The basic rules for a DJ are:1) No swearing on air
2) No obscenities on air; including racist, sexist, or bigoted remarks, and sexually explicit comments.
3) Fill out station logs*, in their entirety.
*Station logs are written records of the date of broadcast, the station operator (the DJ), the transmitter readings, and general schedule of programming.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a U.S. government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934. The commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The bipartisan commission is made up of 5 people appointed by the President of the U.S., who serve for 5 years.
There are 7 bureaus in the FCC. AM and FM radio fall under the Media Bureau along with television. The Media Bureau administers rules and licenses to broadcasting entities. Within the Media Bureau is the Audio Division, which deals specifically with audio broadcasting. This part of the FCC insures that frequencies do not interfere with others. This is one reason that small, local radio stations, which didn’t have written permission to broadcast, a license from the FCC, became illegal, and thus named “Pirate Radio Stations.” It's very difficult to obtain a broadcasting license in the United States.
The FCC also regulates the "quality" of broadcasts. They're kind of like the media's moral compass -at least they're supposed to be. No one is allowed to say whatever they want to on air, they are censored by the FCC.
The FCC in the News:
Radio Sings Self-Censorship Tune, from Wired
New Wave: The case for killing the FCC and selling off spectrum, from Slate
Articles about the FCC, from The New York Times
Media Activists:Prometheus Radio Project
Reclaim the Media
Free Speech Radio News
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