In 1938, a former Yankee Network employee named Lawrence J. Flynn challenged the license of Shepard's WAAB in Boston, and also lodged a complaint about WNAC. Flynn asserted that these stations were being used to air one-sided political viewpoints and broadcast attacks (including editorials) against local politicians that Shepard opposed."Radio Ruling Tells Stations to Avoid Bias." Christian Science Monitor, January 17, 1941, p. 9. The FCC requested that Shepard provide details about these programs, and to appease the commission, the Yankee Network agreed to drop the editorials. But Flynn created a company called Mayflower Broadcasting and tried to get the FCC to award him WAAB's license; however, the FCC refused. Instead, in 1941, the commission made a ruling that came to be known as the Mayflower Decision which declared that radio stations, due to their public interest obligations, must remain neutral in matters of news and politics, and they were not allowed to give editorial support to any particular political position or candidate.Victor Pickard. America's Battle for Media Democracy. Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 104. The decision was very unpopular with broadcasters, who saw it as a form of censorship. But despite widespread dissatisfaction, the FCC did not officially reverse the Mayflower Decision until 1949.Eric Barnouw. A History of Broadcasting in the United States: The Golden Web. Oxford University Press, 1968, p. 292.
