FCC – Part 4
Law and Policy
Telephone Conversations
 Station must notify the outside party of its intention to
air the conversation before broadcast.
News & Commentary
 The FCC may not direct broadcasters in their choice of
material for newscasts and it may not act on such
complaints — except where it can be shown that the
news has been distorted.
Criticism of persons, groups and
institutions
 The FCC may not abridge First Amendment rights.
Obscenity, Indecency and Profanity
 The broadcast of obscene, indecent, or profane
language is expressly prohibited by federal law (Title
18, Section 1464 of the United States Code).
Obscenity:
 The FCC has regulations prohibiting obscene broadcasts at all
times. The United States Supreme Court has determined that
obscene speech is not entitled to First Amendment
protection.
 Obscene speech is defined by a three-part test:
 (1) an average person, applying contemporary community
standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to
the prurient interest;
 (2) the material must depict or describe, in a patently
offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by an
applicable law; and
 (3) the material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value.
Indecency:
 Broadcasts that are obscene are, by definition,
indecent.
 The FCC has consistently defined an indecent broadcast
as one that includes:
 language or material that, in context, depicts or describes,
in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary
community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or
excretory activities or organs.
Indecency
 The FCC also generally prohibits indecent broadcasts,
although indecent material may be broadcast between
the “safe harbor” hours of 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.,
when children under the age of 17 are less likely to be
in the listening or viewing audience.
 Each violation of the FCC’s indecency rules may result in
a fine of up to $325,000, and may provide the basis for
non-renewal of a station’s license or other harsh
regulatory sanctions.
Profanity
 The FCC now interprets “profane” to cover “vulgar,
irreverent, or coarse language” generally, at least when
it is “so grossly offensive to members of the public who
actually hear it as to amount to a nuisance.”
Violence
 Self-regulation is presently the only mechanism in
place.
Contests
 May not pre-arrange the outcome of a contest. Proof of
performance is required, meaning that a station must
keep records of its compliance in fulfilling the awarding
of prizes. Stations must disclose all “material terms.”
Hoaxes
 The FCC prohibits the broadcast of false information
concerning a crime or catastrophe when: The licensee
knows it to be false and it could cause harm.
 The War of the Worlds
Lotteries
 A lottery is defined as such when it meets the following
three-pronged test. All three elements must be in
place:
 Prize is awarded
 Element of chance is present
 Consideration is obtained as in the case of payment
Solicitation of Funds
 No federal law prohibits soliciting funds over the air.
Payola
 Defined as payment under the table without station
management consent or knowledge in which payment is
made in goods or cash for the purpose of affecting the
choice of programming material (music) which is aired.
Plugola
 Defined as a plug, or mention over the air, of material
which in any way promotes the business, in which the
person making the mention has a vested interest.