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AFTRA protests indecency blame shift

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is not happy about the idea of hitting its members with a share of indecency fines levied by the FCC on their employers. The union, representing both television and radio on-air talent, argues that licensees are responsible for programming on their stations, and artists are acting on the licensee's programming decisions.

AFTRA National Communications Director Jayne Wallace spelled out the union's position.

"The responsibility for complying with FCC regulations rests with the employers. Our members aren't responsible for programming the stations and they don't hold a station's license to broadcast on the public airwaves. It's completely inappropriate and unprecedented for a broadcast company to shift the burden of complying with FCC regulations onto the backs of its employees." She continued, "To the extent that individual employees may make on-the-spot errors that run afoul of FCC regs or company policy, that employee's existing personal services agreement already provides recourse for the company. What's truly indecent about this situation is how big media is trying to absolve itself of complying with FCC regulations by making its employees pay fines that are only levied because of management's programming decisions."