For the first time, the fine charges each station in a network.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a $357,500 fine against Infinity Broadcasting for the August 15, 2002, Opie & Anthony Show. That show, which ran an x-rated contest, made headlines when contestants were arrested for engaging in a sexual act in the vestibule of St. Patrick’s Cathedral just a few feet from worshipers.
Those two contestants, and others, also targeted a zoo, FAO Schwartz, and a restaurant. The purpose of the station-run contest was for participants to engage in sex in as many public or “highly risky” places as possible.
The fine levied against Infinity was for the statutory maximum of $27,500 multiplied by the number of Infinity stations airing the broadcast. This is the first time the FCC has multiplied the fine by the number of stations airing the program violating indecency standards.
“When people get painfully expensive traffic tickets, they tend to slow down,” said Robert Knight, director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute. “Now that the FCC is finally tired of issuing warnings and is beginning to slap real fines on offenders, this should have an immediate effect on broadcasters. The message is simple: You can’t afford to pollute the airwaves anymore.”
But while this fine surpasses past enforcement attempts, it still does not go far enough. Commissioner Michael Copps issued a dissenting statement saying that Commission had again given Infinity a slap on the wrist.
“Infinity/Viacom could pay this entire fine by tacking just one commercial onto one of its prime-time TV shows and probably pocket a profit to boot. Some punishment!,” he wrote.
Concurring with Commissioner Copps is Martha Kleder, policy analyst for CWA’s Culture and Family Institute, and an expert on obscenity enforcement.
“In light of Infinity’s past infractions of broadcast decency law, this broadcast should have triggered a license revocation hearing,” Kleder said. “But given this broadcast occurred before the Commission issued fair warning to broadcasters in April’s fine against WKRK in Detroit, I can live with this decision.”
“However, the next violation by Infinity MUST trigger a revocation hearing,” she added. “The FCC has issued some stiff warnings to stations, but those words must have actions with them to be meaningful.”
“The time for license revocation has long past for these repeat offenders. They will continue to violate the public trust and pollute the public airwaves if all they get are fines,” added CWA’s Chief Counsel Jan LaRue. “Even repeat criminals understand ‘three strikes and you’re out.’”
On the same day, the FCC issued a second fine to WWDC-AM/FM, a Clear Channel station, for May 7 & 8 broadcasts of the Elliot in the Morning Show.
Those broadcasts involved a call-in interview with two local high school girls. The on-air interview of the two Bishop O’Connell High School students, centered around their sexual activities at the school, located in Arlington, Virginia, with repeated and graphic references. The FCC fined WWDC-AM/FM $55,000, the statutory maximum of $27,500 for each broadcast.
In separately issued statements, Commissioners Copps, Kevin Martin and Jonathan Adelstein agreed that license revocation is the next step, and that fines could be further escalated by fining each utterance as a separate violation, rather than simply fining the program.
According to Copps’ statement, even Chairman Michael Powell and Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy agree that these enforcement actions can be taken.
(This article courtesy of Concerned Women for America.)
