When it comes to conservative political activism in the U.S., the Bozell surname has been synonymous with faith-fueled cultural mores and squelching what it views as unwelcoming, family-threatening themes across the nation’s airwaves. Brent Bozell III, the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, founded the Media Research Center and Parents Television Council as lobbying groups dedicated to identifying liberal media bias and to “promote and restore responsibility and decency” on TV, respectively.
Today, the MRC is led by his son, David Bozell, and he’s continued its mission to “stand as a stronghold against misinformation, media bias, and distortion, promoting a culture of fairness, accuracy, and accountability.” Now, Bozell is in the spotlight for joining peers such as Daniel Suhr in petitioning the FCC to deny the license renewals of ABC Owned Stations‘ eight properties.
What are Bozell’s reasons for the Commission to take such a drastic action?
The answers can be found in a 27-page Petition to Deny submitted to the FCC late Monday (6/29). Bozell, joined by six co-signees, uses a four-pronged argument:
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ABC is a Partisan Operation Engaged in Active Electioneering, Including Interference in a Presidential Debate
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ABC Refuses to Report on Many of the Most Critical Issues of Our Day
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ABC Uses Public Spectrum to Excuse, and Even Justify, Political Violence
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ABC Spreads Misinformation
Whether or not this is opinion or fact will be up to Acting Media Bureau Chief Alex Sanjenis and his team, as it looks at all of the data and analysis surrounding the unprecedented early license renewal of WABC-TV in New York, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WLS-TV in Chicago, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTRK-TV in Houston, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durham, and KFSN-TV in Fresno.
Bozell’s petition opens with the understanding that while ABC has First Amendment rights, “it does not have a right to public spectrum.” He continues, “Because of ABC’s continued and sustained abuse of the licenses subject to the current review, its notorious efforts to
improperly influence national elections, and its willful engagement in misinformation and the promotion of violence, Petitioners request that these licenses not be renewed.”
Those are strong allegations, and how the Commission responds could prove interesting for the Media and Democracy Project, the political action group that unsuccessfully sought a review of the license renewal of FOX Television Stations’ WTXF-TV in Philadelphia for airing FOX News Channel-produced reports during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election season it deemed false and misleading, and potentially designed to create such violence as that seen on January 6, 2021.
The accusations and charges against ABC fuel the first three pages of the petition before backing up the Media Research Center’s claims. The MRC then offers background on who the six co-petitioners are; they include VP Dan Schneider and a Houston-based individual who supports the center’s mission, among others.
A PUBLIC INTEREST TEST
In establishing the basis of its claims against ABC, Bozell first affirms the belief of the Commission under the leadership of Chairman Brendan Carr to determine whether ABC’s stations have been acting in the public interest. It first brings up investigations into “invidious” forms of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices by the human resources department. It then seeks to paint a picture of extreme news bias against President Trump with a boast that MRC “has reviewed nearly 50,000 hours of ABC programming over 38 years, and has produced hundreds of studies detailing ABC’s systemic bias, dishonesty, and partisan activism.”
The MRC criticized ABC for selecting World News Tonight anchor David Muir to host a 2024 presidential debate between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris (judged by MRC as the recipient of 100% favorable newscast coverage) and Republican candidate Donald Trump (judged by MRC as receiving 93% negative coverage on the newscasts). But, what determines “negative” versus “positive” was not spelled out, as the MRC is more activist than neutral watchdog in the eyes of some Washington insiders.
That said, the MRC points to an “egregious example of raw electioneering” with the May 2026 airing of a comment from “an ABC co-host.” What Bozell doesn’t disclose is that the comments are from Sunny Hostin, and were made on The View — a roundtable talk show that offers opinions on various topics as it blends entertainment with political discourse on a daily basis. The comments were not made on a newscast. Neither were further examples of statements made on both The View and late-night program Jimmy Kimmel Live! as the petition touched on reasons why The View should be subject to equal time regulations.
Regarding the MRC’s claims that ABC “refuses to report” on many critical issues, Bozell points to 20 raids the Trump administration conducted as part of an investigation into Minneapolis welfare fraud; lack of coverage of fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds; the murder committed by a Honduran national “paroled into the country” by the Biden Administration; and the murder of a teenager in the U.K. by a migrant that saw the perpetrator sway police to his advantage, leading to the victim’s death.
To date, the FCC has not spoken on whether or not policing content is within its rules and regulations.
What about the MRC’s claim that ABC has justified political violence? Bozell points to coverage of the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, whose statements had included incendiary remarks about specific groups of Americans who do not share the same political or lifestyle views as him or his Turning Point USA organization.
And that misinformation allegation Bozell offers? He points to claims by “ABC hosts” that the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election was “stolen” and “illegitimate.” Yet, a similarly styled argument has fallen flat in the Media and Democracy Project’s quest to have WTXF-TV’s license renewal reviewed, as the group took aim at nearly identical comments tied to the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
ANOTHER ‘CAR’ PLEA TO FCC
While the FCC digests the petition from the Media Research Center, Politico reports that the Daniel Suhr-led Center for American Rights is readying to submit its own license revocation petition with the Commission.
Suhr told the Capitol Hill-focused news organization that CAR’s petition “will be particularly wide-ranging,” including what he calls the “hyper-partisan” nature of ABC shows, from Kimmel’s late-night program to “The View.”
That’s not much different than the petition from Bozell, giving conservatives a twin pitch to Chairman Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty as it ultimately comes down to Mr. Sanjenis as to whether any of these arguments are of merit in the probe of ABC.
