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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  contact:  August  7,  2003  Jordan  Goldstein  at  (202)  418-  2000 
 FCC  FAILS  TO  ACT  ON  “OPIE  AND  ANTHONY”  OUTRAGE  AS  COMPLAINTS  LANGUISH  ONE  YEAR  LATER 
 Last  August  WNEW-  FM  in  New  York  ran  an  Opie  &  Anthony  show  which  allegedly  contained  a  broadcast  of  sexual  activity  at  St.  Patrick’s  Cathedral  as  part  of  an 
 on-  air  stunt.  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  received  numerous  outraged  e-  mails  and  phone  calls  complaining  that  this  broadcast  violated  a  federal  law 
 against  indecent  programming. 
 One  year  later  the  FCC  has  failed  to  even  address  these  complaints.  Commissioner  Michael  J.  Copps  reacted:  “When  we  allow  complaints  to  languish  for  a 
 year,  the  message  is  loud  and  clear  that  the  FCC  is  not  serious  about  enforcing  our  nation’s  laws.  Congress  expected  action  from  the  FCC,  but  all  too  often  our  citizens’ 
 complaints  are  ignored.” 
 Copps  continued:  “I  wonder  when  the  FCC  will  finally  take  a  firm  stand  against  the  ‘race  to  the  bottom’  as  stations  continue  to  push  the  envelope  of  outrageousness  even 
 further.”  Recently,  the  FCC  proposed  a  mere  $27,500  fine  against  another  station  owned  by  this  same  company  –  on  WKRK-  FM  in  Detroit  –  after  it  aired  some  of  the  most  vulgar 
 and  disgusting  indecency  that  the  Commission  has  examined. 
 Copps  stated:  “Nothing  has  changed  over  the  past  year  in  the  FCC’s  enforcement  of  the  indecency  laws.  And  at  the  same  time,  the  Commission’s  actions  have  ensured 
 that  things  will  get  even  worse.”  Instead  of  enforcing  indecency  laws,  the  FCC  recently  rewarded  giant  station  owners  by  dismantling  the  FCC’s  media  concentration  protections. 
 The  FCC  took  this  action  without  even  considering  whether  there  is  a  link  between  increasing  media  consolidation  and  increasing  indecency  on  our  airwaves.  Copps 
 explained:  “It  stands  to  reason  that  as  media  conglomerates  grow  ever  bigger  and  control  moves  further  away  from  the  local  community,  community  standards  go  by  the  boards.  It 
 is  a  time  to  increase,  not  diminish,  our  vigilance  and  our  enforcement  of  the  law.” 
 Copps  concluded:  “The  time  has  come  for  the  Commission  to  send  a  message  that  it  is  serious  about  enforcing  the  indecency  laws.  Yet,  we  continue  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
 the  millions  of  Americans  who  are  fed  up  with  the  patently  offensive  programming  coming  their  way  so  much  of  the  time.” 
 -  FCC  - 
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