FCC Officials Chastise Broadcasters -- and Agency's Own Lax Enforcement of Standards

by Jody Brown and Rusty Pugh
April 1, 2004

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(AgapePress) - The nation's radio and television broadcasters heard from the FCC on Wednesday that if they leave it up to the government to set strict standards for broadcast decency, they won't like the results. One FCC commissioner told them he's ready to lower the boom so they will take the indecency laws more seriously.

Members of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) gathered in Washington, DC, yesterday to address issues surrounding responsible program content. The issues of indecency and the lax enforcement of decency laws that have been on the books for decades have been brought to the forefront in the nation's capital primarily because of the half-time debacle at this year's Super Bowl.

But FCC Commissioner Michael Copps told the NAB Summit on Responsible Programming that the Super Bowl cannot be blamed for what he calls the media's "race to the bottom" on the airwaves.

"One incident seldom sparks a revolution, and the seeds of this particular revolution have been building -- and have been painfully obvious -- for a long, long time," Copps said.

The commissioner, who took his position at the FCC in May 2001, cited two causes for the downward slide in program content on both television and radio. The first, he said, is that some in the industry simply chose to "push the envelope too far." But they are not solely to blame, Copps said, pointing the finger basically at himself and his fellow FCC commissioners.

"The other reason -- every bit as important -- is that the regulatory commission charged with keeping this race from happening abdicated its enforcement responsibilities and thereby created a climate wherein indecency could flourish," he said.

"If the agency charged with putting the brakes on has no credibility with those who are programming indecency ... is it any wonder that the envelope gets pushed farther and father out?" he asked.

According to Copps, the FCC -- which he says has a legal mandate to protect children from "indecent, profane, and obscene programming" -- has long been lax in enforcing the laws. "We weren't even talking the talk most of the time, leave alone walking the walk," he told the NAB.

But Copps is optimistic that is about to change, and said he plans to press his colleagues to "get on with the job of enforcing the [indecency] statute, using all the ammunition already in our armory." For him, that means assessing fines that go beyond the normal costs of doing business and "sending some of the more outrageous cases to administrative hearings for possible license revocation."

In summary, Copps said the FCC needs to make enforcement credible enough so industry "will do what it should have been doing all along" -- that is, take more responsibility for what is broadcast.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell

Powell to NAB: 'Police Yourselves'
Echoing much of what Copps told the gathering of broadcasters -- albeit not quite as fervently -- FCC Chairman Michael Powell told the NAB that during these "challenging times" for the broadcast industry, it is difficult for the agency to balance society's moral and cultural values with its desire to protect free speech from government intrusion.

"Some argue passionately that we should have no such [indecency] laws out of respect for the First Amendment," he stated, "and others argue with equal gumption that we should draw even more stringent limits." But escalating complaints from the public, he says, have highlighted the fact that the media is no longer just "playing close to the line" but "outright leaping past the line and, in fact, daring the audience and daring the government to do anything about it."

Powell reminded the broadcasters of their tradition of "serving the public interest" -- and for that reason, encouraged them protect their own commercial viability by policing themselves.

"I have heard some of you call for an FCC rulemaking to create more 'clarity' as to what is prohibited. I want to warn you that this is unwise," the FCC chairman said. "You do not want to ask the government to write a 'Red Book' of Dos and Don'ts."

He told the NAB members it would be in their best defense if they were to develop and adopt a new voluntary code to guide their actions. "I believe you can create such best practices and guidelines, consistent with the law," he said. "It would be in your interest to do so."

Change Needed?
Meanwhile, one pro-family activist who has battled broadcast indecency for years says in order for real progress to be made in cleaning up the nation's airwaves, there needs to be a change in leadership at the FCC. Phil Burress of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values says FCC Chairman Michael Powell needs to step down.

"He is not giving very good leadership at all," the CCV leader says. "In fact, when we met with him last summer, he pretty much ignored our request to crack down on indecent broadcasting."

According to Burress, Powell remained non-committal until recently. "It wasn't until Janet Jackson [and the Super Bowl half-time incident] that he decided that he needed to get on board -- but I'm not sure that his heart is in the right place.

"We need him to step down, because he is the one that is holding up a full-blown investigation and prosecution of indecency standards on the networks today," Burress says.

Citizens for Community Values met recently with FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Kevin Martin. Burress says he believes they are willing to make real changes.