PTC Blasts FCC Ruling Exempting News Broadcasts From Indecency Laws
by Jeff Johnson
November 9, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The Federal Communications Commission issued two rulings this week that are troubling pro-family advocates. The FCC determined that a profane word aired during a live television news interview does not constitute indecency, even though the same word would be considered indecent if broadcast during an entertainment program. Dan Isett with the Parents Television Council (PTC) says the federal commissioners' inconsistency is disturbing. "They make the case, first, that they're not creating a so-called news exemptions to indecency regulation, and then [they] line out exactly how they're creating a news exemption for indecency regulation," he says.
Isett is chiding the commissioners for claiming not to create a such an exemption but, in the same breath, laying out the parameters under which profanity would not be subject to FCC scrutiny if uttered during a news presentation. And what makes the ruling even worse, he notes, is that it would allow network executives to determine which broadcasts constitute bona fide news programs.
"That can mean Oprah Winfrey, that could mean The Tonight Show -- anything that could be remotely construed as news is conceivably open season now," Isett says. He is convinced there is little hope that broadcasters will refrain from abusing the newly created "news exemption."
Unfortunately, the PTC spokesman points out, broadcasters all too often have not acted in good faith when it comes to issues of media indecency. "And so, it's reasonable to assume that many broadcasters will attempt to push the envelope here," he says.
The PTC is also protesting an FCC decision not to find broadcasts of the police drama NYPD Blue indecent on procedural grounds. The commission claims there was only one complaint filed against the show in 2003, and that complaint was erroneous.
However, Isett notes that the PTC has copies of 98 complaints filed by citizens from 28 different states in 2003. He says the pro-family media watchdog group has submitted copies of those complaints to the FCC.
Jeff Johnson, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
