David Letterman on the Threats to Late-Night Hosts

"Factual mistakes, errors in judgment, bad jokes-that has not traditionally been part of their job, until this week. As you may have already heard, comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show was suspended by ABC for comments he made on the show about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Here's the timing of events, which is important: Kimmel says something inaccurate about the guy who killed Charlie Kirk."

"Shortly after, the chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, gets on a right-wing podcast and suggests that ABC and its affiliates take steps against Kimmel, saying, quote, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The network, which relies on stations carrying their programming, wasted little time. That same day, they pulled Kimmel's show off the air indefinitely."

The FCC has historically enforced community standards, issuing fines for expletives and wardrobe malfunctions, but not policing factual mistakes or bad jokes. Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show was suspended by ABC after comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that included an inaccurate statement. FCC Chair Brendan Carr publicly suggested on a right-wing podcast that ABC and its affiliates take action, saying, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The network pulled the show the same day, and the timing prompted an impromptu interview involving David Letterman and Jeffrey Goldberg. President Trump also commented on perceived media bias.

Read at The Atlantic