FCC chair seeks TV crack-down on obscene words

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Scripted or not, the use of obscene words on television has pole vaulted to center stage as several congressional committees are examining bills that would prohibit the use of certain dirty words.

In addition, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is asking colleagues on the board to increase penalties for violations.

Long a debate on what’s acceptable on the airwaves, the issue boiled over last fall when the FCC commissioners ruled that the use of a four-letter F-word by U2’s Bono was not obscene because it was used as an adjective, not as a verb.

According to federal regulations, obscene material is banned from the airwaves altogether, while indecent material, viewed as less offensive, is prohibited from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In addition to increased fees, FCC Chairman Michael Powell, is also asking the board to reconsider the Bono ruling.

But Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council, said reconsideration of the original judgment does not go far enough.

“While we welcome the change of spirit on Powell’s part, and the FCC has tip-toed a little closer toward enforcing FCC decency rules by issuing this judgment, it still simply is not enough,” Bozell said in a statement. “The problem is not that Bono uttered the F-word. The problem is that NBC deliberately chose to air it, has never apologized, and even has defended its behavior before the FCC.

“Network executives are not going to stop airing this filth until the FCC gets serious with their decency fines. If the FCC does not fine NBC, the PTC will have no other option but to ask for Congressional action that examines the decency enforcement practices of the FCC.”

Powell hopes to take it a step farther with his proposal to increase the fine for each violation from $27,000 to $270,000. Powell argues that the existing fee is “peanuts” for today’s large media companies.

Powell is not alone in seeking remedies.

The issue will be reviewed in another arena on Jan. 28, when the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing called “Can You Say That on TV? An Examination of the FCC’s Enforcement with Respect to Broadcast Indecency.”

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the subcommittee, said he intends to introduce legislation to help enforce fines and penalties against stations and networks airing indecent material.

“We’re going to be able to ... increase what he’s able to do by at least tenfold,” Upton told Focus on the Family. “When some of this garbage gets uttered in the future, broadcasters in particular, both radio as well as TV, are going to be put on notice that it’s going to come out of their wallets.”

Sacramento Congressman Doug Ose, a Republican, is also sponsoring legislation that would ban seven specific words in all forms, regardless of usage.

Watchdogs making waves
One of the first rounds was fired in mid-December, when Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy for Focus on the Family, called on the FCC to “clean house” in light of the Bono ruling.

“This latest assault on American families is just another indication that the FCC does not take its job seriously,” Minnery said. “Each year, TV broadcasters grow bolder and bolder, but the FCC acts as if nothing is happening. The enforcement bureau has become like Nero, playing his fiddle as Rome burns.”

In the end, supporters of tighter enforcement said it will only transpire with public outcry.

“This is good news, but the battle has just really begun,” Laura Mahaney told Focus on the Family. “We have to continue to have people contacting their congressmen or being involved because that’s what’s going to make a difference—and, believe it or not, the tide is changing. We just need to keep pushing in the right direction.”

If that doesn’t work, Mahaney suggests a dosage of tough love.

“Start yanking their licenses, those radio affiliates or those television stations that air indecent material,” she said. “That license is a privilege, not a right, and they can have those licenses yanked.”

Published by Keener Communications Group, February 2004

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