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Public Affairs
- Thread starter epsilon
- Start date
No, there are no such requirements.
The PSA requirement is no longer.
The public affairs programming is not required per se but most stations still do it. Reason being, every quarter you have to file a list of issues relevant to your community that you have talked about. Newscasts and PSA's do not count. If your morning show brings in Joe Blow, director of the national weather service local office, to talk about severe weather preparedness that counts.
What most stations do instead of keeping track of interviews and segments on the morning show is produce a piece to bury on Sunday mornings at 6am. That way they have a specific and regular place where issues are discussed and can be filed a whole lot easier.
Issues lists are priority targets when the FCC inspector comes to town, so that's why stations still maintain these programs.
The public affairs programming is not required per se but most stations still do it. Reason being, every quarter you have to file a list of issues relevant to your community that you have talked about. Newscasts and PSA's do not count. If your morning show brings in Joe Blow, director of the national weather service local office, to talk about severe weather preparedness that counts.
What most stations do instead of keeping track of interviews and segments on the morning show is produce a piece to bury on Sunday mornings at 6am. That way they have a specific and regular place where issues are discussed and can be filed a whole lot easier.
Issues lists are priority targets when the FCC inspector comes to town, so that's why stations still maintain these programs.
I beg to differ with all of you. I believe that it is a requirement that stations in the public interest air 1 hour of public service programming a week for the calendar year (usually sunday mornings 5-6am, that's where we air them) I know that the stations I work for (8 station group) are required to air that content and then document it in the Public File. I may be wrong though.. anyone else clarify this?
Larson
Larson
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stench
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From the FCC site...
Issues/Programs List. Every three months, all stations must prepare and place in their file a list of programs that have provided their most significant treatment of community issues during the preceding three months. The list must briefly describe both the issue and the programming where the issue was discussed. The stations must keep these lists for the entire license term.
FYI Stations are fined on a regular basis for failure to do any of this.
Section III, Item 3 of the KFAQ(AM) license renewal application form, FCC Form 303-S, requests that the licensee certify that the documentation required by Section 73.3526 has been placed in the Station’s public inspection file at the appropriate times. The Licensee indicated “No” to that Item explaining that it had acquired control of the Station on June 14, 1999, and that the public inspection file does not contain issues/programs lists for 2001, except for the first quarter of 2001 for which the file contains only a listing of public service announcements. In addition, the public inspection file does not contain issues/programs lists for the first quarter of 2002. It also indicates that, as a result of the receipt of a copy of a listener complaint filed with the Enforcement Bureau, it determined that a listener e-mail was missing from the file. The Licensee states that it obtained a copy of the e-mail and placed it in the file.
III. DISCUSSION
4. Proposed Forfeiture. As the Licensee has acknowledged, at the time of filing of the KFAQ(AM) license renewal application and during periods within the license term, the Station’s public inspection file did not contain certain items required to be retained in the file by Section 73.3526 of the Rules. In this regard, where lapses occur in maintaining the public file, neither the negligent acts or omissions of station employees or agents, nor the subsequent remedial actions undertaken by the licensee, excuse or nullify a licensee’s rule violation.
5. This NAL is issued pursuant to Section 503(b)(1)(B) of the Act. Under that provision, any person who is determined by the Commission to have willfully or repeatedly failed to comply with any provision of the Act or any rule, regulation, or order issued by the Commission shall be liable to the United States for a forfeiture penalty. Section 312(f)(1) of the Act defines willful as “the conscious and deliberate commission or omission of [any] act, irrespective of any intent to violate” the law. The legislative history to Section 312(f)(1) of the Act clarifies that this definition of willful applies to both Sections 312 and 503(b) of the Act, and the Commission has so interpreted the term in the Section 503(b) context. Section 312(f)(2) of the Act provides that “[t]he term ‘repeated,’ when used with reference to the commission or omission of any act, means the commission or omission of such act more than once or, if such commission or omission is continuous, for more than one day.”
6. The Commission’s Forfeiture Policy Statement and Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules establish a base forfeiture amount of $10,000 for violation of Section 73.3526. In determining the appropriate forfeiture amount, we may adjust the base amount upward or downward by considering the factors enumerated in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act, including “the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation, and, with respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and such other matters as justice may require.”
7. In this case, although the Licensee admitted to the violations, it did so only in the context of the question contained in its license renewal application compelling such disclosure. Moreover, the violations occurred over a period of one year and involved four missing issues/programs lists and, subsequently, a missing listener e-mail from 2005. Considering the record as a whole, we believe that a $4,000 forfeiture is appropriate for the violations in this case. Accordingly, we find that the Licensee is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of $4,000 for its apparent willful and repeated violation of Section 73.3526.
Issues/Programs List. Every three months, all stations must prepare and place in their file a list of programs that have provided their most significant treatment of community issues during the preceding three months. The list must briefly describe both the issue and the programming where the issue was discussed. The stations must keep these lists for the entire license term.
FYI Stations are fined on a regular basis for failure to do any of this.
Section III, Item 3 of the KFAQ(AM) license renewal application form, FCC Form 303-S, requests that the licensee certify that the documentation required by Section 73.3526 has been placed in the Station’s public inspection file at the appropriate times. The Licensee indicated “No” to that Item explaining that it had acquired control of the Station on June 14, 1999, and that the public inspection file does not contain issues/programs lists for 2001, except for the first quarter of 2001 for which the file contains only a listing of public service announcements. In addition, the public inspection file does not contain issues/programs lists for the first quarter of 2002. It also indicates that, as a result of the receipt of a copy of a listener complaint filed with the Enforcement Bureau, it determined that a listener e-mail was missing from the file. The Licensee states that it obtained a copy of the e-mail and placed it in the file.
III. DISCUSSION
4. Proposed Forfeiture. As the Licensee has acknowledged, at the time of filing of the KFAQ(AM) license renewal application and during periods within the license term, the Station’s public inspection file did not contain certain items required to be retained in the file by Section 73.3526 of the Rules. In this regard, where lapses occur in maintaining the public file, neither the negligent acts or omissions of station employees or agents, nor the subsequent remedial actions undertaken by the licensee, excuse or nullify a licensee’s rule violation.
5. This NAL is issued pursuant to Section 503(b)(1)(B) of the Act. Under that provision, any person who is determined by the Commission to have willfully or repeatedly failed to comply with any provision of the Act or any rule, regulation, or order issued by the Commission shall be liable to the United States for a forfeiture penalty. Section 312(f)(1) of the Act defines willful as “the conscious and deliberate commission or omission of [any] act, irrespective of any intent to violate” the law. The legislative history to Section 312(f)(1) of the Act clarifies that this definition of willful applies to both Sections 312 and 503(b) of the Act, and the Commission has so interpreted the term in the Section 503(b) context. Section 312(f)(2) of the Act provides that “[t]he term ‘repeated,’ when used with reference to the commission or omission of any act, means the commission or omission of such act more than once or, if such commission or omission is continuous, for more than one day.”
6. The Commission’s Forfeiture Policy Statement and Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules establish a base forfeiture amount of $10,000 for violation of Section 73.3526. In determining the appropriate forfeiture amount, we may adjust the base amount upward or downward by considering the factors enumerated in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act, including “the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation, and, with respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and such other matters as justice may require.”
7. In this case, although the Licensee admitted to the violations, it did so only in the context of the question contained in its license renewal application compelling such disclosure. Moreover, the violations occurred over a period of one year and involved four missing issues/programs lists and, subsequently, a missing listener e-mail from 2005. Considering the record as a whole, we believe that a $4,000 forfeiture is appropriate for the violations in this case. Accordingly, we find that the Licensee is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of $4,000 for its apparent willful and repeated violation of Section 73.3526.
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