Media Action Center is a nonprofit group of concerned residents throughout the United States led by former Emmy-winning broadcaster turned media democracy advocate Sue Wilson. We successfully influence policy at the Federal Communications Commission and at local US TV and Radio stations to ensure We the People are truly served by Our publicly owned airwaves. MAC joined Frequency Forward in filing a Motion to Intervene in ABC/Disney v FCC to ensure viewers, who own the Public Airwaves and whose rights are paramount, has a seat at the table. MAC also joined a current Petition to Deny the broadcast licenses of DISNEY ABC at the FCC. In 2017, MAC forced Entercom to give up its $13.5 million license to KDND for killing a woman in a radio water drinking stunt. That same year MAC empowered local listeners across the country to take Alex Jones off their local radio dials. In 2000, we informed the Supreme Court in FCC v Prometheus Radio that multiple local TV stations with one corporate owner merely duplicate news stories on all its stations; a similar methodology is currently being used in legal cases trying to prevent the Nexstar/TEGNA merger.

Find full journalistic coverage of all this plus Sinclair Broadcasting's shell game and other public interest media issues at SueWilsonReports.com. See also Wilson's documentary "Broadcast Blues" which is more relevant today than when it premiered in 2009. Broadcast Blues.

Frequency Forward and Media Action Center Brief FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on Fight to Protect ABC Viewers

    September 21, 2026 

Groups also Move to Oppose FCC's Effort to Dismiss Disney's Federal Lawsuit

 Washington, D.C.

Frequency Forward and the Media Action Center met with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Anna Gomez and members of her staff last week to brief the Commissioner on the groups' legal strategy to protect ABC viewers' First Amendment rights in Chairman Brendan Carr's unconstitutional assault on the freedom of the press.

The public interest groups explained that their Petition to Deny is designed to make the American public formal parties to the FCC proceeding, provide procedural rights otherwise unavailable to informal commenters, and to force transparency in the ongoing broadcast license fight. Both FF-MAC reiterated its strong support for Disney's challenge, arguing that viewers have a constitutionally protected right to receive news, information, and programming free from government intimidation.

The meeting on September 16 was noticed in an ex parte letter filed in the FCC Media Bureau Docket No. 26-131 and included representatives from both organizations. Commissioner Gomez was joined by Deena Shetler, Chief of Staff and Legal Advisor, and Jonathan Uriarte, Strategic Communications and Policy Advisor.

Last week, Frequency Forward, the Media Action Center, and individual ABC viewers from across the country also opposed the FCC's attempt to have Disney's lawsuit dismissed in Federal Court. The groups' filing argues that the FCC's early license-renewal process has already harmed viewers' First Amendment rights and that allowing the Commission's pretextual and retaliatory Investigation to continue could leave ABC's licenses in limbo for years.

The opposition argues that "the process is the punishment" and warns that, absent court intervention, "ABC will continue to self-censor." From the FF-MAC opposition:

If permitted to continue, the investigation and hearing will go on for years, turning the regulatory process itself into the punishment. The purpose of this proceeding is not to gather information, but to threaten punishment for Disney's temerity to criticize Trump and his policies, thereby constraining ABC and other broadcasters from any future revelations that might cast the administration in a negative light. The FCC's investigation is not just about Disney or ABC per se, nor does it have anything to do with EEO rules. The FCC's action is part of a larger attack on the First Amendment and the Constitutional rights of media outlets and the public that relies on those media outlets to keep them informed.

Even if the FCC is unable to revoke the Plaintiffs' licenses, early renewal combined with a lengthy hearing and a still lengthier FCC review process, will place Disney's licenses in limbo for many years. Thus, either Plaintiffs' licenses will be revoked, or the Trump administration will muzzle Disney for the foreseeable future. A win-win for the administration, but a terrible loss for democracy and the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech.

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