AUG 29, 2023: Harold Feld, Public Knowledge wrote an extensive analysis of petition

On August 29, 2023, Harold Feld – Senior Vice President of Washington, DC-based nonprofit Public Knowledge, which promotes communications policy in the public interest – posted an analysis of the WTXF dispute on the technology and communications blog wetmachine.

This license renewal is not a First Amendment issue, said Feld, since “there is no First Amendment right to hold a broadcasting license.” Instead, the key question is “whether the FCC can trust the licensee to run the station in accordance with FCC rules and in a manner that serves the local community.”

Such a decision can involve scrutinizing a wide range of a license applicant’s behavior, he said. For example, in 2017 when Sinclair Broadcasting tried to buy Tribune Media, Sinclair “played lots of cute games with the application” that “displayed a ‘lack of candor’” and “a willingness to lie…to the FCC.” The FCC rejected the application and also scheduled a hearing on whether Sinclair “had requisite character to hold FCC licenses.”

Accordingly, the next step in the WTXF matter is for the FCC to “find whether…a sufficient ‘issue of material fact’ exists to warrant…a hearing on the question of honesty/character,” says Feld.

If a licensee is found to have violated FCC’s Character Policy, the Commission can take measures that fall short of revoking the license, said Feld. Possibilities include settling the investigation with a fine and a “compliance program” to prevent future violations or restructuring the license to bar its owner from influencing the licensee’s activities.

Feld’s piece can be found here.