without having to directly fight Disney or ABC.
While the FCC may not be a fan of DEI policies, there’s not really anything indecent about the policies that would permit the reduction of programming. “I know for example…people talk about the Super Bowl…remember that wardrobe malfunction about ten years ago during the halftime show? They went after the networks for that, but that was because they were saying it was indecent programming,” Witcher said.
The FCC and federal administrations are typically okay with diversity and inclusion. Their problem arises with equity. The constitution states that everyone is created equal. However, “they don’t like the fact that…I guess people…not in terms that people are equal…but there’ll be equality of results…we’ve always believed since the founding…that we all have the right to equality… but it’s something that we have to achieve” stated Witcher.
If the Trump administration doesn’t like the DEI practices and policies of Disney and ABC, they should use an entity with more power over the matter. Simply having a DEI policy, whether they like it or not, does not involve indecency or other programming violations.
