July 31, 2023: Media Execs support MAD petition

On July 31, 2023, two media veterans from opposite sides of the political aisle, Ervin S. Duggan and William Kristol, filed a letter urging the FCC to hold a hearing on issues raised by MAD’s July 3 petition.

Despite often-diverging views, “we both strongly believe that American democracy must be grounded in open, respectful, and factual debate,” wrote Duggan – a former FCC Commissioner and PBS president and a veteran of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration – and Kristol – a political analyst and former Fox News commentator who served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

“Moreover, we believe that media companies…granted the privilege to serve the public through operation of FCC-licensed television stations have a corollary duty to facilitate and strengthen democracy by participating in that debate,” they continued.

Because licensees must operate broadcast stations they own in the public interest, this gives them the further responsibility to act in the public interest as they themselves participate in the national conversation, “adhering to the highest journalistic standards in reporting and distributing news to ensure that the public has solid facts upon which to make the decisions…essential to our…democracy.”

However, at least two of WTXF’s “corporate sisters” – Fox News and Fox Business, also owned by Fox Corporation – “failed over an extended period of  time” to serve the public interest. Instead, they promulgated falsehoods “about a matter of supreme public concern, the 2020 election.” This fact casts serious doubt on whether the Fox Corporation qualifies to hold a broadcast license under the FCC’s character policy, especially since the Fox entities’ lies occurred as part of news reporting, the filing says.

This Duggar-Kristol filing can be found here.

The press release can be found here.