#Markey

Sen. Ed Markey wants media companies to fight for the First Amendment

Today, I’m talking with Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and you’ll hear me start with the only question I think anyone should be asking any politician in the federal government right now: What the hell is going on here? Sen. Markey didn’t mince words with his answer. You’ll hear him compare the Trump administration to the fascist dystopia in Orwell’s 1984 and say that democracy itself is on the line. And one of the places that Sen. Markey and I agree that it most seems like democracy is on the line is when it comes to the First Amendment and the increasing pressure the Trump administration is putting on free speech. Of course, if you’ve been listening to this show or The Vergecast this year, you know that I’ve been particularly focused on the pressure FCC chairman Brendan Carr is putting on free speech. Carr talks like a mobster when it comes to threatening broadcasters with fines and merger conditions — and many media companies, like CBS parent company Paramount, are going along with...