New Knocks on Fox

CREDO tells FCC to revoke broadcast license held by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/14/2012 12:01:00 AM

CREDO Action was one of a number of groups pressing the Federal Communications Commission last week to investigate News Corp.’s fitness as a TV station licensee with its Fox Television Stations unit.

The key to that push was a U.K. parliamentary finding that Rupert Murdoch was “not a fit person to exercise stewardship of a major international company,” which came in the wake of revelations about News Corp.’s phone-hacking scandal in Britain.

CREDO, which offers credit card (Working Assets) and phone services with a cut going toward “progressive” campaigns, told followers to get this message out: “Tell the FCC: Enforce the law. Revoke the broadcast licenses held by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.” The message got out, including via the tweetisphere.

News Corp. had no response, but Murdoch tweeted last week: “One or two tweets on FCC okay, but hundreds identical Just phoney and abuses twitter. By the way, what law?”

“The law requires that the FCC consider the ‘character’ of media owners when deciding whether to grant, deny or revoke a broadcast license,” CREDO said on its Website.

No congressional hearings have been scheduled on the issue, but two weeks ago, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) asked Parliament for any new information on the investigation, prompting media concentration critic Free Press to send Rockefeller a thankyou letter containing what it said was 70,000 signatures asking him to hold hearings.