The Scoop
The conservative broadcaster Newsmax quietly removed from its website an interview on Monday with an executive who criticized the powerful Federal Communications Commission.
The article, titled “Telecom Company Urges FCC to Reverse Biden-era Fine,” featured the CEO of the digital calling company Telnyx, the target of a recent FCC fine for allegedly failing to take adequate action to stop government imposter robocalls made on its network.
Newsmax’s Monday article blamed the recent action on left-leaning members of the commission, airing complaints that the “previous Democrat agenda” was “still clinging to some government bureaus” and that the FCC was one of the “bureaus still bogged down by Biden’s policies.”
“[Former President Joe] Biden-era bureaucrats are still in play,” Telnyx CEO David Casem told Newsmax. “They’re still preventing businesses from succeeding in this country.”
Within hours, the piece had been removed from the news organization’s website without explanation. Network chief Chris Ruddy sought its removal, a person familiar with the decision-making process said. In an email to Semafor, a Newsmax spokesperson said that removing the article was an editorial decision, but did not elaborate on why the article was taken down.
In recent weeks, Telnyx has attempted to make its case across the media that the FCC’s actions are vestiges of the previous administration, and that new chairman Brendan Carr was being misled by liberal FCC commission members. Telnyx did not respond to an inquiry about the deleted article. An FCC spokesman declined to comment, and there’s no indication the commission played any role in the Newsmax story’s deletion.
Know More
As chair, Carr has already taken a variety of actions that have angered Democrats and many free press advocates. In just a few months on the job, the new chairman has enthusiastically announced investigations into NPR and PBS and has reopened investigations into ABC, NBC and CBS.
As part of his scrutiny of Paramount’s merger with entertainment company Skydance, Carr prompted CBS to turn over the transcript of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris at the center of a personal lawsuit by Trump against the network. Semafor first reported last week that Democratic members of Congress introduced legislation attempting to rein in the FCC’s ability to strip networks of their broadcast licenses over political speech.
But while Carr is spooking many higher ups in the media industry, he has been relatively accessible to the press. He has appeared on Newsmax to discuss investigations into a number of media companies, including the radio company Audacy, as well as to applaud Trump’s executive actions, and has sparred with more adversarial journalists.
Notable
- On Tuesday, Newsmax announced the launch of its IPO. The outlet hopes to raise as much as $75 million before its March 31 listing on the stock exchange, per a statement.