FCC Actions
FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Hinckley Halprin has dismissed with prejudice the license renewal hearing for Marion Education Exchange’s 107.1 WWGH-LP Marion OH.
WWGH-LP was sent to a hearing in February to determine whether its license renewal should be granted and whether a financial penalty will be assessed against the station. The FCC sought to prove whether Marion Education Exchange misrepresented its board composition by offering different, and at times inconsistent explanations, knowingly submitted false information, and in an attempt to cover-up made additional misrepresentations. The FCC also stated that an apparent false statement regarding its programming being unique in Marion further bolsters its concern that MEE is capable of honesty in future dealings. MEE had stated that WWGH-LP is the “last station” in the city-of-license providing local news and weather every hour, while the original objector to its renewal noted that iHeartMedia’s 1490 WMRN and 94.3 WMRN-FM and Marion Community Radio’s 104.7 WZMO-LP did so as well, while Marion Makes Music’s 97.5 WDIF-LP also provided hourly weather.
The judge ordered MEE to have an attorney file a Notice of Appearance in the proceeding on its behalf by July 27. Marion Educational Exchange’s original attorney George Wolfe had withdrawn from the case in May citing the group’s failure to communicate with him. One attorney requested that the proceeding be suspended until September 30, while he considered whether to take the case, which was denied by the judge.
MEE President Shawn Craft filed a letter on July 26 stating they have been unable to retain counsel asking the FCC to provide a pro-bono attorney, while also asking that the case be dismissed or settled with the payment of a fine allowing the station to continue to operate. Judge Halprin noted that there is no mechanism in the Commission’s hearing rules to ignore the Hearing Designation Order or turn back the clock so that MEE can be more forthcoming with the Media Bureau. She would write:
MEE is a nonprofit corporation that holds the license for a low-power FM radio station, a service that was created to allow noncommercial, niche broadcasters to serve their communities within a legal framework. Far from being indifferent to that fact, the Media Bureau and the Presiding Judge have afforded MEE significant leeway in pursuing its renewal application. The Media Bureau sent three separate Letters of Inquiry to MEE seeking specific documentation and asking targeted questions before designating the matter for hearing when those inquiries failed to elicit definitive responses. Once the matter moved to hearing status, the Presiding Judge could have dismissed this case any number of times when MEE missed deadlines or did not follow Commission rules regarding filing and service of pleadings, but she opted to excuse MEE’s procedural missteps. When MEE’s first attorney withdrew from the case, the Presiding Judge ordered him to inform MEE of its obligations to satisfy outstanding discovery requests, and to file a notice in the record of this proceeding indicating that he had done so. She also gave MEE additional time to respond to those discovery requests. Moreover, while the rules allow 20 days after designation for an attorney to file an appearance in a hearing proceeding, she provided MEE more than twice that to find substitute counsel.
Ultimately, however, all FCC licensees, regardless of service, have a duty to know and adhere to applicable rules, respond promptly and completely to Commission inquiries, and comply with Commission orders. In the infrequent instance where an application is designated for evidentiary hearing, the rules become more formalized, involving the taking of witness testimony, the introduction of evidence, and the submission of formal pleadings. MEE’s representatives have consistently evidenced an inability or unwillingness to familiarize themselves with Commission rules and procedures in a way that would allow this case to move forward. When a licensee that bears the burden of proof does not fully participate in a hearing, it forfeits its opportunity to show that grant of its application is in the public interest. The Presiding Judge therefore has no choice at this point but to dismiss this hearing proceeding due to MEE’s failure to prosecute its application.
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