February 17, 2026

There is a fine line between corporate capitulation and collaboration.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin controls the country’s major media companies. He controls what is reported, what is said and who is allowed on air. It is illegal to contradict the government’s version of events, and criticism of senior officials is strictly prohibited.

Over time, a segment of the media has come not just to endure this treatment, but to exploit it as a business opportunity. Oligarchs, political commentators and experts are all in on the censorship for one reason or another. Putin gets what he wants, but so do they.

There is no doubt that in the United States, Donald Trump is on a mission to censor his opponents and exert media control. And, as in Russia, there is a burgeoning industry of collaborators who are looking to cash in by going along with his efforts.

Last night on “The Late Show,” we watched the latest example of exactly this dynamic. Aiding Trump is FCC Chair Brandon Carr, who is both a supplicant and enforcer. 

In anticipation of Texas State Rep. and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s appearance on “The Late Show,” CBS obeyed in advance. The network called Stephen Colbert and informed him that, in no uncertain terms, they could not have him on the broadcast.

The timing is no coincidence. 

In January, Carr issued a letter warning broadcasters that he was considering ending the decades-old equal-time rule’s exemption for talk shows. 

Under the rule, if a show has a candidate on during an election, they must also make time for the candidate's opponents. It applies only to radio and broadcast television. Historically, talk shows are exempt as they are considered bona fide news interviews. 

Not under Carr’s regime, apparently. As he told reporters, “If you’re fake news, you’re not going to qualify as the bona fide news exception.

Carr’s reasoning is that some talk shows are “motivated by partisan purposes,” which is ironic, since this notice seems pretty motivated by partisan purposes. After all, Carr explicitly made a point to say that right-wing talk radio isn’t a target of his notice. So, don’t worry, Sean Hannity — you can rest easy!

Since issuing his notice, Carr has been flexing his new power to go after television programs. Last week, he launched an investigation into “The View” for hosting Talarico. 

So, when Colbert scheduled Talarico’s appearance on his show, CBS would have none of it. For months, the former Tiffany Network has been working to curry favor with Trump through hirings, firings, settlements and softball interviews. In exchange, they are hoping Trump will continue to smile on their corporate mergers that need government approval. 

As I mentioned, according to Colbert, CBS’s lawyers told the show that they could not have Talarico on the broadcast. They then suggested that Colbert should not mention that he was told not to have Talarico on. 

So, what did Colbert do? “Because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this,” he told his audience. 

Colbert dove into the demands from CBS’s lawyers, called out Carr (while showing an edited photo of the chair that he probably won’t enjoy) and made this very important point: “[Carr] has just released a letter saying he’s thinking about doing away with the exemption for late-night. He hasn’t done away with it yet. But my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had.” 

This is a very important distinction, and highlights the era of censorship and capitulation legacy media has entered over the last year of Trump’s term. 

Rather than stand up to the FCC as they consider this partisan rule change, CBS capitulated without a second thought. Rather than call out Carr for excluding right-wing talk radio, they haven’t uttered a word. 

As close readers of my newsletters will know, this does not surprise me. I have written repeatedly about the cowardice of legacy media and specifically about CBS’s decisions to appease him.

As a former CBS News producer wrote in her farewell letter last week, under Bari Weiss’ leadership, stories are “evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations.” 

All of this comes as Warner Bros. Discovery reopens talks with Paramount Skydance, giving the company a week “to make its best and final offer.” That’s likely not a coincidence, as any major merger would require approval from Trump. 

During Trump 2.0, the FCC and legacy media have lost their will to stand up to Trump and be truly independent.

Not us. I founded Democracy Docket in 2020 to be fearlessly independent and unapologetically pro-democracy. We have no corporate overlords dictating what we say and how we say it. We have no private equity companies controlling who we have on our podcasts. 

It is against our very nature to be silenced. I promise you this: While others happily follow Trump toward his authoritarian fantasy, we will never back down and we will never obey.