How do you “Challenge” an FCC Radio License?

I just found out the radio personalities of KGO radio in San Francisco are not allowed to talk about “Evolution” on air as a condition of employment.

As described by their employer, “Preach Evolution”.

Yet the “News” Producer allows this Religious Fundie on air after a Federal Judge dismissed a law suit brought on by a religious group against UC Stanford.



But the REAL ISSUE here is, “How can the air waves belong to the people if “Freedom of Speech” and Truth are not allowed by the companies that own the radio station.

But about the only thing the FCC does as far as any "regulation" anymore is the occasional fine, which to the big corporate media conglomerates is usually pocket change. Your complaint should get you sent back the standard robo email about "freedom of speech" or probably more appropriately the station's right to decide content.

but is there a legal process to make them fulfill the terms of the 1938 FCC act, the airwaves belong to the public

Best of luck though. If enough people complain occasionally they do listen. I don't have high hopes for them pulling any licenses though or how could Fox still call itself a news organization.

I would assume that all went out the window when Mark Fowler at the FCC began to dismantle the "Fairness Doctrine" in the mid 80s, under the guise of protecting a broadcaster's "1st Amendment rights". A station no longer needs to provide an alternative viewpoint for controversial issues.

Which is why Clear Channel et all can run non stop right wing hate radio and nothing can be done or said.

But that was then, this is now, I haven't been in a radio station since 1993.

To speak on the air. I had a board-op job but couldn't even do live weather. I was just about to take my test for it when they dropped that regulation. Been all down hill ever since. That wsa probably 87-89?

in 1972, (I was still in High School) we had to take transmitter meter readings every 30 minutes. If you worked at a directional tower AM station, you had to have a 1st class license. Everyone else needed the 3rd, with a Broadcast endorsement. Back then, broadcast schools like Brown in Mpls, or Ron Bailey schools were 1st class license mills, they just taught the answers to the tests so everyone who graduated had the 1st. 90% didn't know a volt from an amp from a watt.

Now you don't need squat, if I recall. Perhaps just the permit, which is free, no test, just a wallet card. But not sure about that. Pretty much if you have a pulse, you can be a "dee jay".

(and the occasional broadcast transmitter)...now anybody with a bench and a service monitor can legally do it. :crazy:

small and major markets alike... sound like shit.... technically speaking.

Given the current economic crisis at hand a "Citizen's Group" should be formed to examine the "Before and After" effects of ALL the deregulation. Where has it benefited Americans, where it has greatly diminished our democracy

has cost jobs, lowered quality due to less compettition and consolidation and hobbled many station's ability to provide real time information for their community due to automation and syndication. The emergency broadcast system (not called that exactly anymore but my memory fails me) is a joke now as well.

Anyone?

I'm sure there are None, Nada, Zip

But in this case I'm thinking there needs to be some.

I don't think a Constitutional Arguement can be made against station owners that want to broadcast prapaganda or even curtail / limit the freedom of speech of the "On Air Personalities". I suppose my question concerns the 1938 FCC act. Has it been completely tossed out or have they simply circumvented a majority of it's provisions.

I'm sure they'll hold the act up high in hand should I decide to build a 10,000 watt transmitter and broadcast "My Truth" on the same frequency

...a commercial station complains.

Never when citizens do so.


I lived in a Valley that had THREE 100,000 watt radio towers over it. Every electronic device had that station leaking through. I couldn't play my guitar amp w/o hearing this station all over it. There are still recordings of the football games and band concerts that are ruined by this radio leakage. These are memories that we can't get back.

The Citizens complained for 25 years and nothing was EVER done.

One of my friends lived about half a mile away from their towers and could hear their signal clearly on one of his lamps and even more weird there have been a lot of people who have picked up rf signals on the fillings in their teeth. You might know about these, the explanation actually is fairly simple, detection/rectification in dissimilar metals...just like an old Crystal Set the high signal strength eliminates the necessity for tuned circuits. :D

(we studied it in grad school)

KTTL - Dodge City, Kansas...People successfully challenged that the station did not serve the public interest, and they got their license yanked...

When not playing country music, KTTL was (in)famous for their screeds against the impending jew-controlled, gun-grabbing, overtaxing one-world government, among other things...They were the CNN for the separatist/survivalist/militia set which gave birth to all the domestic terrorism during the Clinton/Reno years...KTTL advocated violence, accused non-jewish public figures of being jewish, the list goes on...What the courts and FCC officially got them on was libel, which was easy to prove since 90 percent of the stuff they broadcast was blatantly libelous...

Libel is exclusively for print and visual media (signs). Someone must have won a slander/defamation suit for the FCC to act.

the plaintiff was some female country music singer (a big name, but i can't remember it now)...KTTL had attributed some antisemetic comments to her...

I've been searching to get some more info online, but it is scarce outside of some tangential mentions...

Radio lies are not slander because they are published using the public airwaves.

They are libel same as newsprint.

And if you run out of channels that ARE talking about evolution, then you talk to the
FCC to get a station that does what you want.