Two Miami DJs fined by the FCC for not telling Cuban President and dictator Fidel Castro he was on the air before a call began are running a contest to collect pocket change.
According to Reuters, DJs Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero plan to pay their fine in pennies to protest the fine.
“We prank-called a head of state in a country that is considered hostile to the United States. He’s a violator of human rights, and they’re fining us $4,000. We just find it absurd,” Santos said to Reuters.
The FCC proposed a $4,000 fine for Spanish-language WXDJ(FM) in Miami last week for violating the rule that requires notification before a caller is placed on the air. In June, Santos and Ferrero phoned the Cuban Foreign Relations Ministry and persuaded Cuban officials to put Castro on the line. The DJs aired phrases from a speech by Venezuela President Hugo Chavez to get Castro talking.
Eventually the DJs told Castro he was on a Miami radio station.
The station told the FCC said the telephone rule didn’t apply in this case because the United States has no diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Miami DJs Raising Pennies For Prank Call to Castro
Miami DJs Raising Pennies For Prank Call to Castro