Licensing or regulatory power as leverage

Licensing-as-leverage is the use of regulatory power the government holds over outlets — FCC broadcast licensing, antitrust review of media consolidations, public-airwaves access rules — to influence coverage. Concrete forms include threats of license non-renewal directed at networks whose coverage is unwelcome, antitrust action selectively applied to media companies whose owners' politics displease the administration, and the use of regulatory comment periods or merger reviews as opportunities for political pressure. Legitimate regulatory action follows the regulatory standard; leverage is what happens when the standard bends around the coverage.