FCC Fines Cumulus/Myrtle Beach Over EEO Violations

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, December 12, 2017

FCC

The FCC has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) for $20,000 to Cumulus Media's WDAI-FM, WSYN-FM, WSEA-FM, WLFF-FM and WHSC-AM/Myrtle Beach, SC, for various violations of the Commission's equal employment opportunity (EEO) rules. The Commission says that the stations failed to comply with the recruitment, self-assessment, record-keeping, reporting, and public file requirements.

The agency found that Cumulus apparently violated, on numerous occasions, the requirement that broadcasters recruit for every full-time vacancy at a station. The company's 2008-2009 report indicates that it failed to report any recruitment sources for three of the five full-time hires listed. For one of the remaining two full-time hires, Cumulus said word-of-mouth was the only recruitment source.

The 2009-2010 report similarly lists a word-of-mouth referral as the sole recruitment source for two of the six full-time hires listed in the report. The FCC said that relying solely on a licensee's own private contacts, such as word-of-mouth referrals, does not constitute recruitment under the Commission's rules, which require public outreach.

Cumulus also apparently violated EEO rules by failing to notify a source that had requested notification of vacancies at the stations. Specifically, for both reporting periods, Cumulus indicates that Ohio Center for Broadcasting requested notification of full-time vacancies, but Cumulus' records show that it failed to notify this source of seven of its 11 full-time hires during the reporting period.

The Commission noted that Cumulus has a history of violations relating to the EEO rules. In order to help deter future violations, the agency also imposed reporting conditions. Specifically, the stations are required to submit to the Bureau's EEO staff annual reports for three years starting on September 4, 2018.