Group Petitions Philly Station's License

The group Media and Democracy Project (MAD) announced its filing of a petition to deny the broadcast license renewal application for Fox Corp-owned television station WTXF FOX 29 in Philadelphia,

The group filed their objection before the Federal Communications Commission, alleging that senior management of Fox Corporation manipulated its audience by knowingly broadcasting false news about the 2020 election. Its intentional and chronic news distortion further divided the country, sowing discord that was a contributing factor to the attack on our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021.

 The group says that WTXF, one of 29 FOX subsidiary broadcast stations, has a basic statutory duty to conduct its operations in the public interest and they believe the station has not done so.

“Owning a broadcast station is more than a business—it is a public trust. Never before has the Commission been confronted with so much evidence attached to a petition that clearly shows that an FCC broadcast licensee undermined that trust,” the group said in its petition.

MAD is calling on the FCC to initiate an evidentiary hearing into FOX’s conduct.