[Peace-discuss] FCC rough draft 1

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FCC: first draft for putting public back into public
broadcast

Dear Chairman Powell and Commissioners,

Please accept this as a formal petition to deny the
license renewal request of radio station WILL,
licensed to University of Illinois in the city of
Urbana, IL. This petition is filed in accordance with
47 CFR 73.3584, which states that any party can file a
petition within 30 days after the issuance of public
notice for the filing of the applications. Futhermore,
this petition is being filed within the period
specified by 47 CFR 73.3516 (e), which states that a
petition to deny must be filed by the end of the first
day of the last month of the expiring license term.
This petition is filed because the licensee has failed
to perform in the "public interest, convenience and
necessity," as required by the Communication Act of
1934 (Public Law 416, 73rd Congress), as amended. In
light of what we believe are violations of the public
trust by WILL division of broadcasting (Urbana,
Illinois) we formally request a denial of FCC license
renewal as of November 1, 2004. Our position is that
public broadcasting ought to meet the charter
requirements for including local community voices.
WILL has failed in this regard by systematically
excluding voices of the local community. Preference
has been given primarily to corporate and business
underwriters. Several requests for community inclusion
on air have been denied. In at least one case paid
underwriting by a community group was censored by a
dubious editorial policy. Meanwhile, politicians with
strong PAC (political action committee) ties to
corporate funders of the station have been featured on
the air and on their website. We find that WILL fails
to include local issues in favor of packaged British
programming to avoid local conroversy which may affect
their intake of funds. Further, WILL does not include
representative local voices of minority groups.
Instead an enormous emphasis is based on weather and
agriculture for benefit of the largest corporate
funder Archer Daniels Midland. We ask that the FCC
license be denied until such time as a public hearing
on the matter can establish a truly public division of
broadcasting. In addition we ask that this station
adequately represent the public and the diverse
community it serves. Finally we ask for a formal
review of the editorial policy employed which is
inconsistent and in violation of the FCC agreement for
public broadcasters in the United States.

Sincerely, AWARE Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort Urbana,
IL



		
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