In letter to NAB, Gomez says reporting on polls this Administration dislikes does not meet the legal bar for news distortion or broadcast hoax investigations
October 24, 2026 - WASHINGTON - FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez on Friday sent a letter to National Association of 
Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt sounding the alarm on the FCC’s recent suggestion that broadcasters who air polls this Administration dislikes could face a news distortion or broadcast hoax investigation. With the midterms less than two weeks away, the letter urges NAB to make sure every station understands what the law actually requires before that threat has its intended chilling effect.
“This Administration is running a coordinated, government-wide effort to reshape the media into its sanctioned messenger, and the Federal Communications Commission has become one of its most active instruments,” wrote Commissioner Gomez.
The letter explains that news distortion and broadcast hoax cases require proof of deliberate distortion of a factual report or knowingly false information about a crime or catastrophe.
“Reporting the results of a poll this Administration happens to dislike does not come close to meeting those standards,” Gomez added.
Commissioner Gomez also reminded broadcasters what the public interest standard means.
“This agency does not get to redefine the public interest standard as whatever happens to serve the political interests of whoever is in power. That standard was written into the law to protect the audiences these stations are licensed to serve, not the officials who regulate them.”
The letter also points to other recent Commission actions on political programming and advertising affecting broadcasters.
“Your members did not sign up to serve as an arm of any political campaign, and they should not be made to choose between their license and their integrity,” Commissioner Gomez concluded.
Read the full letter here.
Office of Commissioner Anna M. Gomez: (202) 418-2100
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
www.fcc.gov/leadership/anna-gomez
Source: FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez