After years of serving up equal parts Trump hate, hot takes, eye rolls and political therapy sessions, ABC’s The View currently faces an awkward question from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Is it actually a news program? I’m sure that many of us have an answer to that already.
According to a recent Morning Wire podcast, the FCC is preparing to decide whether the daytime talk show qualifies as a “bona fide news program,” a designation with potentially significant consequences for the network.
David Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, told Morning Wire his organization submitted more than 2,000 pages of material to the FCC arguing that The View lacks political balance.
Among the examples he cited: approximately 130 liberal guests compared with just two conservatives over the past year (and one of those was current Trump hater MTG), along with statements from the show’s executive producer indicating President Donald Trump would not be invited onto the program.
Bozell argued ABC receives valuable public broadcast spectrum and therefore has obligations to operate in the public interest.
He claimed that if Disney-owned The View isn’t recognized as a bona fide news program, ABC could ultimately face pressure to move the show off broadcast television and onto a streaming platform. If it is classified as news, Bozell predicted the show’s hosts could face greater scrutiny over factual claims and potential legal exposure for inaccurate statements.
Either way, changes appear to be coming to the politically biased, Trump-bashing daytime talk show hosted by elderly panelists Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and their fellow co-hosts.
ABC insisted The View hasn’t changed since the FCC gave it a pass more than 20 years ago – only the politics have. The network also accused the FCC of singling out shows seen as unfriendly to the Trump administration while giving talk radio a free pass, calling the crackdown anything but evenhanded. The FCC has not yet announced a final ruling.
One thing is certain: if federal regulators start grading daytime television on journalism, the ladies at The View may soon discover that coffee mugs and TDS don’t count as press credentials.