http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=26712
N.C. Public Radio Station Bans Use of Term 'Reproductive Rights' in On-Air Underwriting Announcements
The Chapel Hill, N.C.-based public radio station WUNC has said that the phrase "reproductive rights" no longer can be used in on-air
underwriting announcements because the use of the phrase could be interpreted as advocating a political position, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
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The station recently informed Ipas, a Chapel Hill-based international women's rights and health organization, that they no longer can use the term in their announcements because of Federal Communications Commission regulations and instead must use the term "reproductive health." FCC rules prohibit public radio stations from airing underwriting announcements that advocate political, social and religious causes, although they allow sponsorships from advocacy groups, according to WUNC General
Manager Joan Siefert Rose. However, Siefert Rose said that FCC regulations do not specify "forbidden terms," so the station is "always pretty conservative in interpreting the announcements we make" and strives to
avoid anything that may be considered "advocacy language." Siefert Rose also said that asking an advocacy group to alter its announcement
language is not an "unusual situation except in the attention it's drawn."
Siefert Rose said that the "red-flagging" of the term "reproductive rights" in Ipas' announcement was part of a routine review of underwriting
announcements to make sure they are not in violation of any FCC rules, according to the News & Observer. She added that she plans to meet with Ipas Executive Vice President Anu Kumar to discuss the issue and try to reach a resolution that would satisfy everyone, according to the News & Observer.</<p>
Ipas Reaction
Kumar said she disagrees with the interpretation WUNC made about FCC regulations and added that the phrase "reproductive rights" has an
internationally understood meaning. "'Reproductive rights' is not a euphemism for abortion," Kumar said, adding, "Among other things, it means the right to infertility treatments, the right to contraception, the right to information, the right to life free of rape and violence. In global forums, those meanings are universally understood." Kumar also said the term "reproductive health" does not cover the same scope or convey the full meaning that the group intends to portray, according to the News & Observer. "It's important to say that our work is about rights as well as health," she said. Kumar added that she is less upset about the radio station's decision to alter their announcement than the "political climate" that led to such a decision, the News & Observer reports. "What concerns me is the chilling effect of the world we're living in, which makes everybody super cautious about what they say," she said, adding, "The issue of reproductive rights, like many others, has been cast as an 'either you're with us or you're against us' issue, and so much of the language is assumed to be code for something else" (Hart, Raleigh News & Observer, 11/11).