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Apocalypse Nerd
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The president has, and always will direct policy of the Federal Branch of government.
The latest news: Stern will be censored Oprah will not:
Quote:
April 20, 2004
FCC's Powell to NAB: Don't ask us to tell
By Brooks Boliek
LAS VEGAS -- FCC chairman Michael Powell warned broadcasters to be careful what they wish for on Tuesday, telling the industry's trade group that they do not want the government to define exactly what words or actions are indecent.
Some industry leaders, most notably Viacom's Mel Karmazin, have pushed the commission to say exactly what is meant by indecent speech. They argue that the current definition is too fuzzy to tell them how far they can go before facing a stiff fine.
"You don't want the government to write red book of what the government says you can and cannot say," he told a packed crowd at the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention.
The FCC's current indecency definition, which has been vetted by the courts, is sufficient, he argued during a question-and-answer session with veteran ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson.
"The indecency provision is the same one that has been around for decades," he said. "I cannot tell someone here are the five things you cannot say."
The commission defines material as indecent if it "in context, depicts or describes sexual or excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium." While obscene speech has no constitutional protection, indecent speech does. The Supreme Court has said that adults have the right to indecent speech, but the government has a compelling interest to protect children from it.
Under that rubric the courts, Congress and the FCC decided that indecent speech can be broadcast between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. -- a time when children are a negligible part of the audience.
Indecency is a hot topic at this year's NAB show since Congress and the FCC cracked down on broadcast smut. The FCC has proposed a string of big fines for allegedly indecent behavior that was sparked by increasing coarse language and activities like the accidental baring of Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl.
While Powell contends that broadcasters do not want a government do-not-say list, the commission recently decided that uses of certain words were by themselves indecent. In that decision on Bono's use of a version of the word "fuck" on the Golden Globes Awards show, the commission decided that the use of a single expletives is both "indecent" and "profane" and could cause the station on which it aired to get fined, even if it was accidental or fleeting.
Most of the major networks and a host of free speech advocates and public interest groups filed a petition with the FCC on Monday asking them to reverse that decision.
Powell conceded that decisions on indecency cases made him "uncomfortable" but that he has a duty to enforce the law, and it's a law more and more people want to see upheld. The number of indecency cases has risen from 14,000 on 2002 to more than 500,000 in 2003. The stepped up enforcement is a "direct response to the concerns of the public."
Powell dismissed accusations that the FCC's actions are unevenly enforced, shock jock Howard Stern, whose show has been fined more than any other, has accused the FCC and the Republican administration of pursuing a vendetta. On his Web site he accuses the commission of going after him, but ignoring Oprah Winfrey, who received an award for her achievements in broadcasting on Monday.
"I don't agree with that," he told reporters after his Q&A. "The commission has said nothing about Oprah Winfrey. There are people complaining about it, but we'll see."
While Powell defended the commission's even-handedness, commission aides admitted that Oprah is probably untouchable. It's more difficult to fine a beloved figure like her, than to go after lightning rod like Stern.
During his session Powell said he had "a lot of respect for Howard Stern," but he told reporters later that Stern's contention that commission actions against him were politically motivated was bunk.
"If it's motivated by party politics, then both parties are guilty," he said. "There's been more push from the Democratic side than the Republican side, although they've pushed it too."
Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps has been the leading champion on the indecency front for years. If the Bono decision was intended to clarify the indecency regulations, it didn't help. While the commission's top mass media advisors at first told conventioneers that the "fuck" ruling was radioactive, they backed off when asked for specifics.
"They shouldn't be saying the F-word. They should be taking precautions. If it's a slip-up, I'm not sure that means it isn't a violation," said Catherine Bohigian, legal adviser to Commissioner Kevin Martin. "Do you really need to say the F-word before 10 o' clock?"
But when asked if airing "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan," an interview with mobster John Gotti or the airing of a French documentary that followed New York City firefighters during 9/11, where the word "fuck" was used extensively, would merit a fine, they wavered.
"The answer is, we don't know. These are case specific," said Jon Cody, a legal adviser to Powell. "I just think in this climate you need to make some decisions."
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr..._id=1000491792
Last edited by Astrocloud; 04-26-2004 at 05:07 PM..
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