Reply #72: IMO the USA badly needs an OFCOM right about now.

[mwooldri]

OFCOM in UK - Office of Communications. They regulate not only the technical aspects of broadcasting (licenses, facilities, etc) but the actual content for decency and non-partisanship. Case in point: James Whale got fired from his show after urging voters during the London Mayoral Elections to vote for Boris Johnson. Twice. (it's OK to express favour for a particular politician but when election season is on I'm afraid to say that speech on the matter on broadcast medium is highly regulated) The station got fined about $30,000 - which is chickenfeed for a national UK station - but since stations can actually lose their licences a whole lot easier it's often better for them to let the offending people take an extended leave of absence, or in James Whale's case a permanent leave of absence without pay.