Arizona Lawmaker Calls for FCC Investigation of PBS Station
The Arizona Senate’s Republican leader has asked the FCC to investigate Arizona PBS over its coverage of the state’s 2022 gubernatorial election. Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen sent a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Tuesday calling for the investigation. The letter points to a report in the Arizona Republic that said leaders at Arizona State University -- which operates Arizona PBS -- considered Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s view that the 2020 election was stolen before offering her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs, airtime.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
In the letter, Petersen compares Arizona PBS’ coverage to the CBS 60 Minutes interview of former Vice President Kamala Harris, which is the focus of an FCC news distortion proceeding. Arizona PBS had traditionally conducted solo interviews with candidates who agreed to debate but whose opponent declined to do so, Petersen said. Before the 2022 election, when Hobbs declined to debate Lake, the station gave Hobbs an interview instead of Lake. Messages obtained by Arizona Republic later indicated that this decision was made by ASU’s president and the station head in connection with Lake’s denial of the 2020 election results. “Based on the emails between top university officials, Arizona PBS made broadcast decisions based on how it viewed Kari Lake’s positions on election integrity and Katie Hobbs’ electoral prospects,” Petersen wrote. The FCC “should investigate Arizona PBS’ blatant viewpoint discrimination against Kari Lake and partisan calculations designed to benefit Katie Hobbs. I respectfully request that the FCC take appropriate enforcement action, including license revocation, to protect the public interest and ensure that Arizonans will not be subjected to biased media manipulation in future elections.”
The FCC and Arizona PBS didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.