Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said local television stations are increasingly failing to serve their communities, arguing many have become conduits for nationally produced programming rather than outlets for locally focused reporting.
Speaking about the state of broadcast media during an appearance at a Breitbart News policy event on Tuesday, Carr said too many local stations have drifted from the role envisioned when they received federal licenses.
"Your local TV station, in too many cases, is simply just a mouthpiece for programming being created in Hollywood and New York," Carr said.
"And so we've lost that balance of actual local news stations connected to the communities, licensed by the FCC with an obligation to serve the community where the antenna is."
Carr's comments reflect an ongoing debate over whether broadcast outlets are meeting public interest obligations tied to the use of public airwaves.
Television stations licensed by the FCC are required to operate in the interest of their local communities, a standard historically tied to providing local news, emergency information, and community programming.
Carr also argued that broader changes in the media environment have accelerated amid President Donald Trump's rise in national politics.
"For so long, politicians just accepted the narrative that they were handed down, and they didn't want to fight that," Carr said. "They just took the narrative."
"And President Trump fundamentally disrupted that. He set the terms of the debate."
Carr said the shift challenged the influence of traditional news organizations.
"It really just smashed this facade that those gatekeepers get to control what we think and what we say," he said. "The legacy media is the emperor with no clothes."
Carr pointed to declining public trust in national news organizations, citing survey data to illustrate his point.
"There was actually a study that 15% of people would eat gas station sushi, but only 9% of people have trust in the legacy national media," Carr said.
Carr contrasted national outlets with local reporting, which he said remains more closely aligned with public concerns.
"Legacy media in particular, unlike local, is just wildly out of touch with where the American people are," he added.
The FCC does not regulate the content of news reporting but oversees broadcast licensing and enforces public interest standards for television and radio stations using public spectrum.
Carr's remarks come amid broader discussions about the future of local journalism, as many stations face financial pressure, consolidation, and growing competition from digital media platforms.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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