One activist group decides what we see
Who is the PTC? They're the group primarily responsible for the deluge of complaints about broadcast indecency in the last couple of years. Readers of the Drudge Report probably already saw this link today. Mediaweek reports that 99.9% of indecency complaints filed with the FCC this year were from ONE group, the Parents Television Council (PTC). In other words, one activist group is having an enormous influence on what you can view and hear on the public airways. The article quotes PTC spokeswoman Lara Mahaney:
“Why does it matter how the complaints come? If the networks haven’t done anything illegal, if they haven’t done anything indecent, why do they care what we say?”
Republican commissioner Kathleen Abernathy backed her up, noting "that the agency does not let the number or the sources of complaints determine its indecency findings. 'As long as you’re following precedents and the law, it shouldn’t matter,' Abernathy told Mediaweek."
That sounds somewhat reasonable, right? Wrong. As I noted in a previous entry in this blog, local broadcasters concerned about whether showing "Saving Private Ryan" uneditted on Veteran's Day called to ask the FCC if it would be okay. The FCC said, to paraphrase, "we can't tell you. ha ha ha ha ha ha." Okay, maybe without the laughter, but they did say they couldn't tell them because that would be censorship, but would pursue it after the broadcast if they got complaints. So the FCC themselves has said that the presence of complaints determines whether or not they enforce "precedents and the law".
Moreover, the fact is, as the Mediaweek article linked above states, that the FCC uses the number of complaints lodged as part of their argument during any litigation that follows. "For example, the agency on Oct. 12, in proposing fines of nearly $1.2 million against Fox Broadcasting and its affiliates, said it received 159 complaints against Married by America, which featured strippers partly obscured by pixilation."
The FCC and the PTC would have us believe that the law is the key. The source of the complaints and thus the number of complaints (because many complaints from one source clearly shouldn't carry as much weight) is largely irrelevent. Yet we know from the FCC's own actions that that's bullshit. The number of complaints absolutely matters, and appears to be the primary factor, in when and what action the FCC takes. They won't even tell networks whether something is indecent or not until after it's broadcast and they receive complaints!
The system is broken when one activist group can have so much impact. The small minority that is the PTC is guilty of imposing their Puritanical views on the rest of us. Now that's obscene.
“Why does it matter how the complaints come? If the networks haven’t done anything illegal, if they haven’t done anything indecent, why do they care what we say?”
Republican commissioner Kathleen Abernathy backed her up, noting "that the agency does not let the number or the sources of complaints determine its indecency findings. 'As long as you’re following precedents and the law, it shouldn’t matter,' Abernathy told Mediaweek."
That sounds somewhat reasonable, right? Wrong. As I noted in a previous entry in this blog, local broadcasters concerned about whether showing "Saving Private Ryan" uneditted on Veteran's Day called to ask the FCC if it would be okay. The FCC said, to paraphrase, "we can't tell you. ha ha ha ha ha ha." Okay, maybe without the laughter, but they did say they couldn't tell them because that would be censorship, but would pursue it after the broadcast if they got complaints. So the FCC themselves has said that the presence of complaints determines whether or not they enforce "precedents and the law".
Moreover, the fact is, as the Mediaweek article linked above states, that the FCC uses the number of complaints lodged as part of their argument during any litigation that follows. "For example, the agency on Oct. 12, in proposing fines of nearly $1.2 million against Fox Broadcasting and its affiliates, said it received 159 complaints against Married by America, which featured strippers partly obscured by pixilation."
The FCC and the PTC would have us believe that the law is the key. The source of the complaints and thus the number of complaints (because many complaints from one source clearly shouldn't carry as much weight) is largely irrelevent. Yet we know from the FCC's own actions that that's bullshit. The number of complaints absolutely matters, and appears to be the primary factor, in when and what action the FCC takes. They won't even tell networks whether something is indecent or not until after it's broadcast and they receive complaints!
The system is broken when one activist group can have so much impact. The small minority that is the PTC is guilty of imposing their Puritanical views on the rest of us. Now that's obscene.
posted by Patrick at
10:36 AM
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