“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert recently interviewed Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat. Colbert announced that CBS would not allow the interview to air during his show out of fear of violating the Federal Communications Commission’s “equal-time” provision. Colbert instead published the interview on YouTube, where it has been viewed 8.9 million times. Our analysts rating media coverage in our Topic of the Week.

The Hill provides the most fact-based and unbiased coverage from among our content set. Its article includes CBS’ denial that it blocked the interview from being broadcast and Colbert’s reaction to that denial. The article quotes Colbert and gives background information about new guidance from the FCC regarding equal-time protections and what led to the interview being published on YouTube. Analysts found the article to be “simple fact reporting” with a “balanced” bias.

An article from NBC News includes a “Late Show” video clip of Colbert explaining why CBS did not air the Talarico interview, as well as the official statement from CBS. It also describes actions taken by the FCC under chairman Brendan Carr during President Trump’s second term. Analysts found the reporting to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “skews left” bias, because almost all quotes are in support of Colbert.

On the After Party with Emily Jashinsky YouTube channel, the host interviews Ana Kasparian, host of “The Young Turks.” Jashinsky says Colbert and Talarico lied about the FCC blocking the interview because it was really a decision made by the CBS legal team, and the FCC “had nothing to do with it.” The video includes clips from Talarico’s Democratic Senate opponent, Jasmine Crockett; Colbert; and FCC chairman Brendan Carr. Jashinsky and Kasparian then have a substantive discussion about the equal-time rule and the Senate race between Talarico and Crockett (“can’t stand her,” Kasparian says). Analysts found the content to be “opinion” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

Writing from the Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance Substack was also rated as “opinion” but with a “strong left” bias. Vance, a lawyer and former U.S. attorney, uses the Colbert interview of Talarico as an example of the Trump administration creating a regulatory environment that chills political speech through FCC leverage. She discusses the importance of the First Amendment and gives several examples of ways that she says the Trump administration “is doing everything it can to intimidate the media from reporting on it.” She explains the equal-time provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 and the ways Carr has said he might change enforcement of it. Analysts noted that Vance voices support for Colbert and criticizes Trump and his administration.

An article from Townhall begins with the headline: “CBS Exposes James Talarico’s Lie Just As Early Voting Begins.” It accuses Talarico and the “leftist spin” of “falsely claiming that Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr ‘threatened’ CBS if they chose to air the segment.” The article also speculates without evidence that CBS moving the interview to YouTube “was clearly an attempt at electioneering in favor of Talarico. If they wanted to, they simply could have given Crockett airtime as well, but hilariously, they’d rather move the entire interview off their main airwave than give Crockett a few minutes to speak.” Analysts found the reporting to be “unfair persuasion” with a “hyper-partisan right” bias.

The lowest-rated coverage from our content set came from a video on the Jack Cocchiarella YouTube channel. The host states without evidence that Trump is “so afraid” of candidate Talarico that he “forced the FCC” to take Colbert’s interview of him off the air. “This is just a blatant example of the type of censorship that we have heard non-stop MAGA theorize and complain about“ with President Biden, but we’re now actually seeing it with Trump, Cocchiarella says. The host continually frames the U.S. Senate race as Talarico vs. a Republican candidate (Ken Paxton or John Cornyn), but Talarico is actually running against Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic nomination for Senate in order to run against the Republican candidate in November. Analysts found the video to be “misleading” with a “hyper-partisan left” bias.

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