Channels, Spring 2017

Page 14 Long • Promoting Public Interest is imperative that anyone involved in a radio station’s sales or promotions department be familiar with the actions that have provoked the regulation of contests and promotions. A study of some of these rules and regulations point to one central theme: promotions and contests must be defined by detailed, truthful operation to serve the public interest in safety and accessibility. The Definition of Public Interest Understanding the underlining theme of contest and promotion regulation begins with public interest. Public interest has been a cornerstone argument for the FCC to justify regulating broadcasters, especially with contests and promotions. A definition of public interest for promotion and contest regulation centers on two key components: safety and accessibility. The Commission commands compliance with rules and regulations especially when the safety of the public is concerned. Therefore, safety stands as a key part for a definition of public interest as applied to promotions and contests. Broadcasters are required to fulfill a fiduciary role in the community because they use a resource, the electromagnetic spectrum, to communicate with typically large groups of people. Broadcasters who communicate anything potentially harmful to the community’s safety are seen as neglecting their fiduciary role in serving the public interest. This is evident in a recent decision by the FCC where the Commission acted against a Sacramento station whose controversial contest resulted in the death of a contestant. The station did not comply with certain FCC standards while operating the contest that required informing the contestants of the dangers associated with the contest. Station personnel even ignored listeners’ advice when callers grew concerned that the contest was negatively affecting the health of contestants. In its hearing designation order, the Commission viewed the negligence displayed by the station regarding the contest as “conduct...contrary to the public interest duty and a breach of [the station’s] core obligations as a public trustee” ( Entercom License, LLC , 2016, 16). The Commission pointed to the station’s fiduciary responsibility to serve its listeners and how the contest, instead, clearly put them at risk. Safety of the public extends from just individual listeners or contestants to other areas where the safety of the public is concerned, including property. The Commission has been concerned with promotions or contests that “adversely” threaten public interest by causing harm to public buildings, parks, private property, or divert police due to the extreme nature of the promotion ( Contests and Promotions Which Adversely Affect the Public Interest , 1966, p. 464). The FCC stated these types of promotions “raise serious question about the sense of responsibility of the broadcast licensee involved” ( Contests and Promotions Which Adversely Affect the Public Interest , 1966, p. 464). Therefore, the Commission wants