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Administrative Law Keyed to Schwartz
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ v. Federal Communications Commission
Citation:
359 F.2d 994 (1966)Facts
The Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ and individual civil rights leaders sought to intervene in the license renewal proceeding for television station WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi. They alleged that WLBT had engaged in discriminatory programming practices against African Americans, who comprised nearly 45% of the station’s viewing audience. Specific complaints included cutting off network programs about race relations, presenting only one side of racial issues, and generally discriminating against African Americans in its programming. WLBT had a history of complaints dating back to 1955, including an incident where it deliberately cut off a network program featuring the NAACP’s General Counsel and displayed a “Sorry, Cable Trouble” sign. Despite these complaints, the FCC had previously renewed WLBT’s license. The FCC denied the appellants’ petition to intervene, ruling they lacked standing, but nevertheless granted WLBT a one-year conditional license renewal without holding a hearing, despite acknowledging “serious issues” about whether WLBT’s operations met the public interest standard.
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