The FCC has rejected a petition to deny the renewals of
three Fox TV stations, saying there has been no final adjudication of
allegations of bribery, phone hacking and more against parent News Corp. in the
United Kingdom. But it also signaled that did not prevent it from finding
differently once there was a final adjudication of what it said were serious
charges.
Fox had argued that the petition was "fatally
flawed" because there had been only testimony, no adjudicated facts, or a
trial or a right to counsel or to cross examine witnesses.
A year ago, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington petitionedto deny the renewals of WTTG and WDCA in Washington and WUTB in Baltimore,
alleging that "News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch have engaged in a pattern of
conduct that demonstrates that they and Fox lack the character required to hold
a broadcast license."
In denying the petition, the video division of the FCC's
Media Bureau (it was not a commission-level decision) pointed out that
"none of the allegations pertain to wrongdoing by Fox or the Stations and
none of them are supported by an affidavit based upon personal knowledge of the
facts alleged."
The Parliament select committee is not a judicial process, the FCC pointed
out. To find against a station owner on character qualifications, there must be
an ultimate decision by a trier of fact, either government agency or court,
which is not yet the case in the phone hacking scandal.
But when that decision is rendered, the FCC pointed out, it
could be a different story.
"Our ruling today does not minimize the seriousness of
the allegations that have been raised, 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," the bureau said.
It added that the decision was also subject to the bureau's
final determination of itsinvestigations into allegations "concerning the accuracy,
completeness, and truthfulness of Fox representations regarding its WWOR-TV
Secaucus, N.J."
"The News Corp. matter isn't going away. There's more to
come. We'll have our shot," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of
CREW. "The FCC left the door open on this. They found the allegations
serious,, but they are waiting for some sort of adjudication."
And so will CREW. "We will wait until there is an
adjudication, and then we will renew our petition." She pointed out that the
FCC did not say that just because the allegations involved matters in Britain,
it does not count. "The FCC is clearly concerned about what happened."
