More than 100 former ABC News journalists have signed on to an open letter, supporting the network as it pushes back on the FCC‘s investigation of The View and its crackdown on the equal time rule.

The letter was organized by former ABC News correspondent Lisa Stark and former ABC News executive and senior producer Ian Cameron, who previously had called on the network and The Walt Disney Co. to resist pressure from the agency.

“Today, we write to commend Disney and ABC for the strong stand they are now taking in support of freedom of speech,” they write in the letter.

“ABC rightfully argues that the Trump administration is violating its free speech rights and creating a ‘chilling effect’ on First Amendment-protected speech through its regulatory action targeting The View. In its filing with the FCC, ABC argues the FCC has questioned talk shows critical of the president but not those conservative radio talk shows that have featured content supportive of the administration – making plain that this is political retaliation, not regulatory enforcement.”

Among those signing are Sam Donaldson, Tom Bettag, Chris Bury, Judy Muller, Jackie Judd and Betsy West.

Last week, in a filing with the FCC, ABC said that the agency’s effort to impose restrictions on political candidate appearances on talk shows like The View chill its First Amendment rights.

The network noted that The View had obtained a ruling from the FCC in 2002, declaring that the show was exempt from the equal time rule. The regulation requires that broadcasters who feature political candidates provide comparable air time to rivals if it is requested. But there is a carve out for news programming, and for decades, talk shows like The View have booked political candidate guests with the belief that they fell under the exemption as well, given the news value of their interviews.

But FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced in January that TV talk shows should no longer assume that they are exempt. He also launched an inquiry into The View. The investigation concerns whether whether ABC’s Houston station should have filed paperwork in its public file alerting the appearance of James Talarico, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, on The View.

ABC argued that The View was being singled out, while talk radio, which is dominated by conservative voices, were not, even though they routinely feature political candidates.

The journalists letter stated, “As ABC’s filing notes, with the 2026 midterm elections approaching, Americans need more access to political news, not less. A free press is not a partisan issue — it is the foundation of our democracy. We stand with ABC in this fight and call on the FCC to drop its politically motivated inquiry.”

An FCC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But last week, after the ABC filing, a spokesperson for the agency said, “Decades ago, Congress passed a law that generally prohibits broadcast television programs from putting a thumb on the scale in favor of one political candidate over another.  Specifically, Congress put protections in place to ensure that covered programs offer legally qualified candidates for office (both Republican and Democrat) equal time on the public airwaves.  The equal time law encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.  The FCC will review Disney’s assertion that The View is a ‘bona fide news program’ and thus exempt from the political equal time rules.”