Local TV broadcaster TEGNA has agreed to pay $222,000 to settle an investigation brought by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over indecent materials that aired on one of its stations.
The incident occurred nearly four years ago during a news broadcast on KREM (Channel 2, CBS) in Spokane, Washington. At one point, a monitor behind a TV meteorologists showed a pornographic clip for less than a half-minute, the FCC said.
TEGNA told federal investigators that the material wasn’t actually on a computer at the station. Instead, someone accidentally transmitted it to the monitor using a “screencasting” feature on another device. The station operated two wireless networking hubs at the time, and one of them — a “Legacy System” used for some older equipment — was not protected by a password.
The broadcaster wasn’t able to identify the person responsible for sending the clip to the monitor. Still, it has changed the way its technology operates in light of the incident, to include updating its Legacy System so that passwords are mandatory.
The FCC agreed to end its investigation and dismiss the complaint against TEGNA if the company implemented a compliance plan and provide supporting documentation on the execution of the plan over the course of 18 months. TEGNA has also agreed to pay a $222,500 “voluntary contribution,” which has the same effect as a fine without the penalty on paper.
