Another FCC Fine

[nbcrusader]

This time, they have crossed the line into political speech.

$4,000 fine for station that cranked Castro

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A radio station that crank-called Cuban President Fidel Castro and broadcast the recording should be fined $4,000, the Federal Communications Commission said.

The Spanish-speaking hosts of "The Morning High Jinks" used snippets of an earlier prank involving Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to move the call from a receptionist up the chain to Castro in a five-minute broadcast June 17.

The hosts of the show on WXDJ-FM, Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos, fed pleasantries to Castro before breaking in and calling him an assassin. The conversation ended after Castro denounced the callers with a stream of vulgarities.

The FCC concluded Friday that the station should be fined for the broadcast. It rejected the station's claim that a rule requiring people to be notified before their voices are used does not apply to people in Cuba.

 

[BVS]

Did you not see this coming? It will eventually snowball into our own backyards unless something happens soon.

 

[Elvis]

I wonder if the FCC has any regulations dealing with th net...

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

...

I am so fed up with the FCC, I swear...

Angela

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Was the station fined for broadcasting Castro's voice without his prior permission, or for the "stream of vulgarities?"

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i'm just impressed that they were actually able to prank castro... that's some gonads right there.

 

[Angela Harlem]

hehe what a pisser


oops I swore. sorry.

 

[nbcrusader]

Was the station fined for broadcasting Castro's voice without his prior permission, or for the "stream of vulgarities?"

Currently, US broadcasters must tell someone when their voice is on the air. Years ago, "crank calls" became regular fodder on some radio shows.

Apparently, WXDJ-FM failed to inform Castro that the broadcast was live.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

Does anyone think there's a difference between a station being fined for broadcasting language which is deemed offensive and a station being fined for broadcasting someone's comments without their consent?

 

[nbcrusader]

Does anyone think there's a difference between a station being fined for broadcasting language which is deemed offensive and a station being fined for broadcasting someone's comments without their consent?

Like it or not, we have a hierarchy for freedom of speech. Political speech is at the top. Commercial speech is at the bottom. Description of sexual acts falls somewhere in the middle.


It appears the call to Castro was to make a political statement.