Fox TV license renewal may be in jeopardy as FCC invites public response
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
> A broadcast licensee's authorization to use broadcast spectrum in the public interest carries with it the obligation that the station serves its community. The basic duty of broadcast licensees to serve their communities is reflected in the license renewal provisions of the Communications Act.13 Section 309(k)(1) of the Act provides that the Commission shall grant a license renewal application if it finds, with respect to the applying station, that during the preceding license term, it has served the public interest, convenience, and necessity and that there have been no serious violations by the licensee of the Communications Act or Commission rules, or other such violations, which, taken together, would constitute a pattern of abuse.
and
> The court found that none of FOX’s statements about Dominion were true and held that the statements were defamatory per se.
[1] https://www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/_files/ugd/f9547d_d...
The court didn't find that, though. It was settled before opening statements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Voting_Systems_v._Fox...
Edit: Not taking a side here. Just noting that the claim in the petition is false.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Voting_Systems_v._Fox...
It has not.
In all seriousness, though, does FCC realize it is playing with fire here? If licensing stations begins to hinge on political content vs. partisan "fact check", then that may be a final, 9-inch nail in the coffin of free speech as we knew it. R.I.P.
FOX affiliates aren't really political at all.
Is this just one more tool in the box of a government of the people, for the people, and by the people?
A cable channel like Fox News is pretty much unrestricted, at least until they hit the point of libel. But the airwaves are a scarce resource, and it falls to the FCC to manage it on behalf of the public.
The limits are not well defined, and the FCC believes that they are acting now only because they think those limits have been egregiously surpassed. It will almost certainly end up in court, and the courts will interpret the law to determine what the FCC's real powers are here.
As for the ICE... if they had taken a long, hard look at Obama's papers in 2008 and concluded anything other than that he was an American citizen born in the United States, that would indeed be a problem. The difference here is that Obama was telling the truth, and that Fox News was telling a lie. If we've reached the point where there is no difference between those things, then we've got bigger problems than the FCC.
Huh, I thought it was exactly the opposite.
Jan 6 was illegal. And Fox News did air content and take actions that went beyond just covering the events.
Even their behaviour with Dominion and Smartmatic should be enough to question if they are fit to hold a TV license.
And, just to be clear: It's legal to lie! So please to don't use that as an argument even if you think they lie on purpose - it's simply irrelevant.
If the FCC actually does this, then every time political leaders change TV stations will get flip/flopped on renewals?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Voting_Systems_v._Fox...
A ruling based on this alone will result in all major traditional media coming under fire. We don't want a reality where the government is in charge of determining "truth".
Some might want to watch it all burn down... but most don't consider what happens when "their team" isn't in power anymore?
The other shoe drops, so to speak, and it would be justifiably ugly. I can almost hear the shrieks now...
Sure, and maybe they'd start paying attention to what they were actually saying on the air.
> We don't want a reality where the government is in charge of determining "truth".
We also don't want a reality where major media organizations pretend that "truth" doesn't exist.