The FCC Wants to Reshape Media. Publishers Should be Worried.

How much longer will publishers remain silent?

Here are the first three headlines I saw today, courtesy of Media Star. If you’re interested in subscribing, you can do so here. It’s free.

As a longtime public relations executive, each headline raised a big red flag, and once again raised the question of how long book publishers will remain silent in the face of an administration that wants to control the media. As much as publishers think the First Amendment will prevail, I have my doubts. The First Amendment won’t prevent networks from capitulating to an administration that claims bias every time something airs that they dislike. Let’s take a closer look at the headlines above:

Trump Seeks to ‘Correct’ US Media Industry

From Reuters:

President Donald Trump and the Federal Communications Commission have vowed to force American broadcast media outlets to make significant changes.

CBS may be just the beginning.

"President Trump is fundamentally reshaping the media landscape," FCC Chair Brendan Carr told CNBC Friday. "The media industry across this country needs a course correction."

The “course” correction Carr refers to is not one in which the media landscape changes for the better. Instead, it is one where Trump’s demands are met, which are then spun as “business decisions” by executives who are willing to sacrifice integrity, staff, and millions of dollars instead of engaging in a fight they’d most likely win.

More from Reuters:

Trump has repeatedly attacked broadcast networks for what he perceives as biased news coverage and called on Carr to rescind their licenses.

"The new owners of CBS came in and said, 'It's time for a change. We're going to reorient it towards getting rid of bias," Carr said. "At the end of the day that's what made the difference for us."

Carr's comments suggest the FCC will ramp up efforts to rid mainstream media of what he and President Trump consider a deep and enduring liberal bias, creating an opening for more conservative views among the biggest media companies.

Mainstream media has its issues, but I wouldn’t say a liberal bias is one of them. What I would say is that this administration wants the networks to be run like this: do as we say, or pay a hefty price (in the case of ABC and CBS, millions of dollars toward what I think will be a non-existent Trump Presidential Library).

From The Daily Beast yesterday:

President Donald Trump is taking aim at network television—and not for the first time.

The president excoriated NBC and ABC in two Truth Social posts on Saturday, labeling both networks “political pawns for the Democratic party,” and calling for their licenses to be revoked, in an apparent continuation of his campaign against networks that have failed to fall in line with his agenda.

No matter which side of the political spectrum you fall, you should not want network television—or any other media—controlled by the government. If you’re a publisher, you should especially decry this because it will negatively impact the publicity prospects for the books you publish. I’ll get to that later.

Disney Braces for Trump Ire over ‘The View’

From Entertainment Weekly:

After The View cohosts clocked Donald Trump's potential jealousy meter amid the president's recent criticism of Barack Obama, the White House issued an intimidating statement to Entertainment Weekly referencing the potential for the talk show to be "pulled off the air."

In the aftermath of Trump making a shocking allegation Tuesday that Obama "was trying to lead a coup" in the past — which even prompted a rare response from the former president — Whoopi Goldberg introduced a Hot Topic on Wednesday's episode in observance of the strange development.

Joy Behar then jumped in with a criticism of her own, saying, "First of all, who tried to overthrow the government on Jan. 6. Who was that again? That was not Obama," referencing the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the United States Capitol, which mostly supporters of Trump participated in.

Let me be clear: An appearance on The View sells books. The View is also aired on ABC, which recently settled a lawsuit with Trump for $16 million. Do you think Disney wants to go through that again? I’m not a mind reader, but I’m guessing Disney CEO Bob Iger doesn’t want to get entangled in another legal battle with Trump.

The White House issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly:

In response, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers tells EW in an email statement that "Joy Behar is an irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," and claimed that the show has "hit the lowest ratings" in recent years.

The statement continued, adding that Behar "should self-reflect on her own jealousy of President Trump’s historic popularity before her show is the next to be pulled off air."

Fact check: The View is enjoying its highest ratings in four years. Most of the time, publicists can’t book a guest on the third hour of Today or Kelly & Mark because The View is so competitive. The media made a big deal about The View going on hiatus, trying to connect it to the show’s kerfuffle with the White House. Still, historically, this is when many daytime talk shows go off the air until their respective season premieres in mid-September.

Paramount Merger Gets Go-Ahead from FCC

From The Washington Post:

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday formally approved the $8 billion merger of CBS parent company Paramount and Skydance Media, ending a more than 250-day review process marked by controversy and accusations of inappropriate political pressure.

“Inappropriate political pressure” is an understatement. First, 60 Minutes settled with Trump for $16 million. Then, they cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—which, by the way, also books people who have written books. I hope Colbert goes scorched earth over the next ten months. South Park already got the memo.

Why Publishers Need to Speak Out Now

If publishers think they’re immune to the President’s ire, they are sadly mistaken. I’m glad Paramount no longer owns Simon & Schuster, but that doesn’t mean they’ll avoid being a target. Is the unspoken rule that publishers with conservative imprints, or, if not, at least publish conservative books, safe from scrutiny? I don’t think so.

Fighting book bans is a worthy endeavor, and I appreciate the publishers who have filed lawsuits; however, a bigger problem is looming that is not being addressed. What happens when the mainstream media continues to be attacked and sued by Trump and his administration? There has been a mass exodus at The Washington Post due to changes in editorial standards stemming from Jeff “Amazon” Bezos’s interference. The Los Angeles Times has undergone and is currently undergoing similar changes.

If publishers want to continue pushing mainstream media coverage for publicists to obtain for authors, they need to speak out about what’s happening. It’s not only for the sake of authors; it is also for the integrity of the industry and its employees. If they don’t, they should stop putting so much pressure on publicity departments to deliver mainstream media results (I think they should stop doing that anyway).

Again and again, publishing employees are expected to meet the moment. Their bosses need to do the same thing.

Odds and Ends:

MSNBC is bringing back live events.

Astronomer (you know, whose CEO and Chief People Officer were caught canoodling on the Coldplay Kiss Cam) hired…Gwyneth Paltrow as their temporary spokesperson. Ryan Reynolds probably has the best rapid-response team in the business. They are responsible for the ad. Some folks didn’t see how this made sense. Let me explain: Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow are still close after their “conscious uncoupling” years ago. The message here is: Hey, I’m still cool with my ex! Nothing to see here!

Social media is very divided over Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad. What I saw was a ripoff of all the Brooke Shields Calvin Klein ads. There are twelve of them here. It’s already been well-established that Shields was too young for such seductive ads. The profits from Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans are being donated to Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that provides free and confidential text-based mental health support and crisis intervention. Do I think American Eagle missed the mark? Yes, I do. It’s an entirely inappropriate ad for jeans associated with donating profits to help domestic violence victims. Do I think it has anything to do with eugenics? Not intentionally. Meaning, I don’t think the team that created this thought, “Let’s make this as white as possible,” which is a problem in itself. Mostly, it’s Sydney Sweeney being…Sydney Sweeney, someone who leans into her sexual appeal and enjoys courting some controversy, and a throwback to the Brooke Shields ads from 1980. The issues I think the company needs to address are: Sacrificing diversity for a celebrity touting jeans meant for women with an ad that appeals to men (what else is new?), and bad messaging for a product that is attached to helping victims of domestic violence. At least their stock went up for a minute before JP Morgan downgraded them. Oops.

What’s Next:

I’m putting together a couple of classes for the fall, and I will announce them soon.

Want to see more of this newsletter? While 95% of my content is free, paid subscriptions enable me to allocate more time to write it. Consider becoming a paid subscriber today - it would be greatly appreciated.