This past weekend, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over their coverage of the war in Iran. Last month, Stephen Colbert said he had to drop an interview with a Senate candidate because of F.C.C. guidance that targeted political interviews on late-night shows. Jim Rutenberg, a writer at large for The New York Times, explains how the Trump administration is trying to shape media coverage to fit its agenda. Guest: Jim Rutenberg (https://www.nytimes.com/by/jim-rutenberg) , a writer at large for The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine. Background reading:  • Under President Trump, the F.C.C. has used obscure regulatory powers to crack down on network TV (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/magazine/fcc-tv-networks.html) . • How a century-old rule is scrambling late-night TV (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/business/media/colbert-equal-time-fcc-brendan-carr.html) . Photo: Tierney L. Cross for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.