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Broadcasters Win Appeal Of FCC's Profanity Ruling
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Critics of the FCC crackdown applauded yesterday's ruling.
"We are very pleased with the court's decision and continue to believe that government regulation of content serves no purpose other than to chill artistic expression in violation of the First Amendment," Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said in a statement. "Viewers should be allowed to determine for themselves and their families, through the many parental control technologies available, what is appropriate viewing for their home."
In a statement, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a public-interest group specializing in the media, said: "It's a shame that citizens and broadcasters had to seek protection from the courts, but it is very reassuring to know that one branch of the government can rise above demagogy."
The Parents Television Council, which has sent hundreds of thousands of indecency complaints to the FCC in recent years, criticized the ruling. The group's president, Tim Winter, said in a statement that "a court in New York City has cleared the way for television networks to use the f-word and s-word in front of children at any time of the day."
The FCC forbids radio and television broadcast material that is sexual or excretory in nature from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., when children are most likely to be in the audience.
In 2006, Congress answered the FCC's request to up the maximum indecency fine, raising it to $325,000 from $32,500. The rules apply only to AM- and FM-band radio programs and over-the-air broadcast television. Cable and satellite television and radio channels are outside the FCC's jurisdiction, but the agency recently sent a report to Congress saying it could pass laws enabling the FCC to regulate violent content on cable and satellite television.
The culture war over indecency on television began to simmer in 2003 after U2's lead singer, Bono, uttered the f-word during a live awards show on NBC. The FCC initially ruled that the incident was not indecent because Bono did not use the word to describe sexual intercourse.
Lawmakers and parents groups responded quickly, saying the FCC had tacitly approved use of the f-word on television. Michael K. Powell, who then was chairman of the FCC, urged the agency to reverse its decision, and it did, effectively putting the expletive off-limits.
The debate boiled over in February 2004, during the Super Bowl halftime show on CBS, after singer Janet Jackson's right breast was briefly exposed, causing a brief national tempest.
Powell launched an indecency investigation the next day. The agency quickly found that the broadcast violated the FCC's statutes and fined 20 CBS stations $550,000. CBS has appealed the decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia. The court has scheduled oral arguments in the case for September.
