Ethics Watchdog Wants Fox's FCC Licenses Revoked

Tuesday was rough for Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. empire.

For starters, British lawmakers released a highly-critical report on the phone-hacking scandal at Murdoch's British tabloids that accused him of "willfull blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications" and concluded that he was "not a fit person" to run a major international company.

Then the fallout began on the other side of the Atlantic, with a U.S. ethics watchdog calling on the FCC to revoke Fox's 27 broadcasting licenses in the wake of the report, the Guardian reports.

In a letter to regulators, the liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington argued that Parliament's findings prove that News Corp. fails to meet a FCC requirement that license holders exhibit good character and serve the public interest.

"If they are not passing the character standard under British law, it seems to me that they are not going to meet the character standard in America," said Melanie Sloane, the group's director.

You can read more on the FCC issue over at the Guardian. And more on Parliament's report over at CNN.