Adelstein Wants FCC Probe Into Payola
FCC Comr. Adelstein asked the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau to investigate whether conservative commentator Armstrong Williams broke the law by failing to disclose that the Bush Administration paid him $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind Act. At an FCC meeting Thurs., Adelstein said he has received a dozen complaints about Williams’ so-called “payola” practices. “I certainly hope the FCC will take action and fully investigate whether any laws have been broken,” Adelstein said.
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Adelstein, a Democrat, took the opportunity at the meeting to raise concerns over payola practices such as TV stations doing interviews with subjects asked to pay a fee, or artists who have to play certain concerts or even cocktail parties in order to get play on certain stations. “Artists are being forced to perform in order to get broadcast. That’s payola,” Adelstein said.
FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief David Solomon said he just received the complaints on Williams Wed. night and hasn’t had a chance to review them. After looking at the complaints, the Bureau will decide whether to investigate, Solomon said. He wouldn’t comment further on the Williams case.
After the meeting, FCC Chmn. Powell told reporters he wasn’t aware of the complaints. “It’s the first I've ever heard of it,” he said. He wouldn’t comment further until he looked at the facts: “We'll go look at it.”
Under Sec. 507 of the Communications Act “generally” a person paid or about to be paid to include program matter in a broadcast must disclose the payment in advance of the broadcast to the station. Failure to disclose the payment is punishable by a fine of up to $11,000, one year in jail or both. The law is generally enforced by the Dept. of Justice. Sec. 317 of the Act requires broadcasters to disclose that program matter has been broadcast in exchange for money, a transaction known as sponsorship identification.
Williams said he was paid by a public relations firm working for the U.S. Dept. of Education to promote the No Child Left Behind Act and did so on national TV and radio, including dozens of stations owned by Sinclair Bcst. Group, without disclosing the payments. The Dept. of Education turned to Williams and his syndicated news show The Right Side in which he interviewed Education Secy. Rod Paige. The contract also included a series of ads touting the law. “Undisclosed payments to shape broadcast matter are illegal payola. Laws have been broken, and it’s time for Congress and the FCC to step in and answer some questions,” said Free Press Exec. Dir. Josh Silver. Silver said it wasn’t a surprise that Sinclair, which airs the show on 51 of its stations, was the largest distributor of The Right Side. Last year, Sinclair threatened to preempt programming to air a documentary critical of Sen. Kerry’s (D-Mass.) Vietnam service before the election. Sinclair later agreed to modify the program to include opposing views (CD Nov 1 p9). Sinclair has said in published reports that it’s conducting an internal investigation into Williams’ actions.
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) said govt. payment to commentators or journalists to publicize a point of view should be condemned and stopped. SPJ commended Tribune Media Services for dropping a syndicated column by Williams. “Williams’ actions clearly violate journalistic ethics, and he should have been aware of the obvious conflict of interest,” SPJ said.
Issues surrounding payola and sponsorship identification practices aren’t new. Adelstein in Nov. 2003 pressed for a broad inquiry on the issue. In July 2004, the FCC issued a notice of inquiry on broadcast localism addressing a number of issues including payola and sponsorship identification (CD July 2 p1).