Why I stopped being a lawyer for the SC Broadcasters Association should concern you | Opinion
For more than 20 years, it has been my honor to serve as an attorney for the South Carolina Broadcasters Association. It has been a high point of my nearly 50-year legal career to represent these outstanding folks who work hard each day to bring news, weather, entertainment and other information to their communities.
I withdrew from this representation on Jan. 31.
My high regard for South Carolina broadcasters and the work they perform has not diminished. My action was motivated by a desire to insulate them from potential retribution and retaliation by President Donald Trump and his new administration for the critical things I might write or say about what I perceive to be his authoritarian rule and an existential threat to our country.
Over-the-air broadcasters are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to use the public airwaves in the public interest, convenience and necessity. In this important regard, broadcasters differ from newspapers, which do not operate under any licenses issued by the federal government.
Trump has repeatedly called for CBS to have its license revoked for an interview of his political opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on the program “60 Minutes.” Trump has also called for all broadcast licenses to be sold to the highest bidder. Imagine who might own licenses under this plan. Following the presidential debate with Harris, Trump said ABC should lose its license. Trump even called for Comcast, the parent company of NBC and MSNBC, to be investigated for treason, and said if he were reelected the news media would “be thoroughly scrutinized” and “should pay a big price.”
These threats must be considered in the context of Trump’s repeated lie that the press is the enemy of the people.
On Jan. 22, Trump’s recently appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr resurrected bias complaints initiated by the conservative Center for American Rights against ABC, CBS and NBC that Carr’s predecessor had dismissed a week earlier. Remember this administration only took office on Jan. 20.
A month before the inauguration, ABC paid $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation suit he had brought, one many thought ABC could successfully defend. Last month, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, which are not subject to the restrictions the First Amendment imposes on governments, paid $25 million to settle a suit Trump brought claiming that his rights had been violated when it suspended his accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Last week, X settled a similar suit for about $10 million.
In addition to being subject to federal regulation, broadcasters routinely appear before Congress when legislation may affect them. In the process, broadcasters communicate with their representatives and senators to express their viewpoints, and as is always the case at such moments, it is helpful to have a cordial relationship with those officials.
Historical and academic studies of authoritarian governments universally describe how one of the early steps taken by a would-be authoritarian is to intimidate or suppress the press. Trump has clearly indicated his intention to establish himself as an authoritarian ruler at the same time as he has vigorously sought to weaken news coverage of his activities either through threats against broadcast licenses or the filing of lawsuits.
The question is often asked why ordinary German citizens failed to speak out against the rise of the Nazi party in the 1930s. Silence is complicity. I do not intend to be either complicit or silent. I believe based on the evidence before our eyes that our democracy is on the brink.
The culprits are Donald Trump and his Republican enablers in the House and Senate. I intend to continue to speak out vigorously in defense of our democracy and individual freedoms, including press freedoms. To continue to do that, I am concluding my representation of South Carolina broadcasters in hopes they will avoid becoming potential targets due to my comments and actions.
To my broadcast friends, thank you. Keep up your outstanding work.
Stay tuned.
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Why I stopped being a lawyer for the SC Broadcasters Association should concern you | Opinion."