Fox Station Challenged on Renewal of License

FOX STATION CHALLENGED ON RENEWAL OF LICENSE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Dwoskin]
The Federal Communications Commission gave the public the opportunity on Wednesday to weigh in on whether a Fox-owned station with a unique relationship to New Jersey has earned the right to have its broadcast license renewed. More than 100 people came to a lecture hall at the Rutgers University campus here to debate how well the affiliate, WWOR-TV, Channel 9, is fulfilling its mandate to provide coverage of issues important to the residents of northern New Jersey. Many people complained that WWOR, which was acquired by Fox Television Stations in 2001 and is based in Secaucus, N.J., promotes itself as “My9 New York” and that the home page on the station’s Web site features an image of the New York skyline. (Less than two hours after the hearing, WWOR replaced the skyline image with one of the George Washington Bridge.) Analyzing WWOR’s public reports to the FCC, Voice for New Jersey, a media advocacy group based in Plainfield, said that in 2006, WWOR gave almost 80 percent more broadcast time to stories about New York than to those about New Jersey. WWOR’s vice president, Lew Leone, responded to the criticism by showing a video that included clips of the station’s New Jersey coverage. The video ended with the words “My9 and New Jersey: Perfect Together.” (What appeared to be masking tape had been placed over the letters “NY” in the “My9NY” slogan on a WWOR television video camera that was recording the proceedings.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/nyregion/29wwor.html?ref=todayspaper
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* Senator Lautenberg: TV station fails to serve New Jersey viewers
http://www.nj.com/ap/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1196305184203110.xm...

* Critics say WWOR isn't their '9 Jersey'
[SOURCE: The Star-Ledger, AUTHOR: Rudy Larini]
To critics of the TV station, WWOR's nickname says it all. It's featured on the station's Web site, my9ny.com. It also greets visitors entering its headquarters in Secaucus. Against a backdrop of the New York City skyline is the nickname "My 9 New York."
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-8/119622942754...