FCC May Fine Station Over Prank Call to Castro

[desdemona]

Miami radio station's prank call to Castro may draw FCC fine

Published April 24, 2004

The Federal Communications Commission has no sense of humor, even when it comes to a crank call to Fidel Castro. Miami radio station WXDJ (FM 95.7) has been informed by the FCC that the government agency intends to fine the Spanish-language station $4,000 for a prank call to the Cuban leader on June 17, 2003. The station's offense: It didn't tell Castro in advance that he was going to be on the radio, as FCC rules dictate.

WXDJ personalities Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos called the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations, identified themselves as Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and another high-ranking Venezuelan official, and asked to speak to Castro. They managed to work their way through the Cuban leader's underlings and got him on the air live. Only then did they tell Castro that it was a joke call from a Miami radio station. The entire process was broadcast. WXDJ replayed the call five times on June 17-18, according to the FCC complaint.

Section 73.1206 of FCC rules states, "Before recording a telephone conversation for broadcast ... a licensee shall inform any party to the call of the licensee's intention to broadcast the conversation, except where the party is aware or may be presumed to be aware from the circumstances of the conversation, that it is being or likely will be broadcast." Such exceptions would include someone who works for the station or a call to a talk show, according to the FCC.

WXDJ's defense was this rule shouldn't apply to someone such as Castro, with whom the United States has a hostile relationship. The FCC rejected this. "We find no merit in WXDJ's claim that it was somehow exempt from complying with the telephone broadcast rules because the recipients of the phone call reside in Cuba, a country in which the United States maintains no diplomatic relations and to which travel by U.S. citizens is restricted."

Attempts to reach Ferrero, Santos and officials of WXDJ were unsuccessful.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/...tertainment-col

read transcript here:

http://johnford.net/mt/archives/004250.html

Edited April 25, 2004 by desdemona

[Malicious Intent]

"Attempts to reach Ferrero, Santos and officials of WXDJ were unsuccessful. "

lol.

[desdemona]

I'm sure the unemployment line was long that day, lol

[Wolfie]

Ironically according to the FCC nowadays the fine for indecent language or using cursing is a lot more than making a crank call to leader of another country.

[Ken]

Did they do the fridge running bit?

The way things go in cuba, it might not be running..............