Jeffrey Marks, president and GM of WDBJ, says his station is “surprised and disappointed” after the FCC announced it intended to fine the Roanoke CBS affiliate for what he calls “a fleeting image on the very edge of some television screens during a news broadcast.”
Yesterday, the FCC announced it intended to fine WDBJ $325,000 for airing “graphic sexual images” during the station’s 6:00 p.m. newscast in July 2012.
In a statement posted to the station website, Marks said the image “was visible only on some televisions for less than three seconds.”
Marks added the fine is “an extraordinary burden on protected speech” and added the station will “oppose” the “proposed sanction.” He then compared the size of the fine to others given out by the FCC saying, “This unprecedented proposed fine is more than 46 times higher than the FCC’s own determination of the punishment for indecent speech.”
Here’s the full text of Mark’s statement:
We are surprised and disappointed that the FCC has decided to propose to fine WDBJ7 for a fleeting image on the very edge of some television screens during a news broadcast. The story had gone through a review before it aired. Inclusion of the image was purely unintentional. The picture in question was small and outside the viewing area of the video editing screen. It was visible only on some televisions and for less than three seconds.
This year, WDBJ7 celebrates 60 years of broadcasting in the public interest, with news that is trusted and family friendly. We are sorry that this incident happened, of course, but we truly believe that the FCC failed to take into account the history of WDBJ7 and its six decades of outstanding broadcasting.
The enormous fine proposed by the FCC is also an extraordinary burden on protected speech. The FCC’s largest base fine for other types of violations by broadcasters is $10,000. That is the fine for a misrepresentation to the FCC. A transfer of a license without authorization has a fine of only $8,000; use of a station to commit fraud results in a fine of $5,000; broadcast of an illegal lottery costs a station $4,000. As the FCC admits, its base forfeiture for a violation of the indecency rules is $7,000. This unprecedented proposed fine is more than 46 times higher than the FCC’s own determination of the punishment for indecent speech.
As the FCC noted, Schurz Communications — in its 60-plus year history of TV ownership — has paid only one other FCC fine. That was for a minor and self-reported Children’s Video issue.
WDBJ will oppose the FCC’s proposed sanction.