After years of inaction on indecency complaints, the FCC lowered the boom on a Virginia TV station that unwittingly included a screen-capture of a sex act in a newscast video. The $325,000 fine is the maximum allowed by law and one of the few imposed since the FCC lost a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court case questioning the constitutionality of federal indecency enforcement standards.
Tag: FCC
Ninth Circuit upholds advertising ban in public broadcasting
In an opinion released this week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld broad restrictions on advertising in public broadcasting, including over-the-air student-run broadcast stations.
Station break: Educational broadcasters can get some relief from the FCC — but only if they let students run the show
College broadcast stations that commit minor paperwork lapses, such as failure to keep a complete licensure file on-site for public inspection, have been socked with fines as high as $9,000 in recent years -- fines that can exceed the annual operating budget for the entire station.