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Chicagoans to protest Fox-32 Chicago in wake of Voicemail Hacking Scandal
| July 21, 2011 |
| Posted by Mitchell | Entry 676 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2011
Mitchell Szczepanczyk (Chicago Media Action)
773-641-2151
mitchell@szcz.org
Scott Sanders (Chicago Media Action)
312-376-5404
themediastructurefailed@yahoo.com
CHICAGOANS TO PROTEST FOX-32 CHICAGO IN WAKE OF VOICEMAIL HACKING SCANDAL
What: Local group urges FCC to pull TV broadcast licenses of criminals
When: Friday, July 22, 5pm to 6pm CT
Where: Outside of Fox Chicago, 205 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Amid the broadening scandal implicating the Rupert-Murdoch owned News
Corporation in illegally hacking into voicemails, bribing police
agencies, and corrupting politicians, Chicago Media Action (CMA) will
hold a public protest outside of the Murdoch-owned Fox Chicago studios
on Friday, July 22.
CMA members and protest participants will educate the public about the
sordid US history of News Corporation and the danger posed to the public
interest if the British media practices were also done in the US. As
one remedy, CMA will demand that the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) be prepared to pull the broadcast licenses of FOX broadcast
television affiliates, including WFLD Fox Chicago 32.
"The scandal in the UK has exposed a level of corruption and abuse of
power which has set off loud alarms in the United States as well, said
CMA organizer Scott Sanders. The use of such sleazy tactics to
blackmail politicians, manipulate regulators, and unreasonably influence
public opinion is intolerable in a democracy. If the Murdoch media
empire is found guilty of criminal activity in the United States, then
the FCC must take action.
American broadcast TV stations are licensed by the FCC and licensees are
obliged to serve the "public interest, convenience and necessity". The
FCC has the power to revoke the license of any broadcaster who neglects
this standard, though historically this has seldom been done. CMA and
the public will press for that remedy if investigations confirm criminal
activity in the US by Murdoch-owned media.
ABOUT CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION: CMA is a Chicago area-group dedicated to
analyzing and broadening Chicago's major media and to building Chicago's
independent media. In 2005, CMA was the lead actor of an FCC license
challenge against WFLD Fox-32 Chicago on the grounds of providing poor
coverage of local issues in the 2004 election; that challenge is now in
its fifth appeal before the FCC. For more information about CMA,
visit www.chicagomediaaction.org
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed on this
website are those of the individual members of Chicago Media
Action who authored them, and not necessarily those of the entire
membership of Chicago Media Action, nor of Chicago Media Action
as an organization.
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