Radio Column September 2, 2005

Listening In

By Sandy Wells

September 2, 2005

Senate fails to raise broadcasting indecency fines

(Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson perform at the Super Bowl - PHOTO by AP)

The U.S. Senate is fiddling while the ears of Americans burn with indecent, profane and obscene radio broadcasts.

With the worst outbreak of broadcast indecency complaints behind them, the Senate now appears hesitant to pass legislation that would raise the FCC fines from $32,500 to the whopping $500,000 per incident penalty approved by the House of Representatives last year in the wake of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl mini-strip tease.

The issue remains a bit of a conundrum for the Republican-controlled Federal government, which on the one hand seems eager to appease socially conservative activist groups such as Concerned Women for America and at the same time feels obliged to hew to the long-standing Republican practice championed by industry groups such as the National Association of Broadcasting which is to keep hands off business as much as possible.

As it stands, fines are down this year compared to 2004’s obscenity penalty-palooza in which the FCC issued $7.9 million in the heaviest bout of wrist slapping for public naughtiness to date.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D) West Virginia introduced legislation in March that would not only bring the Senate up to the House’s level of half a million per incident, but also extend indecency fines into the heretofore untamed realms of satellite and cable radio (and TV) programming.

Indecency complaints filed at the FCC have surged in recent years according to FCC statistics, from a piddling 111 in 2000 to 2,240,350 in 2003. A Media Week story found that Parents Television Council greatly amplified the volume of complaints by using automated complaint letters.

The FCC has three levels of offensive material that it will respond to: 1) obscenity (never allowed) 2) indecent (allowable only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.) and 3) profane (also only allowed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.).

The FCC also regards context as key to evaluating a complaint from the public. For instance, Larry Elder (KABC-AM 790, weekdays 3-6 p.m.) used the “n” word when he quoted from an article in order to explain a political issue. Anyone listening with a modicum of attentiveness could tell he was not using it as a racial epithet to stir up resentment or outrage, or just to be a provocateur.

To complain to the FCC

You can write to:
Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division445 12th Street, SWWashington, D.C. 20554

Call: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)

Or send an email: fccinfo@fcc.gov






Radio host Michael Graham, fired for making ‘cracker’ comments, is hired by KFI


A talk show host on Washington, D.C.’s WMAL-AM 630 who was recently fired after he refused demands to apologize for repeatedly saying on the air that Islam is a terrorist religion was hired by talk station KFI-AM 640 for a fill-in shift last Friday night.

“If there's one thing KFI stands for, it's free speech,” said KFI Program Director Robin Bertolucci in explaining why she was hiring Michael Graham to fill-in for 7-10 p.m. host John Ziegler. “I heard the context of his comments. He said most Muslims are good and decent people but they have an obligation to disassociate themselves from the bad elements. He sounds like a smart guy.”

Graham was suspended by The Walt Disney Company’s WMAL for his remarks made after the terrorist attacks in London. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded that Graham apologize for his statements. Graham refused to back off what he maintains is the “truth” about Islam. The station issued a statement saying that the conservative host had “crossed the line.”

CAIR hailed the decision to fire Graham as a victory against anti-Islamic hate speech. Others have come to his support on web sites, printing pro-Graham T-shirts and demanding that he be rehired. Graham claims that WMAL received 15,000 emails and phone calls protesting his removal from the airwaves.

Graham is the author of “Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War.”



Hear podcasts on your cell phone


There are fresh developments on the way to making your cell phone the equivalent of the ubiquitous little palm-sized transistor radio of the ’60s and ’70s.

A small Seattle company is releasing new software this month that should make it relatively easy to download podcasts into an Internet-ready phone.

Melodeo, Inc. says that it is the first company to make podcasts available to cell phone users through its free Mobilcast software.

The company points out that to access the nearly 400,000 Podcasts available today, you need to connect your PC to the Internet, and then hook up your portable device to your PC. Its Mobilcast software offers users a way to shortcut the process of finding and listening to Podcasts by allowing you to directly download Podcasts to your cell phone, over the air.

Find out more at http://www.melodeo.com/mobilcast.