The Federal Communications Commission is threatening the removal of WJBE from the air, Knoxville‘s only Black-owned radio station once owned by James Brown. The media regulations entity seeks to revoke the station’s license by extending a seldom used owner’s character clause whether its current owner Joe Armstrong “possesses the requisite character qualifications” to run the station, reports the Tennessee Lookout. A former Tennessee state representative, Armstrong says he was never notified of any violations or wrongdoing before the March 2022 notice that threatened to shut him down. (Image: Institute for Justice) According to the FCC, their decision is due to Armstrong’s 2016 conviction for failing to report $300,000 in income and submitting a false statement on his 2008 tax return forms. Since then Artstrong has completed house arrest, probation, community service, paid a $40,000 fine, and provided $100,000 in restitution back to the IRS. The radio station owner voluntarily disclosed his sentence to the FCC on April 14, 2017, however the agency required the notification two weeks earlier, on April 1. “We’ve got an impeccable record at this station. How long does a person have to bear the cross? I’ve paid my debt to society,” he said in an interview... READ MORE
