Boston area station fined for public file violations

[radiomike]

3 stations in the area,

WERS(FM) Boston at Emmerson College
WCHC(FM) Worcester at Holy Cross
WHJJ(AM) in Providence
WWZN(AM) Boston

all hit with $10,000 public file violation fines.

 

[Neggy]

how much of an idiot do you have to be to NOT maintain the file and have it available.

it is Radio 101.. basic common knowledge ans sense

 

[Varulven]

A certain college radio station positioned at 91.5 FM (take your pick of the 3 in this region, we all know who it is) hired a heavy duty lawfirm to insure the student misconduct didn't cost the station its license. There were definite violations when the students shut the station down night after night (not turning it off according to FCC rules & regulations); I'm pretty sure the Public File was a mess - but - voila - no reprimand. Ya have to have the bucks to hire the right attorney.

There's a certain major station in Boston between WCRB and WROR which created other "files" so negative letters didn't have to go into the Public File. What a crock. The other files were the "circular" file. People would send certified letters and be told they went into "another file". Illegal.

Glad the FCC is cracking down somewhat.

Got to hand it to Mike Elder for putting my letter against Mike Savage in the Public File at WRKO after Savage was fired from TV for the anti-gay remark. Bless you Mike.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

A certain college radio station positioned at 91.5 FM (take your pick of the 3 in this region, we all know who it is) hired a heavy duty lawfirm to insure the student misconduct didn't cost the station its license. There were definite violations when the students shut the station down night after night (not turning it off according to FCC rules & regulations); I'm pretty sure the Public File was a mess - but - voila - no reprimand. Ya have to have the bucks to hire the right attorney.

They didn't lose their license, but I believe they were still fined a few grand, which is a reprimand of sorts. They weren't shutting off the transmitter when there was no programming, leaving a dead carrier on the air. They still do that once in a while, but not all the time like they used to.

Also, I heard that their transmitter remote control was found to be non-functional from the studios (perhaps why they never shut it off back then) which has since been remedied, and their Public File, what there was of one, was a shambles at the time.

Listening to that station just last week, I heard a few violations in just one show. The DJ was seriously overmodulating his mic whenever he spoke, causing severe distortion. I was picturing VU meters pinning in the red. He also gave an ad-libbed advertisment for a certain commercial beverage by brand name (not a paid ad, but just because he felt like it) urging people to go buy it because it's "good for hot days", which is illegal on a non-commercial station, paid or not. To top it off, at legal ID time he said "W---, Boston", not the suburb in which the station is licensed.

Some other things about this particular DJ's on-air patter, while probably not illegal, I personally found obnoxious and objectionable.

It's a real shame because there are still some good people trying to do good (and legal) radio at this particular college station, and a few bozos plus a lax management still risk ruining it for them. As well, if the station management had it's act together technically and legally, they could improve their signal and audio quality substantially. The sound of their airchain is very muddy, and I heard that they blew a chance to apply to modify their extremely directional antenna pattern some years ago.

 

[boondocksaint037]

Mike, do you have a link to any details or anything? Like specifically what happened with the stations? Curious about these cases. Thanks...

 

[Neggy]

If you subscribe to the FCC Daily Digest in the Broadcast Actions section they outline who was fined for what ooops Notice of Apparent Liability.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1502A1.txt <<< Emerson NAL

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1501A1.txt <<< Holy Cross
It is also on the FCC website.

 

[boondocksaint037]

Thanks Neggy

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

how much of an idiot do you have to be to NOT maintain the file and have it available.

it is Radio 101.. basic common knowledge ans sense

Agreed, it's not brain surgery. But then, who are the stations keeping this file for? How often does a citizen go to a radio station to take a look at the file? I can count on the fingers of one hand (with a few fingers left over) the number of times, in almost 40 years in radio, that anyone other than an FCC inspector has asked to look at the public file. Fining stations $10,000 for having paperwork not in order...the SAME fine you get if your tower lights are out, which is a danger to life and property...is out of all proportion to its importance.

If you make a math error on your income tax return, the IRS will re-calculate your return and send you a notice that they did so. They do not assume any malicious intent unless you give them an overt reason to do so. It seems as if the FCC is now nothing more than a cash cow for the government and an enforcer of the government's current code of morals.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

WWRL/New York NY committed a public-file violation, noted during inspection, and two directional antenna monitor points were out of tolerance. What fine did they get?

$4000 for the public file violation.
An admonishment for the antenna system being out of whack.

Now we can plainly see what really matters to the FCC. Can we all spell "arbitrary and capricious?"

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-266437A1.html

 

[radiomike]

Agreed, it's not brain surgery. But then, who are the stations keeping this file for? How often does a citizen go to a radio station to take a look at the file? I can count on the fingers of one hand (with a few fingers left over) the number of times, in almost 40 years in radio, that anyone other than an FCC inspector has asked to look at the public file. Fining stations $10,000 for having paperwork not in order...the SAME fine you get if your tower lights are out, which is a danger to life and property...is out of all proportion to its importance.

If you make a math error on your income tax return, the IRS will re-calculate your return and send you a notice that they did so. They do not assume any malicious intent unless you give them an overt reason to do so. It seems as if the FCC is now nothing more than a cash cow for the government and an enforcer of the government's current code of morals.

RM11332 was asking for comments on this process, and the comment period is now closed. Most overwhelmingly said to get rid of it. However, and to be honest, if you have an FCC license, you have to play be the rules, whether CC or a college station. The only difference is that CC has deeper pockets and more lawyers. Both are filling out the same forms at renewal, same check box. The FCC has already said it was going to be agressive and not differentiate on how they fine the station initially, so a $10K fine goes to a big station as it would a small station. According to the Commission's documents, both of these were not minor oversights, but whole sale ommissions and a practice. That said, the stations can appeal or make their case for a reduction. I doubt the FCC will dismiss it, but they can eliminate the payment and still admonish them. Time will tell.

 

[MarcB]

Before I signed a Time Brokerage contract with a radio station in suburban Hartford back in 2004, I asked to see the Public File. The General Manager told me I was the first person not connected to the station who ever asked to see it in the 3 years he was the General Manager. (I never asked him to see it when I had been and intern for the 2 years prior to 2004).

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

I found the renewal applications for the four stations at the FCC web site, and found out why they were fined for public file violations: They all admitted it on their renewal applications. One of the questions asks if everything that's required in the public file was put there at the proper time. If you answer No, you're required to explain. Each one of those stations admitted openly that some required documents were missing.

 

[Bostonradiofan]

I also think it has a lot to do with the government exerting it's long trm control of media. The FCC flexes it's power so that if it ever needs to call in favors they can?

The rules and fines being equal for small college stations and big commercial stations points to the FCC being used to make it harder for non commercial alternative radio signals to stay funded.

Emerson may have the dollars to pay the fine but I can't help that think another maybe the only one in a city in the heartland may not.

how much of an idiot do you have to be to NOT maintain the file and have it available.

it is Radio 101.. basic common knowledge ans sense

Agreed, it's not brain surgery. But then, who are the stations keeping this file for? How often does a citizen go to a radio station to take a look at the file? I can count on the fingers of one hand (with a few fingers left over) the number of times, in almost 40 years in radio, that anyone other than an FCC inspector has asked to look at the public file. Fining stations $10,000 for having paperwork not in order...the SAME fine you get if your tower lights are out, which is a danger to life and property...is out of all proportion to its importance.

If you make a math error on your income tax return, the IRS will re-calculate your return and send you a notice that they did so. They do not assume any malicious intent unless you give them an overt reason to do so. It seems as if the FCC is now nothing more than a cash cow for the government and an enforcer of the government's current code of morals.