Through the Looking Glass: You don’t know me, FCC
College radio smothers under federal restrictions and decency codes
By Sarah Delia, staff writer
Posted on September 21, 2006

Flip that radio dial round and round and you may discover something unbeknownst to most JMU students — we have a radio station. Yes, my fellow media driven friends, the digits 88.7 are a combination of numbers that represent not only the JMU radio station or a camraderie shared by all those involved with WXJM — but also the celebration of the free and spoken word. However, organizations such as the Federal Communication Commission, believe that the “best things in life are free” and demand retribution in the currency form of censorship.

According to the official FCC Web site, the government agency was “established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.” This means that the FCC deems what is appropriate for all radio shows in each of the 50 states. Consistency, important while mixing batter for a cake and very crucial when paying monthly bills, is immensely constricting when dealing with a variety of different types of radio station in each state, it does nothing but restrict and confine the first amendment. All but one state could find a certain topic suitable for the radio, but if that last state disagrees, all states must comply so everyone is 100 percent in uniform — and extreme polar opposite states such as New York and Virginia will definitely have different opinions of what is appropriate.

There are about seven words that are not allowed to be breathed while on air, if DJ or a caller accidentally drops an “F-bomb” and someone is listening, gets offended, and reports it to the FCC (which has happened to numerous college radio stations, including our own) the station can be fined thousands upon thousands of dollars. Since college radio is independently run, the organization would have to look to the university for financial support and in turn, the university would do one of two things: pay the fines and take control of the switchboards themselves, or pay the fines and shut the station down, leaving the student body without any voice floating over the airwaves. WXJM general manager Jess Siemen points out that the station is staffed completely by volunteers, and therefore “we cannot afford to pay FCC fines when someone slips up.” It only takes one person to mouth a four-letter word for the entire station to be locked up and for the switchboard to never light up again.

The limitations on speech weigh down college radio, binding the mouths and plugging the ears of DJs and listeners. Siemen notes for several genres of music, it is a true struggle to find topics to discuss and music to play: “it is very difficult to play shows according to FCC guidelines regarding profanity. Half of the music we could share is deemed unacceptable. Our audience is not getting the true meaning of the music genre.” 

Many of the “profane” words or concepts not allowed to be breathed on air are common topics discussed on shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” for sexual content, “South Park” concerning language, and even the History Channel or the news involving its graphic content. If topics including sex, “inappropriate” language and violence can be shown in visual forms on the television, why not on air?

If I see something that I do not particularly care for on my TV screen, I grab the remote and flip the channel. But the show is still on, and other people are watching the program because they find something appealing about it. Neither of those two facts should, nor does it, bother me because I have the power to stop watching at any given time. Turn your radios down if what a DJ or caller says bothers you, but in a time of war, radical social changes and political confusion, this is the perfect time to sit back and listen — least of all censor.

Sarah Delia is an English and art history major who believes in the written word, the spoken word and any word in general.