Breaking one of these rules will get you in trouble with KPSU and the FCC, and could lead to legal problems for you, KPSU, and KBPS. These rules do not exist for the purpose of annoying you; rather, it is because KPSU is liable to KBPS, and KBPS is required to operate under FCC regulations. KPSU cannot afford to pay the huge fines that the FCC levies on stations that violate its policies. One simple slip-up by any on-air person, and we could lose our entire yearly budget, or even worse, our license.
KPSU announcers are reviewed every term by the Program Director, the Station Manager, and the rest of the KPSU Staff. KPSU maintains a "three strikes, you’re out" policy, which is strictly enforced. Here is a list of some of the more common danger areas that on-air personnel can find themselves if they are not careful.
Accepting cash, travel, meals or other benefits in exchange for playing certain records or plugging certain products or events on the air is illegal. Such activities can lead to fines and imprisonment for the announcer, as well as the station. Any announcer who is involved in these activities will automatically get three strikes and his/her membership will be terminated. A DJ may solicit CDs from bands (local or otherwise) to use as material on your show, but no promises should be maid to play said CD and at no time should any KPSU receive any reward in exchange for playing said CD.
The FCC forbids a non-commercial station such as KPSU from issuing “calls to action.” An announcer issues a call to action when he/she asks, urges, or suggests that the listener should perform some task which may result in a for-profit organization to make money. This rule does not apply to non-profit organizations, like KPSU itself. Calls to action include:
You are free to rave about how great a CD or band is; that’s only a “review”, but you may NOT overly encourage listeners to buy the CD. Additionally, you cannot rave about a business establishment. For example, “Waterloo is a great record store” is considered a commercial.
Please note that these phrases refer to a specific band, club, record, and so forth. Non-profit organizations like KPSU are the only entities you can specifically urge people to spend money on. You can, and are encouraged, to tell listeners to attend a benefit for KPSU or purchase KPSU items (such as T-shirts). In short, if it directly makes KPSU or another non-profit organization money, it’s legal. Otherwise, it’s a call to action.
Examples of what is and what isn’t a call to action:
A station cannot broadcast information that misleads the audience about station-conducted contests. The rules must be made clear from the very beginning and the station must follow the rules to the letter.
Announcers who read portions of plays, poems, or novels on the air are considered to be putting on a performance. As with any performance of copyrighted material, permission must first be obtained to put on the performance, otherwise the announcer is guilty of copyright infringement. Copyright infringement can also occur when an announcer rebroadcasts another station's signal (by playing a recording of it) or broadcasts a syndicated radio show without permission, or, at a time other than the agreed one. Other offenses include rebroadcasting sound recorded from copyrighted television shows or movies, over 30 seconds in length. Bootleg recordings of bands also may not be played without the written permission of the band. You may assume it's okay to play any material KPSU places in its library. A good rule of thumb as far as appropriate content is whether the source material was originally commercially available.
Slander is "communication which exposes a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt, lowers him in the esteem of his fellows, causes him to be shunned, or injures him in his business or calling." The rule of thumb for this one is that whatever you say about someone had better be true and absolutely provable. As well, the person you’re mentioning must be a public figure who is fair game for such commentary.
Announcers must exercise responsibility and judgment in the screening of songs that promote drug and alcohol usage. Questionable lyrics should be brought to the attention of the Programming Director before airplay.
Editorializing means going out of your way to express your opinion about a matter other than the music you’re playing, such as telling the audience all about your beliefs on a political issue. Editorializing is allowed, but keep the following in mind:
It is illegal for you to transmit “false or deceptive communications by radio.” At one mid-western university, a student announced a fictitious earthquake. A woman who heard the announcement fell out of bed and broke her hip. As the result of a successful suit brought against the station by this woman, the station lost its license and was shut down permanently. Giving out false information will result in strikes issued and/or suspension of show.
The KPSU studios are capable of putting phone callers on the air. Doing so without getting the permission of the caller is an invasion of privacy. Giving out unlisted phone numbers, full names, and other personal, private information about a person without their permission is also an invasion of privacy. Invasion of privacy also occurs when you tell a story about someone and that person is not a public figure.
Information that promotes a lottery has, in the past, been prohibited by the FCC. A lottery is defined as the award of a prize, where the winner is selected by chance and where some payment or other consideration must be made to the promoter by the contestants.
Broadcast of indecent material, which KPSU management interprets as obscene/indecent material is strictly forbidden. As well as the use of extremely sexually explicit content, extremely violent content, and drug/alcohol content. Indecent or obscene language or material spoken over the at any time will subject the on-air person to disciplinary measures which means the announcer will get a strike and/or suspension or termination from KPSU.
The broadcast of obscene material will, in practically every case, fall under the same regulation as indecent material. However, KPSU management reserves the right to completely ban any song which, by complaint of a listener, is deemed “obscene”. Any such ban may be appealed to the KPSU Staff.
Please remember that we are a PSU student organization, and any problems that the university might have with offended and disgruntled listeners will result in big problems for KPSU. Furthermore, KPSU shares airtime with (and is owned by) KBPS and the Portland Public School System. The Portland Public School System can be quite conservative in regards to obscene and/or indecent material. If KBPS and/or the Portland Public School system become unhappy with KSPU, we may not be allowed to broadcast citywide, which could impact our local connections within the business community. Please be considerate and thoughtful of the overall situation of the station.
The FCC’s obscenity/indecency policy revolves around the 1978 Supreme Court FCC vs. Pacifica Foundation. That decision upheld the regulation of indecent songs under the following definition of “indecent language”. Thus, if KPSU broadcasts any type of content, spoken or recorded, that deals with explicit drug use, explicit violence, or explicit sex, it is possible for KBPS to be fined by the FCC, and therefore jeopardize KPSU's contract with KPBS.
Obscenity shall be defined as any language or material that depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities or organs.
KPSU strictly enforces a much narrower definition also upheld in that court decision. Indecent material was strictly defined as any song containing one or more of the following 7 words. The 7 words are known collectively as “the Pacifica words”, or the George Carlin “7 words you can’t say on television.”
Any DJ that is found to have broadcast any indecent or obscene material will be immediately suspended from their show for up to 4 weeks and/or may be terminated from KPSU on a permanent basis.
Before you either record or broadcast any telephone conversation or taped interview, you must clearly notify the other party and receive that party's permission to tape and/or broadcast the conversation. The only exception is during a live, discussion/call-in program where it can be presumed that the caller is aware that he or she is likely to be on the air. The announcer is still responsible for the content of these conversations. Obscenities or calls to action made by callers or interviewees that are broadcasted will count as a strike on the announcer.
The FCC requires each station to make identification announcements, called legal IDs, at specific times during the day. Those times are: 1) at the beginning and end of each broadcast day and 2) hourly – as close to the hour as feasible, at a natural break in the programming. This could be at the end of a piece of music, between plays in a football game, and so forth. The official legal staion ID must contain the following elements: the station’s call letters, followed by the city of license: “KBPS, Portland”. Do not, even as a joke, identify the station with fake call letters, or another station’s call letters.
Underwriting mentions must be aired at the time scheduled. KPSU has a binding legal contract with the underwriter to run these spots.
Only spots authorized by the Station Manager may be aired. Authorized spots are located on the IRP machine only. Announcing unauthorized or unscheduled spots are grounds for immediate dismissal and contract termination. Failure to air and log the required underwriting mentions as scheduled may result in a strike or termination.