Joe first worked at WJBE radio in the 1970s to pay his way through college. After changing hands over the years, the station eventually went silent. For a time, that left Knoxville with no station focused on the Black community. So, in 2012, Joe decided to buy a station, hoping to reinvigorate what had meant so much to him in college.
Now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is threatening to shut it down. Not for anything WJBE did. Except for some late paperwork, the station hasn’t done anything wrong. Rather, the FCC is threatening to revoke WJBE’s broadcast license because Joe was convicted of making a false statement—on his 2008 personal tax return, four years before he even bought the station.
. The Institute for Justice is defending Joe against the FCC action and is prepared to defend him in federal court if necessary.
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Feds threaten to end only Black radio station in Knoxville over owner’s personal tax conviction
Joe Armstrong brought Black community focused radio back on the air in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now he's fighting the FCC for his license, not for anything he put out over the air, but for an old…