Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr today urged broadcasters to join a “Pledge America Campaign” that Carr established to support President Trump’s “Salute to America 250” project.
Carr said in a press release that “I am inviting broadcasters to pledge to air programming in their local markets in support of this historic national, non-partisan celebration.” The press release said Carr is asking broadcasters to “air patriotic, pro-America programming in support of America’s 250th birthday.”
Carr gave what he called examples of content that broadcasters can run if they take the pledge. His examples include “starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or Pledge of Allegiance”; airing “PSAs, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history”; running “segments during regular news programming that highlight local sites that are significant to American and regional history, such as National Park Service sites”; airing “music by America’s greatest composers, such as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin”; and providing daily “Today in American History” announcements highlighting significant events from US history.
Carr apparently wants this to start now and last until at least July 4. Carr’s press release starts by touting Trump’s Salute to America 250 project and quotes a White House statement that said, “Under the President’s leadership, Task Force 250 has commenced the planning of a full year of festivities to officially launch on Memorial Day, 2025 and continue through July 4, 2026.”
That White House quote cited by the FCC today is nearly a year old, as you might have guessed by the reference to Memorial Day in 2025. More recently, Trump has said he wants the celebration to last throughout 2026. A Trump proclamation last month declared a “yearlong commemoration” of American independence that began on January 1, 2026.
“Voluntary” pledge
Today’s FCC press release said, “Broadcasters can voluntarily choose to indicate their commitment to the Pledge America Campaign and highlight their ongoing and relevant programming to their viewing and listening audiences.” Although it’s described as voluntary, Carr said broadcasters can meet their public interest obligations by taking the pledge. This is notable because Carr has repeatedly threatened to punish broadcast stations for violating the public interest standard.
“I believe in the greatness of our country,” Carr said in the press release. “And I look forward to broadcasters showcasing its inspiring history by taking the Pledge and fulfilling their public interest mandate to serve the needs and interests of their local communities as America’s 250th birthday celebration marches on.”
Carr has enthusiastically backed Trump’s battles against the media by making numerous threats to revoke broadcast station licenses. Carr targeted ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel in September, and recently opened an investigation into ABC’s The View. In both cases, Carr said he was enforcing the FCC’s public interest standard.
Stephen Colbert said this week that CBS forbade him from interviewing Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico because of Carr’s threat to ditch the FCC’s longstanding practice of exempting talk shows from the equal-time rule. CBS denied prohibiting the interview but acknowledged giving Colbert “legal guidance” about potential consequences under the equal-time rule. Carr responded Wednesday by claiming that Colbert lied and said the media “should feel a bit ashamed for having been lied to and then run with those lies.”
If Carr’s pledge is truly voluntary, there would be no reason to limit it to broadcasters, said Harold Feld, a longtime telecom attorney who is senior VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge. “If this were genuinely intended as voluntary, and genuinely about celebrating America, there is no reason to limit this to broadcasters,” Feld told Ars. “Cable operators are equally free to celebrate America, as are podcasters for that matter.”
The FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, has been urging broadcasters to push back against the FCC and assert their First Amendment rights. She wrote in response to Carr’s Pledge America Campaign, “Nothing is more American than defending our constitutional rights against those who would erode our civil liberties. If broadcasters choose to participate in this FCC campaign, they can do so by defending their First Amendment rights and refusing government interference.”
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