Business Wire explains:
"Clear Channel is serious about helping address the rising tide of indecency on the airwaves," said Mark Mays, president and COO of Clear Channel Communications. "As broadcast licensees, we are fully responsible for what our stations air, and we intend to make sure all our DJs and programmers understand what is and what is not appropriate on Clear Channel radio shows." Mays said the company will institute a zero tolerance policy for indecent content which will include company-wide training and automatic suspensions for anyone that the FCC alleges has violated indecency rules on the air. "If the FCC accuses us of wrongdoing by issuing a proposed fine, we will take immediate action," Mays said.
"We will suspend the DJ in question, and perform a swift investigation. If we or the government ultimately determine the offending broadcast is indecent, the DJ will be terminated without delay," Mays said. John Hogan, chief executive officer of Clear Channel Radio, added, "If a DJ is found to be in violation of FCC rules, there will be no appeals and no intermediate steps. If they break the law by broadcasting indecent material, they will not work for Clear Channel." In addition, the company announced that all of its contracts with on-air performers are being modified to ensure that DJs share financial responsibility if they utter indecent material on the air.
The first casualty, as Forbes reports, has been Howard Stern, syndicated on some Clear Channel stations:
"It was vulgar, offensive and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency," Clear Channel Radio Chief Executive John Hogan said in a statement. "We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel stations until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting," he said.
Of course, Stern broadcasts vulgar and insensitive things all the time - if Clear Channel was bothered by that, they never should have begun airing his show in the first place.
Although I doubt it will effect Howard Stern, these new policies seem tailor-made to create a "chilling effect" on DJs and other on-air personalities working for Clear Channel. If they know that they will be immediately suspended merely on the accusation of indecency and tha they will be immediately fired, no exceptions, in the event of any fines for indecency, then I think it likely that very few DJs will be willing to push the envelope and do anything that would risk coming close to the line.
Now, Clear Channel has every right to create a "chilling effect" and to engage in heavy-handed censorship. The fact that they dominate radio in so many markets doesn't change the fact that they aren't bound by the First Amendment. Moreover, the FCC has the right and the responsibility to police the airwaves. Still, all of this together is very problematic. The flash of a single breast seems to have been all the excuse needed by those in power to begin draconian censorship measures. What will happen next?
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