The FCC has issued the following Public Notice permitting non-commercial educational radio and TV stations, which includes LPFM to do fundraising for the Japan effort upon notification to the FCC. REC applauds the FCC in permitting non-commercial broadcasters to use their channels of communications to reach out to the public to raise awareness and gain support for the victims in the Tohoku and other impacted regions of Japan.
REC Networks, through J1 Radio has been aggressively reporting on the sitaution in Japan reaching out to both people within Japan and outside Japan. REC Networks is endorsing directing funding to the Japan Society of New York who has committed to directing 100% of the tax-deductable donations received to Japan. Links to the Japan Society effort appear on the REC properties recnet.com, j1fm.com and derbydata.com.
A copy of the Public Notice follows:
The Commission generally prohibits noncommercial educational stations from engaging in on-air fundraising activities on behalf of any entity other that the station itself. See, 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.503(d), 73.621(e). See also, Commission Policy Concerning the Noncommercial Nature of Educational Broadcast Stations, 90 FCC 2d 895, 907 (1982). The Commission, however, has granted rule waivers for fundraising appeals to support relief efforts following disasters of particular uniqueness or magnitude, such as Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, the January 2005 tsunami in Southeast
Asia and the January 2010 Haiti earthquake. These waivers have been issued for a specific fundraising program or programs, or for sustained station appeals for periods which generally do
not exceed several days.
Should a licensee wish to solicit contributions from viewers or listeners for relief efforts in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it may file an informal request for a Section
73.503(d) or 73.621(e) waiver, whichever is appropriate, as follows:
1) The licensee may submit an electronic mail request to Barbara Kreisman (barbara.kreisman@fcc.gov), if the request involves a television station, or to Peter Doyle (peter.doyle@fcc.gov) and Michael Wagner (michael.wagner@fcc.gov), if the request involves a
radio station.
2) The request should provide basic details of the fundraising activity:
a. the nature of the fundraising effort;
b. the proposed duration of the fundraising effort;
c. the organization(s) to which funds will be donated; and
d. whether the fundraiser will be part of the licensee’s regularly scheduled pledge drive or fundraising effort.
For additional information, please contact the television or radio contacts provided above.
