FCC Rejects Petition Against 3 Fox Stations

The FCC Media Bureau has turned down a watchdog group’s effort to block the renewals of the Fox Television Stations Inc. licenses in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, holding that the group had not made the case for an agency crackdown, despite allegations of phone-hacking and other wrongdoing by News Corp. subsidiaries in the United Kingdom.

The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, asked the FCC last August to block the renewal applications of Fox for its WTTG and WDCA Washington and WUTB in Baltimore, citing the phone-hacking and bribery scandal that rocked Fox parent News Corp. and its chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch last year.

“The public interest demands that these licenses not be renewed,” said CREW, in its petition. “News Corp. and Mr. Murdoch have engaged in a pattern of egregious, unlawful and conscience-shocking behavior that demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt News Corp.’s subsidiary lacks the requisite character to hold broadcast licenses here in the United States.”

But in a May 6 decision, FCC video division chief Barbara Kreisman said CREW had not presented the agency with the “adjudicated” sort of proof that the agency needs to pursue a character-qualification case against a U.S. station licensee.

“None of the allegations raised by petitioners here involves adjudicated misconduct,” Kreisman said, contending that CREW’s complaint fell short of the mark on additional grounds.

“News reports, whether from newspapers or the Internet, are not the equivalent of statements supported by affidavits made by individuals with personal knowledge of the facts alleged,” Kreisman added. “We will not consider them here.”

Kreisman also warned, however, that the bureau’s decision should not be construed to “minimize the seriousness of the allegations” that have been raised against News Corp., “does not represent a judgment on the merits of any ongoing investigation of those allegations, and does not represent a predetermination of how the commission will act should there ultimately be an adjudication on the merits of any of the allegations that have been raised.

“If such an adjudication on the merits does take place, the commission will review the facts at that time and take such action as may be appropriate,” said Kreisman, who added that “other agencies with more appropriate expertise and resources are in the process of investigating these and related allegations.”

Said CREW, in a statement: “In other words, this isn’t over. CREW will be keeping tabs on the status of the multiple investigations into News Corp.’s reprehensible conduct and as soon as there is some sort of adjudication, will renew its petition.”

News Corp. spokesman Nathaniel Brown declined comment.