Loading ...ABC, CBS, And Other Corporate Media Black Out Coverage Of ‘Twitter Files’ Story
Corporate media outlets have all but refused to cover the unfolding “Twitter Files” published by independent journalists including Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi throughout the last week. According to Grabien, a news clipping and transcribing service, a search of its database finds that among the three major networks — ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News — the words “Twitter Files” have been discussed on air a collective total of one time since Dec. 2, the day Elon Musk announced the release of the first batch.
When do the FCC broadcast licenses that enable these networks to function come up for renewal?
And as for operating in “the public interest”, how does the failure to cover one of the year’s top stories fit into that supposed obligation?
Have any licenses ever been revoked before under that standard, and what met the criteria for revoking it/they/them ? Its time to revisit that option.
Failure to serve the public
The FCC requires radio and television station licensees to serve the public interest in some way; failure to do so can result in a station losing its license. However, this is extremely rare, as it requires something particularly egregious and ongoing on the station’s part.
A famous example of this is Jackson, Mississippi’s WLBT. An NBC affiliate, the station’s owner in the 1950s and 60s was pro-segregation. As such, they’d pre-empt any network programming that mentioned or depicted African-Americans in a positive light; the owners claimed “technical difficulties” were the reason. Civil rights protesters filed formal complaints and lawsuits over WLBT’s actions.
The protests and lawsuits against WLBT dragged out for some years, including several initial rulings in favor of the station’s owner. However, in 1969, the FCC finally revoked the owner’s license, awarding a new one (though under the same call letters) to a more diverse group of owners.
To date, this is apparently the only time a television station owner permanently lost their license due to failing to serve the public.