FCC Orders a Review of ABC's Broadcast Licenses(www.nytimes.com)
29 pointsby standardUser6 hours ago1 comment
  • ivraatiems5 hours ago
    Is there anybody outside of the Trump administration who is in favor of doing this, and believes there is any good faith behind the decision?

    To be clear, I'm not asking if you're against DEI and support a review on those grounds (I'd also disagree, but that's whatever). I'm asking, do you think that's really why they're doing this, and if it isn't, do you support the actual reasons?

    I see that folks could see this as evidence that I live in a bubble, but I genuinely cannot think of a way this is not an authoritarian move.

    • pstuart3 hours ago
      I brought this up with my MAGA friend about the earlier Jimmy Kimmel skirmish and he trotted out how Roseanne Barr was dismissed from her show on ABC because of her offensive tweet, and that according to informed sources (Barr herself), that her dismissal was ordered by Michelle Obama. Then he went on to list a litany of hurts by cancel culture.

      When I noted there was a difference in the situation and this was literally a textbook First Amendment issue, that was ignored.

      This guy is highly intelligent but also an evangelical Christian -- we literally live in different universes and he has zero interest in challenging his assumptions. It's heartbreaking that he's like this and so are tens of millions of others.

    • scottmf5 hours ago
      It absolutely is, but yes there are people who will defend it.
      • alsetmusic5 hours ago
        I'll never forget that in my twenties I came to the realization that I would support an authoritarian regime that ran everything exactly the way I wished things were. It was startling and sobering.

        I no longer think that way, thankfully. But there are millions of not-so-thoughtful people who do.

        • ivraatiems5 hours ago
          I think this is exactly the issue, and it is not actually a partisan issue. I feel that urge, too -- how bad would it be, really, if I got what I wanted and people who thought like me did too? How much do I really care about the fates of folks whose morals and goals are so disparate from mine?

          But it's no way to live and we're seeing the consequences of it now.

    • vannevar4 hours ago
      >I see that folks could see this as evidence that I live in a bubble...

      Not all bubbles are created equal. In the US, Republicans tend to rely on a smaller pool of news sources (https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/06/10/the-politi...). And those few sources are increasingly interdependent. Outlets like Fox News and Newsmax generally follow Trump's lead, which is how they got into trouble on the election fraud claims. in addition, the Republican Party actively works to insulate Trump from criticism via memes like TDS (literally implying that anyone who criticizes Trump has a mental illness) and "fake news" (simply dismissing inconvenient facts), for which there is no liberal equivalent.