San Francisco radio station under investigation by the FCC for immigration coverage
Chicago stations could be impacted
After just three weeks on the job as FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr is putting his stamp on the agency and it is proving to be a nightmare for journalists and media companies alike.
In an unprecedented move, the FCC is investigating a Bay Area radio station for its coverage of immigration raids in San Jose, Calif. last month. The raids took place in the eastern part of the city, an area known for drug and gang-related violence.
All-news KCBS-AM is accused of sharing the locations of ICE officials and their vehicle descriptions during a January 26 broadcast in a complaint filed with the agency by a right-wing organization.
“We have sent a letter of inquiry, a formal investigation into that matter, and they have just a matter of days left to respond to that inquiry and explain how this could possibly be consistent with their public interest obligations,” Carr said on Fox News this week. “This is really concerning, so what happened was you had ICE agents undercover doing operations in East San Jose, part of the town known for violent gang activity, and you had this radio station broadcasting the live location, identifying the unmarked vehicles that they were in.”
KCBS-AM is based in San Francisco and shares call letters with KCBS-FM and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, the latter switching to the calls from KNXT in April 1984. All three once had common ownership under CBS Corporation until 2017 when the company sold its radio stations to Entercom, which was renamed Audacy in April 2021. Audacy owns seven stations in the Chicago area, including WBBM Newsradio and sports talker The Score.
The FCC’s actions come as the agency is cracking down on news bias against conservatives, and is getting ready to throw the book at CBS, whose 60 Minutes is accused of maliciously editing the content of a Kamala Harris interview. CBS sent the unedited interview to the FCC, but President Trump lashed out at the network Thursday, saying CBS should “lose its license” and cancel 60 Minutes, a newsmagazine show on the air since 1968. Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, is being acquired by Skydance, but the FCC is likely to delay the deal as it continues its investigation – which could ultimately derail it unless the FCC forces Paramount to divest CBS and its owned stations, including CBS Chicago here (WBBM-TV.)
There are fears the FCC’s actions could deter news organizations from covering the Trump administration, raising First Amendment issues – something not new with this agency whenever it is under a Republican administration, as the Nippelgate controversy and its subsequent indecency crackdown from twenty years ago is still fresh in the minds of many.
Carr is also looking at KCBS-AM’s parent company after the commission voted on a 3-2 party-line vote last year to approve a bankruptcy reorganization that would see Audacy’s debt bought by George Soros’ private equity firm. Soros is known for bankrolling liberal causes and has contributed to Democratic candidates, including former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
The FCC’s actions could have implications for Chicago’s television and radio news organizations, as immigration czar Tom Homan has targeted the city with immigration raids. Chicago media outlets are frequently targeted by local conservative critics, such as WIND-AM morning host and Republican operative Dan Proft, along with The Chicago Contrarian website. On January 27, Dr. Phil McGraw tagged along with ICE officials in an early-morning raid on Chicago’s North Side, live-streamed on his Merit Streets app with footage from the raid airing on his nightly TV show Monday.
Not surprisingly, KCBS-AM scrubbed their coverage of the January 26 raids from their website.
The largest populated city in the Bay Area, San Jose is some 40 miles south of San Francisco and Oakland and is home to the NHL’s Sharks and nearby Silicon Valley with the San Francisco 49ers playing in Santa Clara.