Cox's Cowhead Show Facing Lawsuit Over Doctored Picture

4-30-13

Can your DJ's be held responsible for pictures they post on your station website? How many times have they Googled a photo and posted it or sent it in an e-mail? What happens if that photo is altered and changes its entire context? A Nashville family claims that's exactly what Mike "Cowhead" Calta did to their son, who has Downs Syndrome, and they have filed a lawsuit. Cowhead works at WPHT in Tampa. A picture of 17-year-old Adam Holland was posted to the Cowhead show website under the heading, "Retarded News." The Holland family is asking for $6 million in the lawsuit.

The original photo of Holland (seen below) was taken in 2004. In it, he is smiling and holding up a drawing that includes the words "Go Titans." The Hollands say the altered image has caused them "severe mental anguish and emotional distress," and "humiliation, fear and embarrassment." They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

While Cox did not comment to the Miami Herald about the lawsuit, the attorney for the Holland family says he has an e-mail from WHPT Program Director Michael Sharkey saying the "Retarded News" segment "is designed to highlight odd stories that are seemingly always in the news. These stories are NOT about disabled individuals. However, in our investigation, we noted the picture that he was using did denote a person with Down Syndrome. We have removed that picture from our page and we are removing any reference to handicapped or disabled individuals." Sharkey apologized for "any grief this might have caused."

Read the full story in the Herald HERE

(4/30/2013 10:04:11 PM)
People who think it's funny to make fun of someone with Downs Syndrome shouldn't be in broadcasting. Kids in preschool are taught that this is something you don't do. So we've people on the air without the common sense of a four-year-old.
(4/30/2013 6:48:35 PM)
Another thing that's just plain wrong is people being able to post comments on the internet without identifying themselves.

(4/30/2013 6:48:34 PM)
Another thing that's just plain wrong is people being able to post comments on the internet without identifying themselves.

(4/30/2013 6:46:43 PM)
Chuck...you're dead wrong. There is a lot wrong with pushing boundaries when it involves the humiliation of others. This is not the kind of thing the law should have to get involved with because it should not have happened in the first place. It's just plain wrong.
(4/30/2013 3:20:00 PM)
He should be fined $6 million for being sad and uncreative.

There are oodles of other ways to get teh point across without doing the equivalent of a fart joke.

He should be fired for taking the easy way out.

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(LEGAL) - WLS Facing $44,000 Sponsorship ID Fine

2-7-2012

The FCC proposed a $44,000 fine on WLS for running 11 announcements that did not contain a sponsorship identification.  This fine was not for 11 different announcements for different groups, but instead a single announcement run 11 times.  Each airing of the announcement triggered a $4000 fine (which is the amount of the FCC "base fine" for a sponsorship identification violation). 

According to the FCC decision, a group called the Workers Independent News ("WIN") bought 2 two-hour programs, one one-hour program, and a number of shorter promotional announcements for those programs. 11 of the promotional announcements did not specifically state that they were sponsored.  Instead, these 11 announcements - each 90 seconds long - consisted of an interviewer, identifying himself as being with Workers Independent News, discussing a local issue with local legislator. 

While the announcement did open with a mention of WIN, it didn't specifically say that they had paid for the spot.  Presumably, the FCC feared that the spot sounded like a program element, perhaps even a news interview (even though it ran in a commercial break), and held that the mere reference to WIN without any explicit statement that the spot was paid for by that group was not enough to convey sponsorship of the ad or to meet the FCC rules requiring sponsorship identification.
The decision here shows how seriously the FCC takes the issue of being able to identify who is trying to influence listeners by providing some form of valuable consideration to a broadcast station in exchange for the broadcast of a message. 

This issue is the subject of an FCC rulemaking proceeding, has previously led to fines for other stations (though rarely ones of this magnitude, even where the FCC has found whole programs or portions of programs to have been sponsored- see, for example, the cases we've written about here and here dealing with "video news releases"), and has become part of the proposals for the new on-line public file, suggesting that sponsorship identification information be made available for any "pay-for-play" programming in such a file. 

The issue has even become important in the online world, with the FTC issuing rules that require similar sponsorship identification even in connection with social media posts for which the author has received consideration.

This case, though, seems to impose a very high penalty for a limited number of violations.  Here, the announcement arguably let people know that WIN was involved with the production of the spot, even if it did not explicitly say that they had paid for the airtime.  As the Licensee argued, ads for normal commercial products and services don't need explicit sponsorship tags, as listeners assume that they are being persuaded by the company that offers that product or service (even if the company is totally anonymous).
So what is the lesson of this case?  First, the case says that the FCC is very concerned about sponsorship identification.  Moreover, it says that the stations need to be especially careful in any sort of paid programming dealing with controversial issues.  Many of the FCC's recent sponsorship fines have been in the areas of issue programming, and in those cases the fines tend to be higher than in commercial cases (compare the cases we wrote about here involving programming dealing with political issues where the host had received consideration for expressing his on-air opinions on controversial issues, with those in the cases linked to above and here, involving commercial programs where the fines were much lower).  So if you are airing programming - especially programming dealing with political or controversial issues - and receiving anything of value for that programming, make sure that the audience knows who is paying for that message to reach the airwaves.

David Oxenford is a partner in Davis Wright Tremaine's Washington, DC office. He has represented broadcasters for over 25 years on a wide array of matters from purchases and sales of broadcast properties and the negotiation of programming agreements to regulatory matters. Visit his website HERE Send him and e-mail HERE

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(MANAGEMENT) Are You Facing Sales Fatigue?

2-3-2012
by Ken Thoreson

The past three years have been a challenge for most organizations. The economy has caused sales teams to face declining prospect budgets, more competitive  bidding, fewer opportunities, lower incomes and general personal stress. As someone that works with organizations on a daily basis we have seen all of these  situations cause an increase in mental and physical fatigue. 

Sales executives have witnessed increased levels of stress because of managing cash flow, personnel decisions, increased costs, decreased margins and personal  stress have caused the same problems to appear. As we face another year most individuals are unclear as to the future, will it either be a recovering economy or  another challenging series of events?

What is the recipe for ensuring your organization exceeds its goals this year and create a culture of high performance?  From an executive?s Action Plan there are specific tactics to ensure your organization is focused, energized and mentally tough. It begins with a focus on communication and a series of actions to build belief within your sales team. Sales organizations are the critical ingredients in building a total organizations culture of expectation and success.

Executive Action Plans
Monthly Meetings: When a company launches, its first employees typically feel that they share a mission. Everyone knows everything that's happening and what's needed to succeed. But when the staff grows beyond about 15 people, that sense of mission-along with clearly defined expectations and common beliefs-can be difficult to maintain.  In challenging times improving communications and providing a sense of mission is an absolute requirement.

We believe that monthly employee meetings are crucial for keeping everyone engaged and informed. (Larger organizations and those with remote offices may want to opt for quarterly day-long events instead or lock into Skype/video conference.) Such gatherings give you a chance to remind your staff about your business philosophies, plans and expectations. This is your opportunity to provide vision, positive expectations and your roadmap to ?better times?.

You can also use them to recognize outstanding employees that contributed to the success of the sales organization, a client?s implementation or company operations. You may consider honoring a Most Valuable Player chosen by the sales team at each session. This will provide a sense of teamwork and sense of good business practices.

Remember to make the meetings fun as well.  Creating FUN in your organization and making people want to work hard are two objectives for leaders who understand employee motivation. Consider sponsoring a fun game, competitive contests for sales leads or even offering simple door prizes. One company meeting I attended featured a surprise visit from an Elvis impersonator, who sang several songs. It is amazing what happens when laughter occurs and the sense of ?team? builds.

The real purpose: during your monthly company meetings share your vision for the next 18-24 months and your philosophy for success. This is your opportunity as a leader to build consensus and ensure you communicate your message to your team.  Stay on message, create a theme for the year, reinforce that theme with actions and provide that sense of direction to all employees.  In our sales leadership workshop we discuss the five styles of leadership, the second style is a ?selling? style, at your company meetings and at other important events this style is critical. It means you will describe a problem, provide your solution and sell your employees as to why it is the course of action.

Sales Action Plans
In working with our clients, where sales are being lost or the sales team is faltering due to fatigue we often find that the underlying problem is actually an emotional one: lack of passion. Individual team members or the entire sales organization-or both-simply don't have the combination of enthusiasm and belief that's essential for success. Their either don?t believe in the products or the ability of the  organization to successfully deliver quality services.

Salespeople have to be emotionally invested in their work with a burning desire to achieve. They must also believe that the company they represent is the best and the solutions or services they sell are of the highest quality. That belief must be genuine. It's not just a marketing message, and it's not something that they can fake. It must be real.

Many sales leaders forget this emotional side of leadership is critical and they don?t build into sales training programs belief-building activities. Or if they do, they only do so occasionally. Our experience shows that the most successful sales teams constantly undertake on-going belief-building initiatives.
Examples include:
Storytelling: People from different cultures and generations pass along stories about their ancestries, traditions and lore. Companies need to take a similar approach to capturing and preserving their histories. To do so, write down customer success stories when they occur. Put together detailed descriptions of your company's role in helping customers implement new technologies, launch or salvage important projects or earn recognition from your vendors. Then share these stories at sales meetings and other employee events. You can also use the best stories to recruit top performers and help orient new employees. We recommend that you record these stories and play them during your monthly company meetings.

Customer Visits: Each quarter, have your entire sales team visit a client?s company that's successfully implemented your solutions. Ask the customer's executive to describe the impact your company has had on their business, their competitive position or to review the savings they've gained from your products and services. You might also invite customers to share their experiences at some of your monthly meetings.

Reference Letters: Ask your best customers for testimonials. While such letters are, of course, highly useful as tools for future sales presentations, they're also valuable for building belief in-house. Frame the letters and display them in your lobby or sales presentation area. Have new employees read them as part of the orientation process.

In our business, it's all too easy to get bogged down with lost sales, missed project dates and other problems. Regularly reinforcing the positives goes a long way toward keeping everyone's belief and passion strong and moving in the right direction. These efforts will build a culture of success, a sense of mission and common teamwork and those ingredients are the recipe for a great entr?e?.

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