In early July 2023, a Washington, D.C.-based “non-partisan, all-volunteer, grassroots organization focused on strengthening a free and independent media in the public interest” petitioned the FCC seeking to deny the license renewal of a Fox Television Stations property in Philadelphia. Why? Media and Democracy Project, with the support of former television industry executive Preston Padden, assert that senior management of FTS parent Fox Corporation “manipulated its audience by knowingly broadcasting false news about the 2020 election.”
Today, a FCC Media Bureau docket continues to receive filings from parties for and against the license renewal of WTXF “FOX 29” in Philadelphia. Now, a Republican Commissioner has spoken up by calling for an end to the fight and allowing the license renewal to proceed without delay.
