As Americans go to the polls in one of the most bitterly contested elections in U.S. history, National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has published an opinion piece outlining how broadcasters have been defending democracy with fair and fact-based reporting while facing “increasingly face threats … of broadcast license or spectrum revocations.”
In the opinion piece published on Nov. 5 in The Hill, LeGeyt described broadcaster efforts to combat misinformation during recent hurricane-relief efforts, as well as their work during the 2024 election cycle.
“Now, as voters head to the polls today, local broadcasters will again be on the front lines as our democracy faces one of its most pivotal tests,” he wrote. “Amid an unprecedented wave of misinformation and digital manipulation, local broadcast journalists will be equipped to deliver truth and transparency to the electorate— whatever the result—on and in the days following the election.” LeGeyt also stressed how those efforts by broadcasters are built on longstanding investments in technologies and resources to improve their reporting.
“To start, local broadcasters invested in new technologies that allow us to verify facts in real time,” he noted. “These efforts, combined with new initiatives such as Verify, elDetector, T Verifica and FactCheck.org, allow us to better dispel misinformation and deepfakes through rigorous fact-checking. Our members also devoted significant resources to train our thousands of broadcast journalists across the country to quickly recognize manipulated images and misleading claims. Finally, stations across the country launched initiatives like Martes de Acción to empower Latino communities and ensure all legally eligible voters, from diverse backgrounds and languages, have a clear path to electoral participation.
“Yet, even as we serve our communities, broadcasters increasingly face threats to their ability to do their jobs — either physically through verbal intimidation and violence directed towards our journalists, or politically through threats of broadcast license or spectrum revocations and harassing lawsuits,” he noted.
“As you reflect on our election coverage this week and over the course of this cycle, be mindful that these pressures to limit or even revoke the rights of newsrooms to operate without interference pose a serious threat to our ability to fulfill this civic responsibility,” LeGeyt continued. “Every limitation placed on the press pulls us further from a free and open society. Protecting the First Amendment is not just about preserving a right — it is essential to safeguarding this mission. It allows broadcasters to continue empowering their communities with the truth that strengthens our democracy and defends the freedoms we hold dear.”
Despite those threats, LeGeyt stressed: “I am confident that this week, as local broadcasters deliver the truth our nation needs, Americans will see firsthand the strength and confidence in our institutions that only an informed democracy can bring.”
