This week, the efforts of a New jersey citizen media watchdog group are yielding results in Washington, and local Fox station WWOR is facing some tough questions. The Federal Communications Commission is expanding their investigation of WWOR for allegedly lying to the agency about their local programming and staffing of the Seacaucus, NJ station.

These days, broadcasters don’t lose much sleep over the license renewal process. Once every eight years, stations simply put a postcard in the mail to renew their right to use the public airwaves—what used to be an opportunity for community input and evaluation has become a simple rubberstamp process.

In today’s media landscape, where mega corporations run amuck, it’s easy to forget that the airwaves belong to the public. But they do, and in return for the free use of this extraordinarily valuable public resource, station owners agree to serve the public by providing a certain amount of public interest programming.

This Halloween, it’s not ghouls and goblins you should be afraid of; it’s an insidious fake news invasion, and it may be heading your way – if it’s not already in your midst.

Alright, so that may be overly dramatic, but we should all be concerned with fake news and how it continues to spread in our communities despite years of public outcry. “Fake news” is advertising that is embedded in news segments and disguised as real news. The products and segments are never disclosed to the viewers as paid advertisements, and understaffed newsrooms all over the country are increasingly airing fake news because it saves them the time and expense of producing real news that serves the public interest.

My last post, “No More Bleeding Ledes, Please”, has provoked a strong response from journalists, news producers and news consumers alike. I’m excited to have jumpstarted this discussion and want to respond to some of the themes that have emerged from readers’ comments.