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Rupert Murdoch to White House: Drop Dead

July 21, 2009 3:26 pm ET by Eric Boehlert

With its decision this week to once again ignore the White House and refuse to air a primetime press conference, Murdoch's Fox TV has made it quite clear that it's no longer going to perform any public service function whatsoever.

Despite the fact that Fox uses the public airwaves for free and banks tens of millions of dollars in ad revenues each year off those public airwaves, Fox, with a Democrat now in the  White House, is walking away from even making token gestures toward fulfilling the public service mandate that all broadcasters (supposedly) agree to.

Honestly, what public service does Fox provide? It has no nightly or weekly news programs. And it's now out of the business of airing White House news events. (Fox entertainment execs have decided the events are not important enough.) It airs a poorly-rated Sunday morning talk show, and rounds up the usual talking heads on Election Night. That's it. That's its contribution to the public conversation in America.

Rupert Murdoch no longer even tries to hide his contempt for responsible broadcasting.

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    • Author by NiceguyEddie (July 21, 2009 3:32 pm ET)
      6  
      So... What does it take to pull their broacasting liscense?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by seeryer (July 21, 2009 3:33 pm ET)
      5  
      Honestly, what public service does Fox provide?

      They set the tone of the debate for the militia minded wingnuts out there.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by terrapin53 (July 21, 2009 3:35 pm ET)
      3  
      They have the simpson's if that counts for anything
      Report Abuse
    • Author by The_Cat (July 21, 2009 3:45 pm ET)
      3 1
      The FCC has the ability to review all of the broadcasting licenses for all of the FOX stations who disregard Presidential addresses, among other things.

      However, from the tone of the FCC wiki article, they also respond to suits brought by 'complainants'. I suppose that could be private people as well as business. Be warned that less than 1% of license renewals are rejected, though.

      Perhaps everyone who lives within the broadcast range of a FOX station should write the FCC a letter, complaining that the network is ignoring their public duties:

      Federal Communications Commission
      445 12th Street, SW
      Washington, DC 20554

      Or make a phone call:

      1-888-225-5322 (1-888-CALL FCC) Voice: toll-free
      1-888-835-5322 (1-888-TELL FCC) TTY: toll-free
      1-866-418-0232 FAX: toll-free
      Report Abuse
      • Author by DAWUSS (July 21, 2009 4:05 pm ET)
        1 6
        Because slamming the middle-man is the way to go. It's not necessarily WXIN's fault that FOX isn't airing Obama's presser...
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    • Author by DAWUSS (July 21, 2009 4:03 pm ET)
      1 8
      ... and the issue here is....?


      If they don't wanna' air they don't wanna air it. That's their choice.


      Are we also going to demand that Cartoon Network and ESPN air the President's pressers?


      FOX News is carrying it, right? (With expert analysis from Glenn Beck, Frank Luntz and Sean Hannity, but that's another story)
      Report Abuse
      • Author by ReasonAndResolve (July 21, 2009 4:08 pm ET)
        5  
        Cartoon Network and ESPN do not use the public airways - they are cable only. The Fox Broadcasting network is on publicly owned FM frequencies and is, therefore, regulated by the FCC. It is supposed to provide a "free" public service. That is the law.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (July 21, 2009 4:09 pm ET)
        4  
        Cartoon Network and ESPN don't have broadcasting licenses that obligate them to carry public service and information programming in order to keep their licenses.

        But I'm sure you knew that.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by Conchobhar (July 21, 2009 4:14 pm ET)
        1  
        The issue here is the Public's airwaves, which are licensed to corporations. Part of the agreement, "honored more in the breach than the observance," since the beginning, but more and more in the last three decades, is that they are required to provide a certain amount of public interest programming.

        I understand the snark about ESPN, etc., but I'll treat the question as if you were serious. Cable has no such obligation, since it doesn't use the Public's airwaves. The institutionalized political corruption inherent in the creation of cable's regional monopolies is another story.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by captfoster2 (July 21, 2009 5:58 pm ET)
           
        DAWUSS,

        Come on man. Your much better than this...

        If Fox wants to claim to be a news source then it must air the presidents press conferences or either officially call itself nothing more than an opinion/comedy station or close its doors!

        If they refuse to do so, then the FCC should pull its license!

        CN is a purely entertainment station and ESPN is a sports station and Fox claims to be a news station... so your saying what you said is foolish.

        The couple million viewers of Fox can then choose whether they want to back the rest of America or back the right-wing corporate propaganda anti-America station called Fox News.

        I'm sure the true colors of those that can't stand the idea of freedom and education among the masses will rear their ugly heads.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by solon (July 21, 2009 6:15 pm ET)
           
        It is also the FCCs choice if the want to strip Fox of their broadcasting license for failure to live up to the public service portion required of them
        Report Abuse
      • Author by John Paradox (July 21, 2009 8:08 pm ET)
           
        If they don't wanna' air they don't wanna air it. That's their choice.

        It's also their choice that their affiliates lose their licenses. I took Broadcast Law, and am familiar with the requirements, including the occasional requirement to inform the listeners about their Public File, which includes comments from viewers/listeners about how effective the station is in fulfilling their requirements to the 'public interest, convenience and necessity'.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by jason10006 (July 21, 2009 4:55 pm ET)
      2 1
      Ahhh, commentators, MM. So wrong. So very wrong. Murdoch DELIBERATELY had Fox stop broadcasting at 10 PM way back in the day PRECISELY so that it would not meet the FCC definition of a "network." Thus Fox, and also the CW (and former UPN and WB) are NOT obligated in any way shape or form to produce programing for the public good. Its a frickin Wikipedia factoid. I hate Fox, but really, they are not required to do what MM says. If you want them (and the CW) to be required to so, you should make the FCC change the rule.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by frankbyron (July 21, 2009 5:42 pm ET)
           
        Wikipedia is hardly the be-all, end-all source of credible information. FOX is indeed a "network," it does use the public airwaves, and because of that agrees -- at least in theory -- to use at least some portion of its broadcast time for public service. Though technically they are not required to, all the networks should be by law. Shrub's primetime press conferences were typically rare, but FOX carried every one of them; why should President Obama's be any different? If FOX doesn't want to play by the rules everyone else agrees to, the FCC should pull its license. The nation would be much better off for it.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by solon (July 21, 2009 6:18 pm ET)
        1 1
        That is flat out wrong. Network or NOT they broadcast over the public airwaves which belong to US that requires them to perform public service. They use OUR resource for FREE to make obscene buttloads of money OFF of our resource if he doesnt want to do the required public service he can lose his license and go into the used car business
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      • Author by The_Cat (July 21, 2009 6:44 pm ET)
           
        And so FOX is not a 'network' per se. However, each individual FOX station, broadcasting over public airwaves, still has a duty to serve that public, in part by showing things like Presidential press conferences.

        As such, each individual station may have it's license to broadcast suspended or revoked, regardless of FOX's status as a network.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by overmars jr. (July 21, 2009 5:04 pm ET)
         
      Don't worry... once all the jacknuts looking for their next whine join the rest of the country on channels other than Fox affiliates, the next presser will be aired and it will end as a hollow embarrassment.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by rwmacdonald2091 (July 21, 2009 5:12 pm ET)
      2 1
      Ever think Murdoch doesn't want to shock his viewers and listeners? If he airs the press conference, his viewers will find out that Rush Limbaugh isn't president. Just think of the mass confusion that would create!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by solon (July 21, 2009 6:13 pm ET)
        1
      Strip Fox of its license to broadcast. He doesnt own the airwaves he uses. If he is going to ignore his public service obligation he is in breach of his contract. If he isnt going to perform the public service function that is part of the deal then he can go into the dry cleaning business
      Report Abuse
    • Author by constructivedisorder (July 21, 2009 9:57 pm ET)
      1  
      Another issue with Fox News that hasn't gotten enough attention: With Comcast (and I assume other providers), Fox News is automatically included with every single cable package (except bottom of the line basic). It cannot be declined. I tried. That means that everyone who gets cable is essentially contributing to the right wing of the Republican party through their monthly cable fees, a portion of which are paid to Fox News. I've downgraded to Basic (to the bitter tears of my children, I might add), and have also complained to the FCC, but my protests have not as yet been noticed. I've also started to turn off Fox Entertainment, much as we all love the Simpsons, because those revenues fatten Murdoch the same as Fox News does.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by wookie (July 22, 2009 11:12 am ET)
           
        Its interesting that the Simpsons slams Murdoch so much. I geuss they are so profitable that he lets it slide.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by jeannie35 (July 21, 2009 10:26 pm ET)
         
      This story and the postings that follow is all the Fox Noise needs in order to stir up the Rabid Right into a brand-new frenzy about the Fairness Doctrine - doesn't matter that radio is the medium. I'll be shocked if this story isn't a lead-in for Fox and Friends, or at the least The O'Reilly Factor tomorrow. I believe they should be following the rules, but exactly what would be gained if we got what we wished for? They'd have more ammunition with a believable claim that Fox is being attacked by the "liberal" media and the White House via the FCC. Well, I guess the good would be that at least they would have another Cause to rally their misinformed troops round, and there'd be a few less TV minutes available for them to spread health care misinformation.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by vivadelgado (July 21, 2009 11:41 pm ET)
          1
        I guess it's now ok to advocate censorship. After your done with FOX. We should pull MSNBC, and then Now on PBS and then Democracy Now, plus Air America.... because we all know these outlets have no agenda right? Only FOX does.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by eweston8542983 (July 22, 2009 10:38 am ET)
          1  
          Censorship?
          how?
          Opposition to conservative missinformation cannot be equated to censorship.
          Failure to perform public service broadcasting is not free speech.
          Comedy Central's veiwers are more informed than Faux Gnues veiwers.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by jflz201884 (July 22, 2009 9:13 am ET)
      1  
      What service does Fox provide? Why, it is niche broadcasting -- news for "conservatives."

      Fox reminds me of the Monty Python comedy troupe's "News for Parrots." Narrator: "Good evening. Here is the News for Parrots. No parrots were involved in an accident on the MI today, when a lorry carrying high octane fuel was in a collision with a bollard -- that is, a bollard and not a parrot. A spokesman for parrots said he was glad no parrots were involved."

      Surely the broadcast spectrum has space for Fox's variation on the theme.

      Jerry Elsea

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  • County Fair is a media blog featuring links to progressive media criticism from around the Web as well as original commentary, breaking news and rapid response updates to major media events from Media Matters senior fellows and other staff.
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