Did WJJL turn into public radio this week?

[dand5780]

And by public radio, I mean the government deciding what we need to hear?

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2015/SEP08/darr.html

I find it very interesting that Tom Darro broke his own rule of allowing the someone running for election, in this case the mayor of Niagara Falls, onto the airwaves with less than a week before the election, which in the past has always been against his rules. And according to the paper, callers were hung up on that were trying to question the mayor. Now I'm wondering if the mayor forced WJJL to give him what he wanted on the air. Apparently, and I didn't know this, the studio is located in a building only for not-for-profits and the mayor gives tax dollars to the building.

Why does this matter? The mayor is leading by 73 votes. It ain't over, yet, but I think this sounds fishy.

 

[TheBigA]

And by public radio, I mean the government deciding what we need to hear?

There is so much factually wrong with your post, it's hard to know where to begin.

But the mayor of a city has no governmental jurisdiction over what is broadcast over a federally licensed radio station.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The "paper" referred to is a political blog which makes no pretense of presenting actual journalism. Many of the "facts" it presents are rumor, invective, or opinion. The article referred to above has so many factual errors that it's laughable. What's the matter, "dand", afraid somebody's going to cut in on WBEN's franchise on rumor, innuendo, and political grandstanding?

 

[dand5780]

But the mayor of a city has no governmental jurisdiction over what is broadcast over a federally licensed radio station.

LOL

Where would they move his office to then? Would he drive out to West Seneca every day? I mean, when the mayor's father, Dr. Melvin Dyster, board member of NACC, works to get rid of the "illegal" case of a commercial radio station office residing in a not-for-profit building? I guess WBFO could qualify to take that space, but certainly not WJJL! Unless there are deals being made.

 

[TheBigA]

LOL Where would they move his office to then?

You made a statement that this is a case of the government is deciding what we hear. My response is to say you're wrong. The mayor has no jurisdiction.

There is no law I know of that requires non-profits to occupy certain buildings or to be grouped together under the same roof. When I worked for a non-profit, we shared the building with lots of other for-profit businesses.

 

[dand5780]

You made a statement that this is a case of the government is deciding what we hear. My response is to say you're wrong. The mayor has no jurisdiction.

There is no law I know of that requires non-profits to occupy certain buildings or to be grouped together under the same roof. When I worked for a non-profit, we shared the building with lots of other for-profit businesses.

Oh, ok. So why didn't he just stick with what he wanted to do? Surely there's an office somewhere at NCCC, or in the basement of the aquarium. Or would that not be allowed if a call went through asking about why it took an election year to fix the water? Come on, we all know the city is in shambles. Of course, it isn't over until the rest of the votes are counted.

 

[dand5780]

The article referred to above has so many factual errors that it's laughable. What's the matter, "dand", afraid somebody's going to cut in on WBEN's franchise on rumor, innuendo, and political grandstanding?

That must be it. I'll tell you what. When WBEN starts airing commercials for free and not letting certain candidates on the air and filtering the questions, I'll call them out on it, too.

I'll question why any radio station or rag, regardless of which one it is.

The ads were plentiful on WWWS, but I'm certain those were all paid for. And not by station management.

Does "paid for by friends of Paul Dyster" mean paid for by Tom Darro or paid for by WJJL? Because it was either paid for by Darro, or not paid for at all.

 

[TheBigA]

Oh, ok. So why didn't he just stick with what he wanted to do?

I don't know. Why not ask him? Regardless, the mayor can't require a radio station to air something.

 

[SirRoxalot]

You're confusing a "radio station office" with a simple remote setup that can be connected to any laptop almost anywhere. I don't know Tom Darro, but apparently the people he works for don't have a problem with him hosting a radio show from his office. He doesn't appear to work directly for the mayor, so the mayor would have to expel a not-for-profit from a building dedicated to not-for-profits in order to have any leverage here.

Maybe Darro likes the mayor, and thinks that he's doing a good job. Maybe he doesn't like his opponents. Since it's his show, he gets to make the rules. If the mayor's opponents ask for equal time, he'd have to grant it to them at the same price paid by the mayor. If the mayor paid for spots, they'd have the opportunity to buy spots at the same rate. If he appeared on the show for free, his opponents would have to be given equal opportunity if they request it.

 

[davideduardo]

If he appeared on the show for free, his opponents would have to be given equal opportunity if they request it.

Of course, equal time has a load of limitations and qualifications:

From "The Encyclopedia of Television" (Museum of Broadcasting, Chicago):

The equal opportunity law does not demand that a station afford a state or local candidate any air time. However, under the public interest standard of the Communications Act, the FCC has said that stations should make time available for candidates for major state and local offices. With regard to federal candidates, broadcast stations have much less discretion. A 1971 amendment to the Communications Act requires stations make a reasonable amount of time available to federal candidates. Once time is made available under this provision, the equal time requirements of Section 315 apply.

 

[SirRoxalot]

How about letting the FCC Rules determine whether equal opportunity should be afforded?

https://transition.fcc.gov/mb/policy/political/candrule.htm

I'm not an attorney, but my reading is that another candidate for any office should be afforded equal opportunity under Section 73.1941 [47 CFR §73.1941] Equal Opportunities.

 

[davideduardo]

How about letting the FCC Rules determine whether equal opportunity should be afforded?

https://transition.fcc.gov/mb/policy/political/candrule.htm

I'm not an attorney, but my reading is that another candidate for any office should be afforded equal opportunity under Section 73.1941 [47 CFR §73.1941] Equal Opportunities.

The Encyclopedia of Television has, for the original poster, a more simplified version.

A "candidate" does not automatically qualify for equal time. There are issues such as when a candidacy is a candidacy (such as right now there are no presidential candidates as the campaign period is not defined to start 18 months before elections).

The reasons why broadcast companies engage counsel or have in-house counsel is that the FCC rule has areas that are vague, starting with the definition of "candidate". The periods of campaigning are ill-defined and often require a communications attorney for guidance.

So the first question might be, "is there a defined campaign going on right now?".

 

[Rusty Bridges]

The 37 people that listen to WJJL probably don't care. As long as they can hear the stiffs from 1957, they're happy. As to WJJL, Buddy Holly's "It Doesn'r Matter Anymore" could be their TOH legal.

 

[dand5780]

Those 37 people matter when you're only 73 votes away from a guaranteed goodbye party of the current mayor.

Of course the turnout was disgusting for a city where some can't get running water, but to each their own I guess.

What KB1520 should have done (and I don't know if they did or not), was air the meltdown the mayor had while in the WBEN studios a year or so ago.

 

[dand5780]

I happened to be on 1440 AM at 7:30 am on Wednesday. "The WJJL studios in the Southgate Plaza with satellite offices in the NAAC building in Niagara Falls." Thinking more about this, does the whole crew of what work out of the satellite office? Or is Anello driving to West Seneca twice a week? I don't even know what the other shows are besides Tom Darro's and Vince Anello's. And they don't seem to have a website, which I've heard on here every station should have.