An FCC indecency complaint has been filed against Sinclair's WJLA (Washington) and Sinclair had nothing to do with it.

The complaint is filed against WJLA, but the station is not to blame for what happened.

There was a story airing on ABC's Good Morning America and it included a clip of Howard Stern dropping the F-Bomb. The "fuck" happened in an edited package and certainly should have been bleeped out, but was not.

The Parents Television Council filed a formal FCC indecency complaint against WJLA over an F-bomb, despite the fact that the station had nothing to do with it, except that they air the ABC show.

But, indecency complaints can only be filed against local stations, who are subject to the FCC's indecency rules and not the network. The rules prevent profanity from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., so the 7-9 a.m. GMA broadcast fell within actionable hours.

There is a general exemption for news programming, which PTC concedes but says should apply to live content, rather than the May 24 pre-taped audio clip on GMA.

"While we recognize that there is a news exemption from indecency laws, we believe that that exemption should only apply to live interviews where there is little opportunity to appropriately edit out indecent material," said PTC. "That was not the case here. The word occurred during a taped and edited package segment.

The Sinclair station could face a fine of over $300,000.

Sorry, but we have to stick up for the Sinclair station on this one and if they are fined anything, let's hope that ABC steps up and pays the fine.

H/T B&C