We're taking a closer look now at the FCC's decision to allow Paramount, the parent company of CBS, to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance.

It's one of the most scrutinized media deals in recent history, approved in a two-to-one vote by the FCC, after Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement with President Trump over a 60-minute interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris,

and after Skydance agreed to install an independent monitor to review alleged bias at CBS,

among other concessions. Earlier this week, we spoke with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez,

who opposed the deal and raised serious concerns about its impact on First Amendment rights and press freedom.

Tonight, we're joined by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who voted in favor of the merger.

Mr. Chairman, welcome to the NewsHour.

Yeah, great to be with you. Thanks for having me on.

You've said this merger will help restore fair, fact-based reporting and ultimately serve the public interest.

How does this deal meet that standard and what criteria did the FCC use to assess it?

Yeah, I'm really proud of the FCC's work on this. Our staff worked incredibly hard.

And I think it's ultimately a really good win for the American people. If you step back right now,

there's sort of overall a really significant trend towards lack of trust in the media. And that trend

hasn't been a new one over the last couple of years. It goes back all over the 1970s. We've seen a pretty

significant decline. One thing that CBS has agreed to do as part of this

transaction is to bring more fact-based, objective, unbiased coverage to their newsrooms. I think

that's a really good win for the American people. One thing they said they were going to do in

particular was to embrace a diversity of viewpoints across the political

and ideological spectrum. So not just bringing one side of the political debate to the table,

but making sure that all views are aired. And I think that's a good thing for American people,

because when you look out there, I think too often we see news coverage that's merely sheepdogging

people towards preferred political narratives one way or the other.

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