A Place at the Table. Anna Gomez.

Christine Merser, July 25, 2025

Anna Gomez is not a household name. That is exactly the problem.

She is, in my opinion, the lone survivor of sanity at the Federal Communications Commission, the last one standing on the beach as the tide of corporate consolidation sweeps in like a tsunami made of streaming rights, private equity, and the illusion of consumer choice. The FCC just approved the Paramount merger, and Gomez, predictably, stood against it. She warned, she objected, she reasoned. But reasoning, it seems, has been relegated to the bottom of the inbox in Washington, D.C.

Here is what she said in dissent: “We continue to see mergers that further consolidate our media landscape, reduce local voices, and limit consumer choice. At some point, we must ask: When is enough enough?” The rest of her statement is at the bottom of my column.

Exactly.

But no one is putting that on a billboard. We do not celebrate the quiet Cassandra in the corner office, even when she is the only one telling the truth. We lionize the CEO who gets the deal done, the Commissioner who votes yes because the market will sort it out, and the Senator who still pretends that antitrust laws are quaint relics from a time when railroads mattered more than Netflix.

Anna Gomez is exactly the kind of person we cannot afford to lose. She is the sole survivor.

And that is why we need to notice. We need to notice the ones standing up when it is deeply inconvenient to do so. The ones with something to lose. The ones who are not trying to land a board seat when they are done. The ones who are actually doing their jobs.

But this piece is not just about Anna Gomez. It is about what happens inside a company once the ink dries on a deal like this. I have seen the inside. It is a demolition site dressed up as a strategy session. The consultants come in. The memos get vague. The parking spots get reassigned. And the people with vision, ethics, and courage start looking for the exits.

Don’t.

Do not resign in protest. Do not give them the satisfaction of filling your chair with someone who will nod and smile and execute the plan with corporate glee. I am talking to the smart ones at Paramount. I am talking to the deputy directors at FEMA. I am talking to every capable, frustrated, politically savvy insider who is ready to walk away because they believe they have lost.

Everyone cheered last week when one of the top guys at FEMA resigned over the debacle in Texas and 72 hours passing before relief started to arrive. I do not share that kind of behavior. He needed to stay. He is exactly the kind of guy who needs to stay. He will be replaced by somebody who will never report that it was 72 hours before relief came. It is exactly what I am talking about. The harder it is for them to get rid of everybody who is going to not only report their illegal and evil doings, the more successful we can possibly be.

You have not lost until you are gone. Stay. Fight. Make it messy for them. Let them fire you. Force them to say it out loud.

Because resigning in protest might feel righteous, but all it does is clear the field for the ones who never had doubts to begin with. Look around. In the last six months alone, we have seen how that plays out. The ones who leave are replaced with cheerleaders, not challengers. And suddenly, we are not just losing policies. We are losing the people who could have stopped them.

It is time we develop a new form of resistance. It is not just marches and boycotts anymore. It is holding the desk.

This is not about bravely speaking up in a staff meeting. This is about guerrilla warfare. The kind that works best when you are already deep in the jungle. Take a little longer than necessary to complete the task. Leave the wrong person off the CC list. Let something slide. Quiet resistance. Strategic sabotage. Controlled noncompliance. If you cannot steer the ship, at least make sure it does not run over the villagers.

And take notes. Bring home proof. Screenshot the memo. Forward the email to yourself. Record the meeting if you have to. Remember Deep Throat? He did not tell anybody what he was doing. He just gathered the receipts. You can pass on information if you are smart. This is the time to start doing it.

You may not win the war, but you can slow the machine. You can keep the idea of accountability alive just long enough for the next Anna Gomez to show up with reinforcements. And when they do, they will need to find that someone, still inside, kept the damn light on.

This piece is not just about one FCC Commissioner. It is about the larger fight, the one playing out in boardrooms and breakrooms across the country. The one where people like you and me have to stop waiting for permission to do the right thing.

Anna Gomez did her job. She said no. Loudly, clearly, on the record.

Now it is our job to have her back, and the backs of everyone else still in the jungle, carving quiet paths through the dark.

Send her a note. Post your thanks on your social media. Remember her name.

****************

From The Wrap

Meanwhile, Commissioner Olivia Trusty voiced her support for the merger, saying the “transaction reflects the free market at work, where private investment, not government intervention, is preserving an iconic American media institution.”

Read Gomez’s full statement, below:

“After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions.

In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom. Once again, this agency is undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity by overstepping its authority and intervening in employment matters reserved for other government entities with proper jurisdiction on these issues. Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.

After the FCC buried the outcome of backroom negotiations with other regulated entities, like Verizon and T-Mobile, I urged for us to bring the Paramount proceeding into the light. I’ve long believed the public has a right to know how Paramount’s capitulation evidences an erosion of our First Amendment protections, and I’m pleased that FCC leadership ultimately agreed to my call for every Commissioner to vote on this transaction. Granting approval behind closed doors, under the cover of bureaucratic process, would have been an inappropriate way to shield this Administration’s coordinated campaign to censor speech, control narratives, and silence dissent.

Despite this regrettable outcome, this Administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment. In fact, it may only be beginning. The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country. But such violations endure only when institutions choose capitulation over courage. It is time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America.

For all these reasons, I dissent.”