FCC launches effort to ‘root out’ DEI programs, beginning with Comcast
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The Federal Communications Commission has opened an inquiry into Comcast Corp.’s employee programs, stepping up efforts to “root out” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that it said may violate equal employment laws.
Comcast is the first media company to face such an inquiry. The Philadelphia cable and television giant said in a statement that it would be “cooperating with the FCC to answer their questions.”
The move comes less than a month after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr took the helm of the agency that oversees communications policy and broadcast licenses.
Carr, who was elevated to the top role by President Trump, immediately dismantled the agency’s DEI programs, pulling the plug on budget expenditures and staff members dedicated to promoting inclusion.
In a letter to Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts on Tuesday, Carr wrote that his goal was to “ensure that your companies are not promoting invidious forms of discrimination in violation of FCC regulations and civil rights laws.”
The action by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr shines a spotlight on fears that President Trump will use his power to threaten media outlets that don’t support him.
The landmark Communications Act and FCC rules forbid companies from “discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender,” Carr reminded Roberts in the letter. The FCC chief acknowledged the probe was part of a broader effort to scrutinize workplace incentives within the companies he regulates to end “the scourge of DEI.”
Eliminating DEI efforts has been a top priority of the Trump administration. Trump has signed an executive order to demand merit-based opportunity across the private sector.
This week, Walt Disney Co. acknowledged softening some of its DEI policies, including retiring a “diversity and inclusion” performance factor in its executive compensation calculations.
The FCC review is starting at Comcast.
The FCC has tremendous sway over Comcast’s businesses, including the company’s core cable and high-speed internet service, its wireless phone offerings and NBC-owned television stations, which require FCC licenses to operate. Carr said that was part of his motivation to start with Comcast and NBCUniversal.
“I expect that this investigation into Comcast and its NBCUniversal operations will aid the commission’s broader efforts to root out invidious forms of DEI discrimination across all of the sectors the FCC regulates,” Carr wrote.
Walt Disney Co. said it would change an internal performance standard focused on diversity and inclusion for executive compensation, saying it would focus on how the initiatives helped the business.
Carr took aim at Comcast’s statements about its embrace of diversity programs.
“For instance, Comcast states on its website that promoting DEI is ‘a core value of our business’ and public reports state that Comcast has an entire ‘DEI infrastructure’ that includes annual ‘DEI day[s],’ ‘DEI training for company leaders,’ and similar initiatives,” Carr wrote. “NBCUniversal has similar DEI initiatives, including executives specifically dedicated to promoting DEI across the TV and programming side of the business.”
Comcast has a page on its website that outlines its philosophy on inclusion:
“We believe that a diverse, equitable, and inclusive company is a more innovative and successful one,” the company said. “Across our workforce, products, and content, we embrace diversity of background, perspective, culture, and experience, and together with our partners, we are working to fight injustice against any race, ethnicity, gender or sexual identity, disability, or veteran status.”
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Following the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in 2020, senior NBCUniversal executive Cesar Conde set a goal of having a 50% nonwhite workforce within NBC News.
“We want to increase diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera, and earn the trust of every community in America that relies on us for exceptional journalism,” Conde said at the time.
Last month, Carr revived complaints that alleged liberal media bias at CBS, NBC and ABC. Throughout the campaign, Trump railed against certain broadcasters, saying the FCC should yank their broadcast licenses.
One of the complaints targeted NBC for featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris in a “Saturday Night Live” skit four days before the November election, saying the network wasn’t providing equal access to Trump. A second complaint took issue with ABC News’ handling of the September Trump-Harris debate. Trump complained that ABC anchors were unfair to him.
The FCC inquiry has raised the stakes in a separate dispute between Trump and CBS. Trump and his supporters cried foul over the Harris “60 Minutes” interview in October, pointing to discrepancies between Harris’ answers in the two interview segments. CBS has defended its edits, saying they routinely condense quotes.
Trump has sued CBS for $20 billion. Paramount Global Chairwoman Shari Redstone has advocated settling the Trump lawsuit. The issue has clouded Paramount’s proposed $8-billion sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media firm, a deal that hinges on the approval of the FCC’s Carr.
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