Decency Advocates Urge Higher Fines for Offending Broadcasters
by Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
October 14, 2004
(AgapePress) - As pro-family leaders prompt citizens to keep pressure on U.S. lawmakers about the issue of decency on the public airwaves, one concerned spokeswoman is calling attention to a little-known factor in the debate over fines for broadcast indecency standards violators.This week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed penalties of $1.2 million against 169 Fox television stations for their broadcast of a so-called reality TV show that depicted overtly sexual content. In response, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council commented that, although some networks may "cry foul" about such fines, the offending broadcasters have brought these penalties on themselves.
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Tony Perkins |
Perkins says it is a shame the FCC has to police the public airways, but "when radio and television networks reject basic standards of decency, there is little alternative." However, the FRC president notes that this most recent fine is "still just a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars broadcast networks receive in advertisement revenue."The FRC is advising pro-family citizens of an effort that is under way in the hopes of giving the FCC more power to enforce decency standards. Perkins notes that when Congress returns after the November election, an opportunity exists for lawmakers to attach broadcast decency language to appropriations bills that will be before the legislature.
The FRC is asking people to contact their representatives and encourage them to support an amendment to a likely appropriations omnibus that would sharply increase penalties for indecency in broadcasting, possibly raising fines for violations on the public airways by tenfold.
For those who wonder why such an increase is warranted, Jan LaRue of Concerned Women for America has an answer. She contends it has to do with how media companies deal with fines for incidences of broadcast indecency -- a key fact that she says neither the U.S. government nor broadcasters want American families to know.
Jan LaRue | |
"What they actually do is to ignore the fines," LaRue says, "because they know that, when the fine is too small, the Department of Justice doesn't even enforce its payment, because it costs them more to do so than the amount they'd collect in the fine."The CWA spokeswoman feels the government's current system of punishing indecent broadcasters is almost laughable and lacks sufficient weight to make a real difference to major companies. "What we're having here is a lot of form and no substance," she says, "and therefore there's no real deterrent to broadcast indecency violations."
LaRue feels increasing fines for such violations by ten times the current amount will help solve this problem and clean up broadcasts. By making the penalties large enough to sting even the media giants, she believes offending broadcasters will be forced to change their tune and their content.
