DEMONSTRATE IT TO THE FCC BY SHOWING INTENT TO COMPLY
There’s a famous quote – slightly paraphrased — Who steals my purse steals trash. But he who steals my good name makes me poor indeed. <Shakespeare> When it comes to relations with the FCC, your station’s good name is truly valuable.
How can you show your station’s good name to be as best as can be? By clearly displaying “intent to comply.” When the FCC investigates a station for any reason be it from a complaint by an ex-employee to a member of the general public, your station’s ability to display intent to comply goes a long way.
All the usual guidance about keeping logs, maintaining your public file in good order, operating your transmitter in accordance with the rules, and carefully carrying out all your EEO obligations of course come to mind. But one feature of your NMBA membership really goes the extra mile in publicly demonstrating that your station truly strives to comply with all the rules.
Yes, that’s the NMBA/FCC’s Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP). You’re a busy guy. You’ve got schedules to keep, appointments to show up for, revenue targets to hit, and clients to see. Often the little detail tasks that can be so important for FCC compliance take a back seat to all the other things you have to attend to every day.
One quick, friendly visit to your station by the NMBA’s ABIP inspector will provide you with a comprehensive report of the state of your on-line public file, required posting and documents, transmitter operation, and a thorough assessment of your station’s rule compliance.
When your station receives its ABIP assessment and you take care of any non-compliant items the ABIP assessment finds, you’ll be able to relax, to check off that nagging feeling that the FCC could walk in the door for no reason at all, just a random, luck-of-the-draw visit, and look around for violations through a magnifying glass.
Plus, once your station passes its ABIP inspection, if someone does file a complaint against your station, the FCC inspector will look at information relative to the complaint, but go no further – no fishing expedition just to find whatever might be amiss just because they’re there! ABIP agreements and freedom from random, luck-of-the-draw inspections last for a three-year period!
Since FCC fines and forfeitures are among the ultimate in “non-revenue producing expenses” and since in these waning days of the Covid-19 pandemic the last thing you want is needless expense, preserving your station’s good name and saving the cost of any potential FCC fine at the same time is good for you for every reason!