‘60 Minutes’ probe is ‘penalty,’ not ‘threat,’ per FCC chair

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, the top communications regulator, doesn’t view his investigation into CBS as “a threat” to the broadcaster. Sitting down with CNBC host Sara Eisen at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Los Angeles, Chairman Carr called the federal inquiry into “60 Minutes” over its October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris a “penalty that’s in the Communications Act.” The Federal Communications Commission is investigating whether the program engaged in so-called “news distortion.” Chairman Carr stressed that trust in the media is at an all-time low, laying the blame not on local TV stations, whose licenses are set by the FCC, but, rather, at the feet of larger broadcasters. The clarification that the threats are actually so-called penalties under the Communications Act follows months of posturing and attacks against legacy media from the White House and the FCC.