{"id":86158,"date":"2017-10-11T17:15:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T21:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=86158"},"modified":"2017-10-11T17:15:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T21:15:56","slug":"huge-trump-finally-throws-down-the-gauntlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=86158","title":{"rendered":"HUGE! Trump Finally Throws Down The Gauntlet"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-reactid=\"6\"><\/div>\n<h1 data-reactid=\"35\">Trump suggests challenging TV network licenses over &#8216;fake news&#8217;<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"35\">David Shepardson<br \/>\nREUTERS<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"35\">WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump suggested challenging licenses for NBC and other broadcast news networks on Wednesday, a salvo that followed reports his own secretary of state had called him a \u201cmoron\u201d after a discussion of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"PrimaryAsset_container_2pnvl video\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/queso-cdn.prod.reuters.tv\/index.html?autoplay=true&amp;muted=true&amp;countdown=true&amp;preroll=true&amp;proll=iuuq%3A%2F%2Fqvcbet.h.epvcmfdmjdl.ofu%2Fhbnqbe%2Fbet%3Fta%3D3y3%26jv%3D%2F4735792%2Fwjefp.vt.sfvufst%2Fufdi%2Fnfejb%2Fbsujdmf%26djv_tat%3D300y250%2C1500y692%26dvtu_qbsbnt%3DwjefpDiboofm%253E13421%252D13976%252D13978%252D1%252D1003%252D2602%252D117764%2526wjefpJe%253E372716099%2526uzqf%253Ebsujdmf_qsfspmm%2526begsjfoemz%253Evoefgjofe%26jnqm%3Dt%26hegq_sfr%3D1%26fow%3Dwq%26pvuqvu%3Dynm_wbtu3%26vowjfxfe_qptjujpo_tubsu%3D1%26dpssfmbups%3D9187329884595856%26vsm%3Diuuq%3A%2F%2Fvt.sfvufst.dpn%26eftdsjqujpo_vsm%3Dxxx.sfvufst.dpn%2Fbsujdmf%2Fvt-vtb-usvnq-nfejb%2Fusvnq-tvhhftut-dibmmfohjoh-uw-ofuxpsl-mjdfotft-pwfs-gblf-ofxt-jeVTLCO1DH1XC&amp;poster=%2F%2Fyospace-cds1.reuters.com%2Fu%2Fresize~ad1~815x458%2F0%2Ff%2F~image_jpeg~9999-1%2F1%2Fm%2Fr%2Fw%2Fn%2Fo%2F9gx5%2Freuters04%3FvideoId%3D133330090&amp;mid=133330090&amp;title=Nuclear%20story%20was%20%22fake%20news%20by%20NBC%27%3A%20Trump&amp;suppress_ads=false&amp;suppress_rtv=false&amp;source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticle%2Fus-usa-trump-media%2Ftrump-suggests-challenging-tv-network-licenses-over-fake-news-idUSKBN1CG1WB&amp;chartbeat_uid=52639&amp;chartbeat_domain=preview.reuters.com&amp;region=US&amp;draggable=true&amp;hide_title=false\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div>\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">\u201cWith all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!\u201d Trump, a Republican, wrote in a post on Twitter.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-reactid=\"40\">Trump and his supporters have repeatedly used the term \u201cfake news\u201d to cast doubt on critical media reports about his administration, often without providing any evidence to support their case that the reports were untrue.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"42\">Trump kept up his criticism of the media in an appearance with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday, saying: \u201cIt is frankly disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"43\">Any move to challenge media companies\u2019 licenses, however, would likely face significant hurdles.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"44\">The Federal Communications Commission, an independent federal agency, does not license broadcast networks, but issues them to individual broadcast stations that are renewed on a staggered basis for eight-year periods.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"45\">Comcast Corp, which owns NBC Universal, also owns 11 broadcast stations, including outlets in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas and Chicago. A Comcast spokeswoman referred questions to NBC, which did not immediately Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"46\">ABC, owned by Walt Disney Co, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>Shares in media companies fell after Trump\u2019s tweet, potentially reflecting concerns the war of words could escalate. Comcast was down 0.8 percent, while Disney shed 1.4 percent. CBS Corp fell 1.2 percent and Twenty-First Century Fox slid 2.8 percent.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"48\">Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner called the market response a \u201cshort-term irrational knee-jerk reaction\u201d and said Trump faced essentially insurmountable hurdles to getting licenses pulled.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"49\">A spokesman for FCC chairman Ajit Pai did not immediately comment.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"50\">Gordon Smith, the chief executive of the National Association of Broadcasters, defended the media\u2019s free speech rights.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"51\">\u201cIt is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting of a journalist,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>ABC, owned by Walt Disney Co, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"59\">Numerous Democrats criticized Trump and urged Pai to denounce Trump\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"60\">Senator Ed Markey wrote Pai on Wednesday asking him to \u201cwithstand any urges from President Trump to harm the news media and infringe upon the First Amendment,\u201d a reference to the U.S. Constitution\u2019s free speech and press freedom guarantee.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"61\">Democratic U.S. Representative Frank Pallone said Trump \u201cseemed to threaten broadcasters\u2019 licenses only because he disagreed with their reporting. This threat alone could intimidate the press and lead to skewed and unfair reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel responded to Trump by tweeting a link to an FCC fact sheet. \u201cNot how it works,\u201d she said on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"63\">\u2018FAIRNESS DOCTRINE\u2019<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"64\">According to a fact sheet on the FCC website, when reviewing licenses the agency must determine if a renewal is in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"65\">The FCC said in the fact sheet it expects \u201cstation licensees to be aware of the important problems and issues facing their local communities and to foster public understanding by presenting programming that relates to those local issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"66\">The agency does not issue similar licenses for cable networks like CNN and MSNBC, or regulate internet news or other websites.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"67\">The FCC has said the First Amendment \u201cexpressly prohibits the commission from censoring broadcast matter\u201d and that its role \u201cin overseeing program content is very limited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"68\">In the early 1970s, then-President Richard Nixon and his top aides discussed using the FCC\u2019s license renewal process as a way of punishing the Washington Post for its coverage of the Watergate burglary that ultimately brought down his presidency.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"69\">NBC News has reported on tensions between Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and has said Trump sought a dramatic increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a meeting with national security advisers in July. NBC reported Tillerson made his \u201cmoron\u201d comment after that meeting.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"70\">Trump on Saturday also suggested he should get \u201cequal time\u201d because of what he described as late-night television hosts\u2019 \u201canti-Trump\u201d material.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"71\">The FCC\u2019s equal time rules apply in limited cases to air time for political candidates and not to criticism of elected leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Trump may have been referring to the \u201cFairness Doctrine\u201d that was designed to ensure broadcasters present opposing viewpoints about public issues. Republican President Ronald Reagan\u2019s administration eliminated it in 1987.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Attribution_attribution_o4ojT\" data-reactid=\"72\">\n<p class=\"Attribution_content_27_rw\" data-reactid=\"73\">Writing by Makini Brice and David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington and Jessical Toonkel in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry and Paul Simao<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"73\">___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trump-media\/trump-suggests-challenging-tv-network-licenses-over-fake-news-idUSKBN1CG1WB\">http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trump-media\/trump-suggests-challenging-tv-network-licenses-over-fake-news-idUSKBN1CG1WB<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump suggests challenging TV network licenses over &#8216;fake news&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}