Should a Fox-owned television station be denied a license renewal because Fox News Channel, a separate but related company spread 2020 election lies? I vote yes.
The Daily Beast has been covering the challenge to Fox Station WTXF-TV in Philadelphia by the non-profit, non-partisan Media and Democracy Project (MAD). From its July 7, 2023 article:
In a news release [on July 6]—exactly 30 months on from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol—MAD said WTXF-TV, as an FCC licensee, “has a basic statutory duty to conduct its operations in the public interest.” Citing Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation case against Fox, MAD said the network had sown “discord that was a contributing factor to the attack.”
“The intentional distortion of news, authorized at the highest levels of FOX’s corporate structure, and fabricated by management and on-air personalities, represents a severe breach of the FCC’s policy on licensee character qualifications,” MAD argued. “MAD claims that FOX’s activities shock the conscience.
Not surprisingly, Fox hit back. From The Daily Beast’s August 3, 2023 article:
MAD offers no evidence that FTS or Fox 29 Philadelphia aired the content of which they disapprove, nor does MAD contend with the obvious First Amendment problems of conducting the broad, content-based inquiry that it seeks,” the objection said. “Given that MAD had failed to even allege any relevant evidence concerning the station or its licensee, it has failed to plead a prima facie case of broadcast news distortion. The Commission has long held that allegations of news distortion must be supported by ‘extrinsic evidence’ of deliberate distortion by the licensee.”
…
“It also would, for the first time in history, have the Commission adjudicate a broadcast license renewal on the basis of cable network content, in violation of the First Amendment and the authority delegated to the Commission by Congress,” Fox warned.
I was on the fence about this until I read the comments of Preston Padden, who held various roles, including senior vice president, at FOX Broadcasting company from 1990-1997.
In a separate Daily Beast article Padden wrote:
Section 308 (b) of the Communications Act requires the FCC to assess the character qualifications of parties licensed to broadcast on the public airwaves. The FCC considers conduct at the broadcast station and elsewhere. The FCC has revoked broadcast licenses based on character issues.
He notes that Fox-affiliated television stations air Fox News programing. From Exhibit 2 to the Petition to Deny.
I write this declaration because, in my opinion, FOX has undermined our democracy and has radicalized a segment of our population by presenting knowingly false narratives about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. In my opinion, this type of reporting was a significant contributing factor to the riots in the Capitol on January 6, 2021. For example, I heard Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel refer to the then upcoming January 6, 2021 “Stop The Steal” rally in Washington, D.C. telling his viewers that “President Trump says it’s going to be wild, be there.”
“Fox News Sunday,” a weekly show broadcast on television station WTXF-TV and other FOX-affiliated television stations, is produced by Fox News Channel, has been hosted by Fox News Channel stars and essentially is a broadcast extension of Fox News Channel. Fox News Channel also provides national and international news “feeds” to Fox-affiliated television stations, including WTXF-TV for inclusion in their locally produced newscasts. These local newscasts repeated some of the false narratives broadcast on the Fox News Channel.
And just in case you think the poor character of Rupert Murdoch has not been proven, Padden goes on to quote emails between himself and Rupert Murdoch, some of which showed up in the Dominion defamation case, followed by a description of what Murdoch aired:
In my opinion, Mr. Murdoch was worried about repercussions from Trump, loss of audience and stock value, if he accurately reported the news. On November 12, 2020, he wrote me: “Apparently he's [Trump] told friends that Lachlan and I have betrayed him. Stock down five or 6% today. Real bargain! In another email on the same day, Mr. Murdoch wrote me: “He can only be so hostile as he looks to blame somebody for losing. So he knows he's done.”
Beyond doubt, Mr. Murdoch knew that Trump had lost the election, nonetheless, FOX continued to promote news stories and guests who claimed, without any basis, that the election was rigged. In my opinion, these actions on the part of Mr. Murdoch, his son and top Fox management significantly contributed to the upheaval that occurred at the US Capitol building on January 6 2021.
I rest my case. I doubt the FCC will decide not to renew the license, even if the deadlock is finally broken. But every opportunity to call out and challenge Fox News poison is worth seizing.
(Rupert Murdoch Image: Hudson Institute, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)