News
< House Reintroduces Freedom to Read Protection Act | Main | Fullerton, California: Student Punished for Article >
Buffalo, New York: Radio Station Censors its Public Service to the Blind
March 08, 2005
PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee is disturbed by the increasing instances of self-censorship by radio and television stations, because of the potential for exhorbitant fines by the FCC.
Story Continued...
In a recent example, a Buffalo radio station that aired the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service for the Blind stopped broadcasting its audio signal from the service after a word in Tom Wolfe’s I am Charlotte Simmons caused an 89-year-old woman from Lewiston to call in to complain.
One complaint was all it took for the radio station, WKBW-TV, to stop airing the service. Obviously, the fear of retribution from ballooning FCC penalties is behind the skiddish acts of the small-market station, which couldn’t afford a $500,000 fine.
The volunteer-based reading service reaches thousands of visually impaired listeners via both specially equipped radio receivers and stations like WKBW-TV. The service reads everything from newspapers to novels to movie listings. WKBW-TV was airing it voluntarily and had stopped the service after doing so for 14 years. It took weeks of talks for the station to agree to start airing the service again, but the station would still not air it after 10:00 pm, when “adult content” may be read.
Radio station manager, Bill Ransom, claims canceling the overnight programming of the service is the only way to prevent FCC fines. However, the service’s reading of best sellers with adult content, such as the Wolfe novel, is perfectly in line with the FCC guidelines, which allow adult programming after 10 pm. Also, the reading service includes a content warning before reading anything with adult content.
In an AP press release, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a Washington law firm that represents small broadcasters, said Bill Ransom’s worries were unfounded in the reading service case for just these reasons.
“That would not come close to the kind of indecency that would merit sanction from the FCC,” Schwartzman said. “There is a question of whether reading services for the blind are even subject to regulation in this regard.”
Yet, in light of the actions by Congress and the FCC, “we’re seeing this kind of chilling effect all over the country,” Schwartzman told the Associated Press. “Many broadcasters are very anxious right now and are going to err on the side of restricting speech, which is obviously very unfortunate.”
PEN USA is seriously concerned about the potential power that even one complaint has to shut down a radio station’s important public service.
Stephen Rohde, Vice President of Freedom to Write domestic and a lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues, says, “The power of the government to levy huge fines on broadcasters whose programming may offend even a single person, is a direct assault on the First Amendment. It allows interest groups to conjure up “complaints” in every market. The very threat of back-breaking fines causes broadcasters to shy away from anything that may be controversial, thereby furthering the trend in dumbing down the media. Add politics to the mix and your have a dangerous situation when it comes to free expression.”
Recommended Action: Write to the President and General Manager of the station, asking that he keep airing the reading service - without censoring it - during “adult content” time.
Mr. Bill Ransom
President & General Manager
WKBW-TV
7 Broadcast Plaza
Buffalo, NY 14202