John, if you hadn’t heard the name Brendan Carr before – you probably learned who he was when he strongarmed Disney into kicking Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

Carr is Trump’s FCC Chair – and his job is to make sure we can communicate and connect freely – without corporate gatekeepers OR political censorship getting in the way.

But we’ve been following his career for years – as he’s advocated for MORE corporate media mergers, MORE unregulated AI [1] and LESS of any journalism that doesn’t report his chosen narrative.

Now, he’s using his newfound power to threaten the broadcast licenses of anyone who covers the news in a way Trump doesn’t like, or even tells a joke that upsets him!

So when he silenced Jimmy Kimmel, Common Cause members like you sprung into action – rapidly responding with our Turn Off Disney campaign that forced the company to back down within a week.

But the stakes are much higher than one late night comedian. Carr was sending a signal to every reporter, journalist, and media personality in the country: if you make my boss, Donald Trump mad, you’re a target – and your boss at the TV station will probably take my side.

That’s why this couldn’t be a better moment to announce the relaunch of Common Cause’s Media & Technology Initiative – because we recognize that democracy can’t function without a free, fearless, and independent press – and I know you realize that too.

So in the coming months, we’ll be…

• shining a spotlight whenever Trump tries to censor speech he doesn’t like – while opposing media mergers that would put these decisions up to just a few companies and their executives.

• exposing companies like Disney when they capitulate to Trump and put their bottom lines ahead of our right to free speech.

• mobilizing Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to demand Congress restore funding to public media so we have an alternative to corporate media that does Trump’s bidding.

It’s a lot to take on – particularly when the foundations of democracy are under threat like never before.

But if you agree that we’ll only chart a better path forward if we tackle some of the big problems in our information environment, will you make a Founding Contribution today?

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Thanks for all you do,

The team at Common Cause

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[1] https://www.route-fifty.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/09/fcc-chair-floats-preempting-state-ai-laws/408472/?oref=rf-homepage-river