Radio station appeals 'Shady' fine

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Variety) - The Federal Communications Commission will drive rap and hip-hop artists from the airwaves if it lets stand an unprecedented $7,000 indecency fine against a Colorado radio station for playing an edited version of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady," lawyers said Monday. The FCC's June 1 indecency ruling "raises the specter of a dominant culture exerting its power to bar those groups who do not share its mores from the public forum," Citadel Communications said in appeal papers. Citadel is a parent company of KKMG-FM in Colorado Springs, which played the Eminem song at all hours throughout spring and summer 2000. FCC's enforcement bureau determined that the edited version of the song was still provocative and raunchy. No other radio station has been fined for playing the song in question. Program directors have long assumed "clean" versions of songs are OK for the airwaves, and they fear the FCC order will have a widespread chilling effect.