This is a classic “big whoop” story that dates back to 2004, when KLRC-FM licensee John Brown University was hit with a $9K public file fine for failure to have its issues/program reports in the file. In fact, they were absent for much of the period between 1999 and 2003. The noncom station is licensed to Siloam Springs AR in the Fayetteville AR market.
It admitted the crime itself in its license renewal application. It was a result, said JBU, of the confusion of having different faculty members and students involved with various aspects of running the station.
The license was renewed, but upon being hit with the fine, JBU argued that the fine was a little out of line with the crime and asked for a reduction. The FCC said the fine was actually entirely appropriate, but knocked off $1.8K for JBU’s overall record of compliance.
RBR/TVBR observation: Doesn’t the issues/program fine seem a just a tad anachronistic? What if KLRC-FM programmed parrots talking 24/7, with their main topic being the desire for more exotics included in their daily seed mix? It would add nothing to the discussion of human events and would do nothing to serve the public interest, with the exception of the local parrot population, whom to the best of our knowledge the FCC has no mandate to protect. Yet the programming would be perfectly legal and the FCC would not be able to do a thing about it. So if the issues/program lists lead to no possible repercussions, why the hell should they have a fine attached to them; yea verily, why the hell should they even exist?
