Network TV Indecency -- It Existed Long Before Super Bowl Halftime, Says FRC
by Allie Martin
February 18, 2004
(AgapePress) - A senior advisor to the Family Research Council says government scrutiny of network television is long overdue. The networks, he says, must be held accountable for allowing vulgar and obscene programming on the public airwaves.
Last week congressional hearings were held as lawmakers considered legislation that could hike fines as must as ten times what they are now for indecency on television networks. The proposed measure came on the heels of the recent MTV Super Bowl halftime show that featured, among other things, scantily-clad bump-and-grind dancers and, of course, the exposed breast of pop diva Janet Jackson.
Pat Trueman, a senior advisor to the Washington, DC-based Family Research Council, says the entire halftime show at the Super Bowl in Houston was representative of the overall problems on network television.
"It wasn't just that one- or two-second display of Janet Jackson's breast. There was simulated sex, there was simulated S&M [sadomasochistic] material," Trueman explains. "And really what happened here is this: the FCC last year said that the 'f-word' ... was fine on network television so long as it was [used] an expletive, not a verb -- and that set the public off. That set Congress off."
Indeed, says FRC president Tony Perkins, who in the wake of the Super Bowl debacle blamed the FCC's non-responsiveness for such displays. "Over the last several years, evening network television has become off limits for many families," Perkins stated on February 2. "Lack of FCC enforcement of indecency laws has encouraged networks to add more and more sexual incidents, fouler language, and even indecent exposure."
Congress is now considering fines of up to $270,000 per incident of indecency on network television. Trueman believes steep fines would get the attention of broadcasters.
"It's a simple thing to say just don't use the f-word, don't use nudity on network television. You know, you can get that on cable," he says. "If you want to buy your kids Playboy magazine, that's your business. But it's not too much to expect that, on network television, my house is not invaded with this kind of material."
Trueman made his comments on CNN's Crossfire.
