Himeni O Hawai'i
Joel Kaplan
April 2, 2012
KKCR, the community radio station based in Hanalei, Hawaii, runs an eclectic mix of programming including Hawaiian music, jazz, blues, reggae and psychedelic jam. Its programming also includes two weekly call-in talk shows and special interest programs on topics such as health and wellness.
But one of its most popular shows is Himeni O Hawai'i, which broadcasts for two hours on Wednesday morning and is loosely translated as Hymns of Hawaii. The show's theme is devotional Hawaiian songs, but it has added prayers, and during one show, the hosts offered extra help from Jesus for those who donated.
This prompted Marj Dente, a member of the KKCR board of directors, to write the CPB ombudsman:
"Our community radio station is the recipient of annual CPB funding. It has a regular weekly program that borders on religious proselytizing. Are there any specific restrictions regarding stations that broadcast this type of programming? If so, could you please reference them?"
It seems Ms. Dente recently attended a conference of public broadcasters during which another radio station mentioned a similar scenario where there were CPB funding issues/violations that jeopardized the station. She was contacting CPB to prevent future penalties. Ms. Dente says she does not want to get the show thrown off the air, but doesn't want the station to lose funding if it is in violation of federal rules or regulations.
CPB is not in the business of telling public radio and television stations what they can and cannot broadcast. However, under provisions of the grants that these stations receive, a "substantial majority" of a station's programming must serve the "demonstrated community needs of an educational, information and cultural nature."
Programs that further the principles of particular political or religious philosophies are not considered CPB-qualified programming.
In a letter to Ms. Dente from Greg Schnirring, CPB's vice president for radio, Mr. Schnirring reiterates those requirements:
"Specifically regarding your question, the substantial majority of a station's daily total programming hours broadcast on its primary channel and the substantial majority of a station's daily total programming hours broadcast on all of its additional multicast channels must be devoted to CPB-qualified programming, which is defined as general audience programming that serves demonstrated community needs of an educational, information, and cultural nature. Programs that further the principles of particular political or religious philosophies, or that are designed primarily for in-school or professional in-service audiences, are not considered CPB-qualified programming.
"Beyond providing you with the definition of substantial majority as outlined above, CPB can't provide you with legal advice and we can't be involved in providing program selection advice. All programming decisions must be made at the local level and are the responsibility of the CSG (Community Service Grant) Qualified station."
