Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has dismissed four complaints against local TV stations that “seek to weaponize” the agency and are “at odds” with the First Amendment.
“We draw a bright line at a moment when clarity about government interference with the free press is needed more than ever,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “The action we take makes clear two things. First, the FCC should not be the President’s speech police. Second, the FCC should not be journalism’s censor-in-chief.”
Three of the complaints, all filed by The Center for American Rights, accuse ABC Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV of alleged bias for hosting the September presidential debate, New York’s WCBS-TV for “news distortion” for the way a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris was edited, and New York’s WNBC-TV of violating the FCC’s equal time rule when Harris appeared on “Saturday Night Live” during the weekend leading up to the presidential election.
The fourth, which is filed by the Media and Democracy Project, pushed to revoke the broadcast license of Fox Philadelphia’s WTXF-TV. The complaint, which was supported by former News Corp. government relations head Preston Padden, alleged that the Dominion Voting System lawsuit against Fox Corp. showed that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch lacked the “character” to hold a broadcast license.
According to Rosenworcel, the four complaints were denied because they all ask the FCC to penalize broadcast television stations because they dislike station behavior, content, or coverage.
“The facts and legal circumstances in each of these cases are different. But what they share is that they seek to weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment,” Rosenworcel said. “To do so would set a dangerous precedent.”
The move marks one of Rosenworcel’s final acts before stepping down from her role as the agency’s head before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. Trump has called on the FCC to revoke broadcast licenses in response to coverage or programming that he dislikes.
Incoming FCC chairman Brendan Carr previously told Fox News that CAR’s complaint against CBS is “something that is likely to arise in the context” of the agency’s ongoing review of Skydance and Paramount Global’s pending $8 billion merger set to close in the first half of 2025.
“It may seem quaint to draw attention like this to broadcast licenses, in an era when so many of us seek out information we want, when we want it, from where we want it, on any screen handy,” Rosenworcel added. “But these stations remain a vital source of local and national news. And there is nothing antiquated about the idea that the FCC has a duty to respect the Constitution.”
In the order denying the complaints against WPVI and WCBS, the FCC noted that the First Amendment restricts the agency from interfering with the free press.
In the order denying the complaint against WNBC, the agency noted that the station complied with the equal time rule by giving Trump airtime the next day during a NASCAR race and NFL “Sunday Night Football” game.
In the order denying the complaint against WTFX, the FCC said the character assessment requested is “at odds with the First Amendment and continued freedom of the press” and that previous actions that revoked broadcast licenses for “character” issues “involved the station’s clear failure to comply with agency rules (not at issue here) or a clearly adjudicated felony for the station owner (also not at issue here).”
