A public interest group that challenged the local television broadcast license of a Fox-owned outlet in Philadelphia has asked a court to intervene on the issue by forcing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to hold a full panel vote on the matter.
In a filing submitted Friday to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C, the Media and Democracy (MAD) Project said the FCC is effectively blocking judicial review of the matter because the full slate of three FCC commissioners have not yet held a required vote an earlier decision made by the agency’s Media Bureau.
MAD Project first challenged the license of WTXF (Channel 29) three years ago, arguing Fox could not pass the character fitness test imposed by the FCC as a prerequisite to hold a broadcast TV license.
The petition came shortly after Fox Corporation, the owner of WTXF, agreed to settle a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems over election-related misinformation aired on some Fox News Media commentary programs. Fox News Media is operated as a co-owned, but otherwise separate, business from Fox’s local broadcast stations.
After agreeing to hear public comment on the matter, the FCC dismissed the petition from MAD Project, with then-FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel calling the challenge politically-motivated.
Since then, the MAD Project has pressed for an administrative review of the matter, something that cannot take place until after the full FCC board of commissioners votes on the issue. In July, the group filed a mandamus petition asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to compel the Commission to act, as first reported by The Desk.
The group has also launched a separate, but related, challenge to a spectrum license for a Fox News satellite truck.
In its latest court filing, attorneys for the MAD Project say the FCC has already defended the Media Bureau’s handling of the matter in other litigation and therefore has no valid reason to avoid issuing a final Commission order.
The group also pointed to the Fourth Circuit’s decision in “Brown v. FCC,” where judges raised concerns that the agency could insulate delegated bureau decisions from judicial review simply by declining to act on applications for review.
The Supreme Court later stayed that ruling, finding preliminarily that there was no final FCC order subject to review.
MAD nevertheless argues the Supreme Court reinforced a separate point important to its case: the full Commission has a mandatory duty to resolve applications for review.
The group wants the D.C. Circuit to enforce that obligation through mandamus.
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