Oct. 19, 2023: Maria Curi of Axios reports on MAD meeting with FCC

On October 19, 2023, Maria Curi, of the online magazine Axios, reported on an October 17 meeting between supporters of MAD’s July 3 petition and FCC officials. Such meetings between FCC staff and petitioners were not allowed under the original “restricted” status of the WTXF license-renewal process. They became possible only after the FCC granted MAD’s request to shift the proceedings to “permit-but-disclose” status on Aug. 23.

The Petitioners urged FCC to compel Fox to turn over nonpublic discovery from recent Fox court cases such as the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit to ensure transparency and to schedule a formal hearing on the license-renewal matter.

Petitioners in attendance included MAD representatives Milo Vassalio, executive director, Art Belendiuk, counsel, and advisor David Goodfriend, along with former Fox analyst William Kristol, former Fox executive Preston Padden, former lead outside counsel for Fox Broadcasting Company, Bill Reyner; and former Republican FCC chair Al Sikes.

Senior FCC officials attending the meeting included Media Bureau chief Holly Saurer and Video Division chief Barbara Kreisman.

"We were proud to bring a highly esteemed group before the Media Bureau to make our case and are confident we'll be hard    for the Commission to ignore,” Padden said in a statement.

Erica Keane, Fox Communications vice president, responded with a cite from an earlier Fox FCC filing: "MAD's efforts to subject Fox 29 Philadelphia's online public file to a level of scrutiny and document production known to no other broadcaster underscores MAD's real motivation: to misuse the broadcast license renewal process to punish a company which it dislikes for reasons unrelated to the company's FCC-regulated businesses."

The Axios report (partial paywall) is here.