[FFCF-PNA] Our lawyers on Foreign Language Programming:

[Rychard Withers]

Are Foreign Dirty Words "Alien" to the FCC?
	 	

What if Bono had given his Golden Globes acceptance speech in, say,
Hungarian - would the FCC have cared if he uttered the F-word?

 

Igen. (That's Hungarian for "yes.") A violation of statute, rule or policy
in any language is a violation. The FCC holds stations that broadcast
programming in a foreign language to the same standard of conduct as the
industry at large.

 

For the owner/operator that doesn't understand the language in which
programs are broadcast, ignorance is no excuse. The Commission has said it
cannot carve out a special exception to licensee responsibility for foreign
language programming.

 

Indeed, the FCC recognized that in such cases, "internal procedures [must]
be established and maintained to insure sufficient familiarity with the
foreign languages to know what is being broadcast and whether it conforms to
the station's policies and to requirements of the Commission's rules."

 

The Commission has declined to propose specific "internal procedures." It
recognized, however, that familiarizing station program personnel with
Commission rules and policies would reflect licensee control over
programming, coupled with some form of regular communication about program
content.

 

Some foreign language broadcasters build a record of efforts to maintain
control by requiring their employees and time brokers periodically to sign a
compliance statement along these lines:

     [Station ___] holds a license from the Federal Communications
Commission ("FCC") and is required to comply with the Communications Act of
1934, as amended ("the Act"), and the FCC's rules, regulations and policies.
As an employee of an FCC-licensed broadcast station, you have a
responsibility to be familiar with and also to comply with FCC rules,
regulations and policies. By signing this declaration, you acknowledge that
management at [Station ___] has discussed with you its policies and the
FCC's requirements regarding programming such as, but not limited to:
obscenity, indecency, broadcast of false or misleading advertising, lottery
information, fraudulent schemes, equal opportunities for political
candidates, broadcast of telephone calls, payola/plugola, the station's
limitations on total commercial content, and sponsorship identification. You
agree to abide by these requirements and to notify the General Manager of
the station of the broadcast of any programming on Station ___ that may have
violated the Act; the FCC's rules, regulations or policies; or the station's
policies.

 

     You understand that your failure to abide by the FCC's rules,
regulations and policies may have consequences that include administrative
leave, suspension, or termination.

If you're not certain whether your foreign language programming would turn
your ears red if broadcast in English, consider adoption and implementation
of controls to inform you of the content of such broadcasts. Would the FCC
think that's a good idea? Igen.

 

Comments and questions about FCC rules and policies may be directed to
<http://www.gsblaw.com/people/bio.asp?EmployeeID=K558941067> John Wells King
at (202) 298-2520. 

 


Rychard Withers - Executive Director
Fresno Free College Foundation / KFCF-FM
PO Box 4364 ●  Fresno, CA 93744
(559)233-2221 

 
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