Tuesday,
December 11, 2012
MILWAUKEE –
The
Federal Communications Commission has now admitted it has received the petitions
to deny the renewal of the broadcast licenses of WISN-AM and WTMJ-AM radio
stations – which would prevent them from broadcasting – after claiming they had
not been filed, according to the Media Action Center.
.
MAC,
a national media watchdog, announced in November it had filed paperwork with the
FCC challenging the licenses of Clear
Channel's WISN-AM and Journal Communications' WTMJ-AM. It had hoped the FCC
would act by Dec. 1.
.
MAC
conducted a comprehensive study in May/June of 2012 – during the Scott Walker
recall campaign – which clearly showed the two stations each gave supporters of
Gov. Walker and the GOP about 80 minutes of free airtime daily on local talk
radio shows, while refusing any access to supporters of Mayor Tom Barrett and
Democrats whatsoever. In total, the two stations subsidized the Walker campaign with an
estimated $1 million dollars in airtime.
.
MAC
now reports that after first saying they were never received, Peter Doyle, FCC
Chief of the Audio Division, has confirmed MAC's Petitions to Deny the renewal
of the broadcast licenses of WISN-AM and WTMJ-AM radio stations have been
located and were filed on time, and the cases will proceed.
.
But in emails to a third
party, FCC Political Division Chief Mark Berlin claims the original formal
complaint upon which the license challenges are based
was never received, despite him personally sending MAC Director Sue
Wilson confirmation it had been received.
Wilson,
in a terse reply to Berlin November 30, reminded him that they spoke
personally about the case, and that she had emailed the complaint and several
follow-ups to his division, one as recently as November 5. She forwarded all
original communications to Berlin as proof; thus far she has not had any
reply.
.
"This
complaint is critical to the First Amendment rights of those in the community
who are being denied access to scarce microphones during political campaigns.
Do radio licensees have the right to use our publicly owned airwaves as a
cheerleader for only one political party during campaigns, while shutting the
other party out? This is clearly not in the public interest, but it appears
the FCC is doing what it typically does when it comes to its duty to protect the
public - it is ignoring the public. We will not allow that to happen," said
Wilson.
.
The
FCC legal petitions can be found at: http://www.mediaactioncenter.net.
.
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