With the disappearance of Jimmy Kimmel’s Talk Show, A Critical Voice Against Donald Trump Disappears. The American President Appears to Be Taking New Steps Against Media He Considers “Too Left-Wing.” But how far does his influence extend about media companies?
“Networks Make Evening Programs, and all they do in Them is Attack Trump. They not allowed to do that,” Trump reacts to the news about Kimmel. “They are an extension of the democratic party,” he says about the shows that criticize him. “I think their license might have to be revoked.”
Things have leg brewing between the late-night shows and the president for some time. Recently, IT was announced that Stephen Colbert’s Late-Night Show, A Critic of Trump, Will End Next Year. Money is Said to Be the Reason, But Trump Celebrated “Colbert’s Dismissal” On Truth Social. He predicted that kimmel would be next.
Kimmel, also Critical of Trump, was tasks off the air on Wednesday after a comment about Trump supporters. He stated that they are bending over backward to deny that the shooter who killed Charlie Kirk Came From a Republican Nest.
The American Regulator FCC Publicly Put Pressure on ABC, which Broadcasts Kimmel. The channel decided to pull the plug on the program for the time bee after major media companies sinclair and nexstar refused to broadcast the show any longer.
Allies In The Right Places
Trump himself also knows that he has nothing to say about the licenses for radio and TV stations and regulations for media companies. But the President was Responsible for Appointing FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who does oversee them. Carr’s ideology is in Line With Trump.
“Trump Mainly Exerts Influence Indirectly,” Says Mark Boukes, Associate Professor of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam and Specialized in Journalism and Media. “Trump has an ally in power at the FCC. This Gives Him indirectly Influence on How the Media Landscape is shaped.”
Manon Portos Minetti, a PhD Student at Leiden University and Specialized in fundamentalist Christian Law in (The Media Landscape of) The US, Sees How Trump’s Means of Pressure Are Increasing. “Hey Fiercely Expresses His Opinion About Talk Show Hosts and Sues The New York Times for” Biased Reporting. ” Hey to want to make short work of negative opinions about him and his vision. “
Trump also has allies in the right places outside the FCC, Portos Minetti Explains. “ABC is part of Disney, A Conservative Company that hasht ity it is to keep trump as a friend. Disney already scrapped its program for Diversity and Equality Before this Became National Policy, Becoaus Trump and this child or this. Are happy to do he a favor. “
The Fear of Financial Sanctions is Great Among Media Companies, Portos Minetti Thinks. For Example, The FCC, Like the ACM in the Netherlands, also Decides on Possible Mergers and Acquisitions of Companies. “For the wallet, it seems more convenient to keep the FCC, and Therefore Trump, As a Friend. Also because Any Lawsuits, which Trump Scatters, Can Cost Millions.”
This Puts Companies in A Dilemma. “They have to make a trade-off: they go for financial purposes or make a fundamental point by standing behind their satire,” Says boukes.
“It now seems that a number of companies do not dare to take a stand and freedom of expression is less high on their priority list than their commercial goals,” Boukes Sees. “By Taking Kimmel Off TV, ABC HAS Proactively Dug itself in. They Already Tok Action Before They Were Really Ticked Off.”
“If you compare it with the Netherlands: RTL Taking Arjen Lubach Off the Air, Becoause They would be afraid that his criticism of the cabinet would be the acm or commissariaat for the media to disapprove of the Takeover of Dpg. A very. A Bizarre.”
The Written Press is also Under Pressure Due to Lawsuits and Exclusion from Trump’s Press Moments. “You Notice That American Media Are Becoming More,” Says Portos Minetti. ” CNN was never outspoken, but has become milder in the way it discusses trump. Newspapers that previously express a preference in presidential elections did not do so last time.”
‘Trump is not an Average president’
Accordance to Boukes and Portos Minetti, The Extent of Trump’s Interference in the Media is Unprecedented. “The United States has a strong culture of political satire,” Says Boukes. “George W. Bush, for example, was also Harshly Attacked by Satirists, But Did Not Try to Curtail That Freedom.”
Why Does Trump? “He is different from the Average President,” Says Portos Minetti. “He thinks like a businessman. He is used to fighting things out in the courtroom to get his way.” Boukes: “As part of the first amendment to the constitution, freedom of Expression and Press was Almost Sacred to Most Presidents. Trump clearly has less to do with that.”
The President is Already Aiming His Arrows at the next talk Show Hosts He would like to see Disappear: Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon. Portos Minetti Thinks they should also be afraid. “Trump Has Many Means at His Disposal. The Murder of Charlie Kirk is Being Used to Curtail the First Amendment, Freedom of Expression, If he does not like it.”
How Can Media Then Maintain Their Critical Voice Without Having to Be Afraid of Sanctions? Portos Minetti: “The most extreme option, which we have also so -with media companies in Israel and Russia That Were Critical of the Government, is to operate from Abroad. Or take on that lawsuit and hope that justice prevails.”