Kristol, Ex-FCC Commissioner Duggan Back Padden Effort Against Fox
Conservative Editor William Kristol and former Democratic FCC Commissioner Ervin Duggan filed a joint informal objection in support of the Media and Democracy Project’s petition to deny the license renewal of Fox-owned and operated WTXF-TV Philadelphia (see Ref:2307060065]). Former Fox…
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executive and longtime lobbyist Preston Padden also supports the petition. Duggan is also a former president of PBS, and Kristol, who founded and edited The Weekly Standard, is now editor at large for political news site The Bulwark. Both worked in the administrations of past U.S. presidents, Duggan for Lyndon Johnson and Kristol for George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. “We believe there are more than sufficient grounds alleged in the MAD Petition for the Commission to designate the pending WTXF-TV (‘Fox 29’) renewal application for a hearing,” said the joint filing. MAD has argued that information released during Dominion Voting System's legal proceeding against Fox --which ended in a settlement -- demonstrates that the network deliberately misled viewers about the 2020 election and Jan. 6 attack, thus violating little-used FCC rules against news distortion. “Doing so would enable the Commission to develop a record as to the problematic conduct of Fox 29’s parent, Fox Corporation.” The FCC’s policy on character requirements for broadcast licensees “provides the framework for the Commission to look beyond the four corners of an individual station’s record in licensing proceedings and to consider affiliated entities’ conduct when appropriate,” the filing said. The filing cites an ongoing license proceeding over character issues involving an AM radio station owned by a former Tennessee state legislator convicted of making false statements on a tax form (see 2303280039). The WTXF situation “presents the Commission with the opportunity to take a different tack with FOX stations than it has in the past -- one more consistent with the approach it frequently takes against smaller stations in less complex license renewal contexts," the filing said. Fox didn’t comment.