Well, Shut My Mouth

His daily litany of lowbrow sexual innuendo, anatomical comparisons and coarse ethnic stereotyping may endear him to a surging army of sophomoric radio listeners, but not to the Federal Communications Commission. For the second time in two months, broadcasts by schlock jock Howard Stern have drawn FCC fines. This time, however, the commission upped the stakes by fining Stern’s bosses at Infinity Broadcasting a record $600,000 for the “indecent” material, though it stopped short of barring Infinity’s planned purchase of three new stations. The FCC also warned that any such future violations could lead to a loss of Infinity’s broadcast license. In a welcome change, Stern made no comment.