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FCC fines Stern

You don't have to like Howard Stern. You do have to defend his right to free speech.

Federal regulators Thursday proposed $495,000 in indecency fines against Clear Channel Communications for broadcasts by shock jock Howard Stern.

The FCC cited the nation's largest radio chain for 18 alleged violations on April 9, 2003.

Clear Channel suspended Stern last month from its six stations that carry his program, which regularly features graphic sexual discussion and humor.

In a statement posted on his Web site, Stern said he was not surprised. He characterized the fine as furtherance of a "witch hunt" against him by the Bush administration.

"It is pretty shocking that governmental interference into our rights and free speech takes place in the U.S.," he said. "It's hard to reconcile this with the 'land of the free' and the 'home of the brave.'"

The FCC investigation was prompted by a listener in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who complained about a Stern program that included discussion of sex accompanied by flatulence sounds.

Federal law bars radio stations and over-the-air television channels from airing references to sexual and excretory functions between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children may be tuning in. The rules do not apply to cable and satellite channels or satellite radio.
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Last month, the FCC proposed fining Stern's employer, Infinity Broadcasting, $27,500 for a Stern show broadcast July 26, 2001, on WKRK-FM in Detroit. The FCC received a complaint from a Detroit listener about a show that featured discussions about sexual practices and techniques.

Infinity paid $1.7 million in 1995 to settle various violations by Stern. The Center for Public Integrity, a watchdog group, said fines against Stern accounted for almost half of the $4 million in penalties proposed by the FCC since 1990.

Stern has charged on the air that he's being punished for his criticism of President Bush. Clear Channel's political action committee and its employees have given $265,800 to Republicans for the 2004 election, more than any other broadcaster, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.

"You've got to vote Bush out to send a message as a Howard Stern fan," Stern said during one recent broadcast.

"There's a cultural war going on. The religious right is winning. We're losing."