Zooming in on 2020 election
House panelists to question cable TV providers on role in battling election fraud claims
Three months ago, federal lawmakers grilled Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, and Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief, about the misinformation that had appeared on their platforms.
Now, a congressional committee has scheduled a hearing to focus on the role of companies that provide cable television service in the spread of falsehoods concerning the 2020 election.
In advance of the Wednesday hearing, called “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media,” members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter Monday to Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, Dish, Verizon, Cox and Altice, asking about their role in “the spread of dangerous misinformation.”
The scrutiny of cable providers took on new urgency after supporters of former President Donald Trump, who repeatedly promoted the debunked claim that the election was rigged, stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“To our knowledge, the cable, satellite and over-the-top companies that disseminate these media outlets to American viewers have done nothing in response to the misinformation aired by these outlets,” Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney, both of California, wrote in the letter.
Newsmax, a right-wing cable channel carried by AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Dish and Verizon, had a surge in ratings in November because of programs that embraced Trump’s claims of voter fraud. One America News Network, a rightwing outlet carried by AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon, also promoted the false theory.
Fox News, the most-watched cable news network, which is available from all major carriers, was one of five defendants in a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed this month by election technology company Smartmatic. In the suit, the company accused Fox News, its parent company Fox Corp., three Fox anchors and two frequent Fox guests of promoting false claims about the election and Smartmatic’s role in it.
Congress can raise the issue of whether cable providers bear responsibility for the programs they deliver to millions of Americans,
but it may have no way to force them to drop networks that have spread misinformation. And unlike broadcast stations, cable channels do not have licenses that are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
The lawmakers’ letter asks the companies, “What steps did you take prior to, on, and following the Nov. 3, 2020 elections and the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks to monitor, respond to, and reduce the spread of disinformation, including encouragement or incitement of violence by channels your company disseminates to millions of Americans?”
“Are you planning to continue carrying Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax on your platform both now and beyond the renewal date?” the letter continues. “If so, why?”
Fox News denounced the congressional effort. “For individual members of Congress to highlight political speech they do not like and demand cable distributors engage in viewpoint discrimination sets a terrible precedent,” the network said in a statement. Newsmax defended its election coverage as accurate and called the letter an “attack on free speech.” A spokeswoman for Comcast declined to comment. None of the other companies to which the letter was sent replied to inquiries from The Times.
A new center for training Black entrepreneurs will be opening in Atlanta as part of a collaboration announced this week between Spelman College, Morehouse College and an advocacy organization made up of business leaders.
The Center for Black Entrepreneurship is expected to start operating for the fall semester.
“In 2020 we saw an acknowledgment from many in the investor community that there needs to be a change, that we need to take a look at these barriers and how they are preventing talented aspiring Black entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential,” said David Clunie, executive director of the Black Economic Alliance, the advocacy group involved. “We need to give them the education, resources and opportunities they need to really succeed.”
The center will be housed in Spelman’s new Center for Innovation & the Arts as well as a new building at
Morehouse.
It will include a core curriculum on business development, speakers, mentorship opportunities and chances to connect with investors for the historically Black colleges and universities that make up the Atlanta University Center Consortium: Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Clark Atlanta University.
Spelman is a private women’s liberal arts college with 2,097 students, and Morehouse is a private men’s liberal arts college with 2,200 students, according to the colleges’ websites.
In addition to the in-person instruction for students at these HBCUs, an online program also will be available to the general public and provide certifications in project management, cybersecurity and other business-related topics.
Morehouse President David Thomas said the new center builds on a long history of entrepreneurial spirit at these HBCUs and continues the schools’ legacies of providing opportunities for economic and social mobility for their students.
He said he hopes the center will serve as a model for other HBCUs.
“What I envision is for other historically Black colleges to join the CBE network so that these entrepreneurship centers are developed and connected across the country,” he said. “Collaboration makes these programs stronger.”
James Johnson Jr., a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship in the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said a wellplanned entrepreneurship center can be a first step toward addressing the systemic barriers Black entrepreneurs face.
Johnson said Black entrepreneurs face reduced access to capital, networking opportunities and generational wealth that could allow them to take the risks often necessary in starting a business.
They also face racism when applying for loans or finding investors, Johnson said.