Trump FCC asks public to comment on whether ABC’s The View is a news show

特朗普政府下的 FCC 征求公众意见：ABC 节目《The View》是否属于新闻节目

The Federal Communications Commission is escalating its attack on ABC’s The View with a proceeding that seeks public comment on whether the talk show is a “bona fide news interview program.” The FCC Media Bureau today issued a public notice seeking opinions on whether The View qualifies for the bona fide news exemption to the equal-time rule, which requires equal time for opposing political candidates on non-news programming.

美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）正在升级对 ABC 电视台节目《The View》的攻势，通过一项程序征求公众意见，以判定该脱口秀是否属于“真正的（bona fide）新闻访谈节目”。FCC 媒体局今日发布公告，征求各方意见，探讨《The View》是否有资格获得“平等时间规则”下的新闻豁免权。该规则要求广播公司在非新闻类节目中，必须为对立的政治候选人提供平等的播出时间。

The probe of The View is driven by Chairman Brendan Carr, who has embraced President Trump’s declaration that the FCC is no longer an independent agency and used his chairmanship to open investigations into broadcasters that Trump dislikes. “Decades ago, Congress made the decision to prevent covered broadcast television programs from being used to advance certain partisan political purposes,” the Media Bureau public notice said. The equal-time rule exists to prevent broadcast television stations “from unfairly putting their thumbs on the scale for one political candidate or set of candidates over another,” and “to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly given less access to the public airwaves than their opponent,” it said.

针对《The View》的调查由主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）推动。卡尔认同特朗普总统关于“FCC 不再是一个独立机构”的声明，并利用其主席职权对特朗普不喜欢的广播公司展开调查。媒体局的公告称：“几十年前，国会做出决定，旨在防止受监管的广播电视节目被用于推进特定的党派政治目的。”公告指出，平等时间规则的存在是为了防止广播电视台“不公平地偏袒某一位或某一组政治候选人”，并“确保任何合法的公职候选人不会在获取公共广播资源方面受到不公平的对待，从而少于其竞争对手”。

The FCC notice invited the public to comment on whether The View’s decisions on show format and participants are “based on newsworthiness or on an attempt to oppose or support particular candidates within the meaning of FCC precedent.” This isn’t the only case of Carr targeting the Disney-owned ABC. Carr threatened ABC station licenses in September 2025, alleging that airing Jimmy Kimmel’s show might violate the rarely enforced news distortion policy. Last month, Carr ordered an unusual review of ABC’s broadcast licenses over allegations that its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices violate anti-discrimination rules.

FCC 的公告邀请公众评论《The View》在节目形式和嘉宾选择上的决策，是否“基于新闻价值，还是试图在 FCC 先例的定义下反对或支持特定候选人”。这并非卡尔针对迪士尼旗下 ABC 电视台的唯一案例。2025 年 9 月，卡尔曾威胁要吊销 ABC 的电台执照，声称播出吉米·坎摩尔（Jimmy Kimmel）的节目可能违反了极少被执行的“新闻歪曲政策”。上个月，卡尔还下令对 ABC 的广播执照进行异常审查，理由是其多元化、公平和包容性（DEI）实践涉嫌违反反歧视规则。

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said the invitation for public comment on The View shows that “the FCC is once again targeting an administration critic by mob rule. Let’s not pretend this FCC hasn’t already made up its mind. All they want is for their pro-censorship partisan allies to nod in agreement. My message to Disney: Don’t flinch. Fight.”

民主党籍 FCC 委员安娜·戈麦斯（Anna Gomez）表示，此次针对《The View》征求公众意见的行为表明，“FCC 再次通过暴民统治手段针对政府的批评者。别假装 FCC 还没有下定决心。他们想要的只是让那些支持审查制度的党派盟友点头赞同。我给迪士尼的建议是：别退缩，抗争到底。”

The View won exemption in 2002

《The View》曾在 2002 年获得豁免

The Media Bureau public notice did not mention that the FCC has consistently given bona fide exemptions to entertainment programs for over 40 years. Exemptions were handed out to shows hosted by Phil Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, Jerry Springer, Bill Maher, Jay Leno, and Howard Stern. The View itself won a bona fide news exemption from the FCC in 2002, during President George W. Bush’s first term.

媒体局的公告并未提及 FCC 在过去 40 多年里一直向娱乐节目提供“真正的”新闻豁免权。菲尔·多纳休（Phil Donahue）、萨莉·杰西·拉斐尔（Sally Jessy Raphael）、杰瑞·斯普林格（Jerry Springer）、比尔·马赫（Bill Maher）、杰·雷诺（Jay Leno）和霍华德·斯特恩（Howard Stern）主持的节目都曾获得过此类豁免。《The View》本人则是在 2002 年乔治·W·布什总统第一任期内，从 FCC 获得了该项新闻豁免。

Strictly speaking, programs are not required to obtain these exemptions in order to interview political candidates. A program can be exempt from the rule if it meets the qualifications, regardless of whether it seeks a formal decision from the FCC. The current review of The View‘s exemption was triggered recently when the FCC Media Bureau ordered an ABC station to file a new petition for a declaratory ruling on The View’s status. ABC responded by filing a petition arguing that the FCC is overstepping its authority and violating the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.

严格来说，节目在采访政治候选人时并不一定非要获得这些豁免。只要符合条件，节目即使不向 FCC 寻求正式裁决，也可以豁免于该规则。此次对《The View》豁免权的审查，源于近期 FCC 媒体局要求一家 ABC 附属电台提交一份关于《The View》地位的声明裁决申请。ABC 对此做出回应，提交了一份请愿书，辩称 FCC 此举越权，并侵犯了广播公司的第一修正案权利。

ABC’s filing said the FCC has long used a three-part test to determine whether an interview is a bona fide news interview. These factors are “(1) whether the program is regularly scheduled; (2) whether the broadcaster or an independent producer controls the program; and (3) whether the broadcaster’s or independent producer’s decisions on format, content, and participants are based on newsworthiness rather than on an intention to advance or harm an individual’s candidacy,” ABC said. The FCC’s 2002 determination “has remained unchallenged and unchanged since that time and, to this day, The View remains fully qualified for the exemption under the applicable legal standards,” ABC said.

ABC 在文件中表示，FCC 长期以来一直使用“三部分测试法”来判定访谈是否属于“真正的”新闻访谈。ABC 指出，这些因素包括：“(1) 节目是否定期播出；(2) 广播公司或独立制作人是否控制节目；(3) 广播公司或独立制作人在节目形式、内容和嘉宾选择上的决策是否基于新闻价值，而非旨在推进或损害某位候选人的竞选。”ABC 表示，FCC 2002 年的裁定“自那时起从未受到挑战，也未曾改变，时至今日，《The View》在适用的法律标准下依然完全符合豁免资格。”

Today’s FCC Media Bureau public notice described the 2002 ruling as “a letter from an FCC staffer.” The ABC petition said the 2002 letter was “a Declaratory Ruling from the Mass Media Bureau,” which “remains in full force and effect.”

今日 FCC 媒体局的公告将 2002 年的裁定描述为“一封来自 FCC 工作人员的信”。而 ABC 的请愿书则指出，那封 2002 年的信件是“来自大众媒体局的声明裁决”，该裁决“依然完全有效”。

ABC challenges legality of equal-time rule

ABC 质疑“平等时间规则”的合法性

Besides asking for comment on whether The View is a bona fide news show, the FCC proceeding offers an opportunity for people to comment on whether the equal-time rule itself is constitutional. ABC’s petition argued that the rule “raises profound First Amendment concerns” because of the limits it imposes on editorial decisions about what guests to feature. “At a minimum, the equal opportunities rule could not survive constitutional scrutiny without the kind of robust bona fide news exemption that the Commission has applied for decades,” ABC said.

除了征求关于《The View》是否属于“真正的”新闻节目的意见外，FCC 的这一程序还为公众提供了评论“平等时间规则”本身是否符合宪法的机会。ABC 的请愿书辩称，该规则“引发了深远的宪法第一修正案担忧”，因为它限制了广播公司在选择嘉宾时的编辑决策权。ABC 表示：“至少，如果没有委员会几十年来一直实施的那种强有力的‘真正新闻豁免’，平等机会规则将无法通过宪法审查。”

The FCC Media Bureau notice responded to ABC’s constitutional argument by asking for public comment on whether “the federal equal opportunities statute pass[es] relevant constitutional scrutiny, either as a general matter or as applied here.” The docket has already received a few dozen comments today. Most are from people writing that The View is not a real news show, but one commenter said the FCC investigation “is misguided and unfounded, especially as it apparently did not stem from any formal complaint regarding The View violating the equal time provisions or its long-standing status as a bona fide news program.”

FCC 媒体局的公告回应了 ABC 的宪法论点，要求公众评论“联邦平等机会法规是否通过了相关的宪法审查，无论是作为一般性事项还是在本案中的具体应用”。该案卷今日已收到数十条评论。大多数评论者认为《The View》不是真正的新闻节目，但也有评论者指出，FCC 的调查“是误导且毫无根据的，特别是考虑到它显然并非源于任何关于《The View》违反平等时间规定或其长期作为‘真正新闻节目’地位的正式投诉。”

The FCC set a June 22 deadline for initial comments, and a July 6 deadline for reply comments.

FCC 将初始评论的截止日期定为 6 月 22 日，回复评论的截止日期为 7 月 6 日。