Alfred Sikes, the former head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the George H.W. Bush administration, is throwing his support behind a bipartisan bid to reject the broadcast license renewal of a local Philadelphia channel owned by Fox Corporation. Sikes’ informal objection comes on the heels of a formal petition to deny Fox 29 Philadelphia’s license that the non-partisan Media and Democracy Project (MAD) filed with the FCC last month. MAD has cited Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against Fox, which was settled for nearly $800 million this spring, as proof that the company aired “false news about the 2020 election” and failed the FCC’s “character” qualifications. “The FCC has allowed the pledge to operate in the public interest to become perfunctory at best. If the public interest means anything, the FCC must designate for a hearing the application of the Murdoch’s and FOX for renewal of their license to operate station WTXF, Philadelphia,” Sikes noted in his objection. He also said that Fox owners Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch’s “behavior” had raised questions as to whether “truthful conduct” is part of the FCC’s standard towards issuing broadcast licenses. Sikes, who supported giving Rupert Murdoch FCC waivers to lauch the Fox Broadcasting Company, is just the latest prominent name to join MAD’s push for a hearing into Fox 29’s license renewal. Former Fox News commentator Bill Kristol, ex-PBS president Ervin Duggan and one-time Fox executive Preston Padden have also issued declarations and objections to the FCC. Fox, meanwhile, has officially filed an opposition to MAD’s petition, claiming it would put the FCC “on a collision course with the First Amendment.”
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