“I find it disturbing for a lot of reasons, but it is control of a private company’s employment practices. That’s all it is. It has nothing to do with what we do at the FCC, other than the fact that there’s an executive order that told every agency to take actions to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion,” FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez told a packed room at NAB Show 2025 in Las Vegas.
Commissioner Gomez delivered a stark warning about what she described as rising threats to press freedom, independent regulation, and local journalism coming from the Trump administration. In an extensive conversation with Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Flint, Gomez offered an unflinching view of what she described as an increasingly politicized regulatory environment that jeopardizes the First Amendment and the stability of institutions like the FCC.
Reflecting on the current atmosphere in Washington, Gomez shared how the last several months have been “frankly very stressful living in Washington, DC.” She said, “I’ve always heard how great it is to be a minority commissioner because it gives you the ability to say anything you want, and you really don’t have to come up with the policies. And I have yet to find the joy in being a minority commissioner at this point.”
She described the impact of “uncertainty” and “watching while this administration just tramples on the First Amendment, on press freedom, on freedom of speech.”
Throughout the discussion, Gomez returned repeatedly to the theme of political overreach, again citing concerns that FCC authority was being “weaponized” against media companies whose editorial decisions were viewed as unfavorable to the administration.
Flint asked Gomez about FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, which the Chairman says is intended to remove regulatory burdens. While Gomez acknowledged that streamlining outdated rules is necessary, she cautioned, “We want to take a scalpel, not a chainsaw, to the rules that protect consumers and promote opportunity.”
Ownership regulations were also a central topic. As the NAB pushes to lift ownership caps in radio and television, Gomez signaled openness to a review but emphasized that any changes must not compromise core pillars such as localism, diversity, and competition. “I understand the need to evolve to address market changes. I also know that broadcast licenses are very precious and spectrum itself very valuable,” she said. “I hope whatever we do, we continue to keep in mind the pillars of localism, diversity of viewpoints, and competition.”
Gomez expressed deep concerns that too much consolidation could result in fewer local news sources, similar to the decline seen in print journalism.
Turning to FCC investigations into alleged “news bias,” Gomez issued some of her strongest remarks of the day. She said, “The First Amendment is a pillar of our democracy, and we rely on the press to keep us in check, all of us. You do not want regulators like me interfering in your journalistic decisions. So I absolutely disagree with keeping these open.”
Gomez accused the current administration of “initiating investigations for practices that are individual, invidious, can’t even say the word, invidious discrimination” based on little more than companies’ public websites. She warned that “harassment is really the point, not the end goal.”
Asked whether she was concerned about her own position given the climate, Gomez said, “I’m not worried about myself, but I will not stop speaking out because I have to, I cannot allow this to continue without raising alarm bells.”
Gomez stated bluntly, “There is a pattern. Not only have we seen the actions against the broadcasters or editorial decisions that this administration doesn’t like, we’ve seen this administration throughout the administration threaten tech companies for their moderation practices… We’ve seen them try to regulate against diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ve seen this in the shuttering of The Voice of America.”
One of those alarm bells revolves around the Trump administration’s targeting of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Gomez says recent FCC investigations into DEI practices stretch far beyond the agency’s legal authority. “We are seeing just enforcement of anything that they don’t like.” She continued, “There is a freedom of speech component to diversity, equity, and inclusion. And so what we are seeing is throughout the administration, the erasure of anything remotely related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Gomez framed these efforts not simply as regulatory overreach, but as a calculated attempt to reshape corporate culture and restrict freedom of expression. “It is really remarkable. And the censorship part is also the rewriting of our history, which we are seeing,” she said, referencing a recent executive order impacting Smithsonian programming.
Throughout the conversation, Gomez connected these DEI investigations to larger censorship efforts targeting media companies, tech platforms, public broadcasters, and even educational institutions. “It is an absolute pattern of censorship and control. And if we let them do this, it will be to the harm of this country,” she said.
Addressing an audience question about whether broadcasters themselves are doing enough to push back, Gomez noted, “I can imagine that there is a chilling effect at play here, where whoever speaks up is going to be targeted. I am in a position where I feel very comfortable speaking up because there’s nothing they can do to me.” In a moment of positivity, Gomez spoke about bipartisan successes at the FCC, noting her productive working relationship with Chairman Carr on certain enforcement issues. “We are capable of doing things on a bipartisan basis. And we like working on a bipartisan basis. It is actually fulfilling to do so,” she said.
Originally, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington had also been scheduled to appear at NAB Show 2025 on Tuesday, but cancelled. Gomez attributed his absence to a suspension of agency travel stemming from a recent executive order, while emphasizing her decision to appear regardless of official support, telling the audience, “I felt it was important enough for me to come to meet with broadcasters and to speak, and so I self-funded.”
Nonetheless, the Commissioner’s overall tone was a clear call to action for broadcasters, journalists, and regulatory bodies to defend their independence before it is irreparably weakened. “Freedom isn’t free,” Gomez warned. “We cannot have a press that says, well, okay, in order for me to meet my shareholders’ interests, I am going to agree to alter my editorial decisions. That is so dangerous.”
Her message to the broadcast industry was clear: Capitulation in the face of censorship pressures will only invite more. “Every time there’s more capitulation, it just engenders more capitulation,” Gomez said.
broadcasters and all people in business hate to be told what to do by their regulators. All broadcasters should have the freedom to implement DEI or not. Businesses are overloaded with regulatory burdens of documentation. And, Freedom of Speech is not in peril if we have DEI or remove DEI.
So very proud to have an FCC Commissioner speak truth to power! Thank you Commissioner Gomez.
What a load of malarkey! DEI is nothing more than a form of discrimination and censorship. Winners and losers chosen by entities. based on the color of their skin and certain other attributes. Good riddance to it.
Censorship is just half of it. All the stations brainwashing the public with right-wing and religious radio, helping to put the orange menace and the South African in office, will soon have a diminished number of businesses to buy spots on their stations. It’s called karma.
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