FCC won't fine station for playing Eminem song

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 10, 2002 | by Warren Epstein

The FCC has dropped a controversial $7,000 fine it imposed on KKMG- FM for playing an Eminem song, ruling that the radio station hadn't violated federal decency regulations after all.

The Federal Communications Commission imposed the fine on KKMG, known as Magic FM, in June, for repeatedly playing an edited version of the rap hit "The Real Slim Shady." FCC officials said that even though the song was edited for radio, it still contained "sexual references in conjunction with sexual expletives that appear intended to pander and shock."

It was the first time the FCC fined a station for playing an edited-for-radio version of a song.

But late Tuesday, the regulators reversed their decision, saying "The Real Slim Shady" version that Magic played was not "patently offensive."

Brenda Goodrich, general manager at Citadel Communications, Magic's parent company, called the decision "awesome."

"It's a victory not only for us but a victory for radio," she said Wednesday.

Goodrich said she sees the decision as a sign the FCC won't be imposing more rigid guidelines on the kind of music radio stations can play.

Still, the fine, even though rescinded, may have subtle repercussions.

"It may have us looking at songs a little more in-depth to see if we should put them on the air," Goodrich said.

Radio programmers throughout the country have been nervously awaiting the FCC's decision about Magic's fine because almost all pop station air music can be considered as offensive as the edited version of "The Real Slim Shady."

"The FCC avoided a huge fight over the First Amendment in this case," said Bill McConnell, an FCC reporter for Broadcast & Cable trade magazine. "If this fine had been upheld, it could have been a template for other media watchdog types to come in with one complaint after another."

But it wasn't exactly a "media watchdog" who prompted the FCC fine. It was Liz Pipes, a Colorado Springs homemaker and mother of an 11-year-old son.

Pipes heard an edited version of the Eminem rap song during her morning walk, and after complaining to the station, fired off an e- mail to the FCC.

The FCC initially agreed with Pipes that the song was offensive. Pipes wasn't surprised Wednesday to hear that the FCC reconsidered.

"How could they give the fine to them (Magic) and not all the other radio stations?" she said. "It just showed me that we parents need to keep a closer eye on what our kids are watching and listening to. The government is obviously not going to do it for us."