The FCC losing its balls?
The Wall Street Journal wonders what happened to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin’s vow to get tougher on so-called indecency.
But Mr. Martin, a Republican, has had difficulty achieving a majority among the four sitting commissioners on some indecency complaints before the FCC, prompting some aides to suggest he reduce the backlog by seeking fines or dismissals in a more piecemeal fashion, rather than resolving a large number at once. Mr. Martin has one ally on these issues in Michael Copps, a Democratic commissioner.Two other commissioners, a Republican and a Democrat, generally favor more modest actions, and their unease at handing out big fines and expanding the FCC’s definitions of unacceptable programming has slowed Mr. Martin’s efforts….
Other complaints concerned graphic descriptions on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” of teenage sex acts, which drew thousands of complaints. The FCC is likely to dismiss those complaints, insiders say, because viewers were warned about the nature of the show’s content, and Ms. Winfrey said it was aired to help educate parents. Many of the complaints about the Oprah Winfrey show were from supporters of Mr. Stern, the shock-jock, noting that the show’s language was far more suggestive than some of his shows that have drawn FCC fines.
And there we see the FCC’s essential hypocrisy and perhaps the real reason for the slow-down in finess: They got rid of Stern. Their work is done.
: But, of course, I fear that the FCC will get jealous of Canada, where the government also regulates speech on satellite — and where, in fear of government action, Sirius’ franchisees will not air Stern. I fear the FCC will try to follow course, even if it is unconstitutional in this country.
Tags: Howard_Stern
November 16th, 2005 at 11:46 am
In my humble opinion, the FCC should focus its efforts on the promoting the successful proliferation of networked services. Specifically, they should concentrate on issues that can benefit from third-party arbitration. One such issue is effective spectrum management associated with emerging wireless technologies. The FCC should not assume the role of a moral authority and dictate standards of decency for the rest of America.
November 16th, 2005 at 11:56 am
The FCC won’t crush free speech on satellite radio with indecency fines, unless Congress passes a bill telling them to.
People interested in FCC issues can find articles at:
http://www.speakspeak.org/speak-blog/
November 16th, 2005 at 12:45 pm
I don’t know what that means “won’t air Stern”. On my recent trip to Canada my US Sirius radio worked fine. So they can’t block the signal. Are they going to downlaod a special version of the station line up to the radios when they get “authorized”.
In that case Canadians will just find a way to buy it in the US and get it activiated with the US stations. I know two Canadians who were planning to buy simply because of Stern.
November 16th, 2005 at 12:57 pm
Wha-wha-what!?!?!?
So does this comment:
Mean that the 99% of nuissance complaints that came from complaint factories like PTC and the AFA’s OneMillionAholes get thrown out too?
November 16th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
If you read Robert McChesneys book the problem with the media I think you will find the FFC never had any anyway.
The problem of the media
November 18th, 2005 at 11:14 am
[...] Well, this may explain why FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has been delaying his crackdown on farts. It appears he’ll now have a chance to better stack the FCC deck. Liz Berg on WFMU’s blog reports: Commissioner Abernathy announced that she will be leaving the FCC (PDF) on Dec. 9, 2005. This represents yet another shift in the balance of power and opinion at the commission: earlier this month, the president renominated indecency hound Michael Copps (democrat) for another term, and filled the open republican seat (which was left when Kevin Martin moved up to replace Michael Powell as Chairman) with Deborah Tate, who has yet to demonstrate her positions on key issues. [...]