Low Power FM For Dummies

Chapter 10

Keeping It Legit: Broadcasting Rules and Responsibilities

IN THIS CHAPTER

Remembering to ask for help and legal advice

Understanding and following federal broadcasting law

Considering other important legal concerns

Enough with the fun and games! This chapter gets serious. Serious enough that I recommend you treat the entire text as one giant Remember and Warning icon combined.

You have worked hard for your Low Power FM license and you do not want to lose it — or have someone else lose it for you. Unlike online radio stations where pretty much anything goes, FM broadcasters are held to higher community standards. Failure to uphold these standards can result in your license slipping through your hands and all the work you have put into your station disappearing as if it were some desert mirage.

In this chapter you discover how to protect your license by obeying local and federal laws while creating your own guidelines for best station practices. It is the general manager’s responsibility to uphold broadcasting law, community expectations, and internal policies (check out Chapter 12 for more on this and other important roles at your radio station). Over the years I’ve come ...