Decency Advocate Says Pro-Family Pressure Forced FCC Crackdown
by By Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
February 5, 2004
(AgapePress) - Pressure works -- that's the conclusion of one conservative activist in the wake of an announcement from the FCC that it plans to fine a major broadcaster three quarters of a million dollars for airing indecent programs.Pat Trueman of the Family Research Council was not expecting the huge fine proposed against Clear Channel Communications. "The FCC has been very weak in enforcing indecency laws," he says, "but this proposed fine is very substantial and will make a major difference in how stations treat indecency."
The pro-family consultant says he hopes the recent decision against Clear Channel is just the beginning. "I think the FCC, because of pro-family organizations -- the American Family Association, Family Research Council and others -- is under great pressure. People are not letting up in their criticism of the Federal Communications Commission because they've just had it," Trueman says.
In addition to the proposed Clear Channel forfeiture, the FCC has also recently issued a notice of liability for forfeiture against Young Broadcasting of San Francisco, Inc., for its apparent willful broadcast of indecent material during a morning television news show. The show featured an interview of a group of stage performers, who appeared wearing capes under which they were otherwise naked. During the interview, one of the men exposed himself on camera.
The FCC investigated the incident and concluded that the material, although fleeting, was graphic, explicit, and intended to shock and titillate viewers. The agency proposed the statutory maximum fine of $27,500 for Young Broadcasting's failure to foresee and take adequate precautions against such an occurrence. And since that FCC action, the more recent case of televised indecent exposure during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show has commissioners considering whether it may be time to impose more serious penalties than monetary fines -- revocation of broadcast licenses, for instance.
Trueman says he is glad to see the FCC finally getting tough on indecency standard violators. He contends that it is pressure from groups such as the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and the Parents Television Council that has forced the commission to take a more forceful stance against indecency.
