$35,000 FCC Consent Decree to Newport TV 'Significant,' Attorneys Say
A consent decree between the FCC Enforcement Bureau and Newport Television is couched in terms of privacy regulation, indicating privacy issues are now a high priority for the commission, a broadcast attorney said. Newport Television was ordered to pay $35,000…
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for broadcasting a phone conversation without informing one of the parties the call would be televised (see 1411280044). Privacy is a subject of interest to other government agencies, and the FCC's interest “promises one more place where businesses can look for trouble should they [not] respect the privacy of those with whom they interact,” said Wilkinson Barker attorney David Oxenford in a blog post. Print reporters routinely call sources for information about issues that they're investigating, and then write reports based on those calls, he said. The station could use the statements made by the person who is called "just as would a print journalist if the call’s contents were reported by the station’s own staff rather than played from a recording," he said. “But the FCC seems to be saying that there is an extra level of privacy expectation in the use of the other party’s voice itself.” The FCC phone call rule applies to TV and radio, but it seems to apply more forcefully to TV, said a Fletcher Heald attorney. The TV licensee was fined $35,000, while historically violations on the radio side tend to draw penalties of about $4,000, said broadcast attorney Harry Cole in a blog post. Cole also said an application to sell the station was pending when the complaint was submitted: “Even if you have stopped being a licensee, the FCC will likely hold you responsible for transgressions that occurred while you were still a licensee.”