Fcc: Help or Hindrance

A long, long time ago our fore fathers sat down and drafted the most influential document of our lives as Americans, The Constitution. In this historical guideline for a free society the first Amendment deals with what they thought was a main need in our society that did not necessarily exist in other cultures at that time. This main need was free speech. Since this document was put into place, the issue of free speech has been heatedly debated among the common public, big business, and worldwide industries. The government has always been the moderator in cases dealing with free speech, much like when the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) fought diligently to get the government to mandate warning labels on media containing adult material and succeeded. However, in our society nowadays the enemy is the moderator. A government supported agency, the FCC, has violated the right of free speech from U.S. citizens by over-censoring the media along with also hurting American businesses by issuing outrageous fines to supposed "offenders" without solid grounds to do so.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was put into place in 1934 by the government to regulate the airwaves in the U.S. Up until recently it had performed its duties to the needs of the public after careful analysis of each infraction. However, at the Super Bowl in 2004 during the half-time show a wardrobe malfunction, which exposed Janet Jackson's breast, caused the powers that be to crack down on the entertainment industry as a whole. The actual infraction was during a dance routine in which Justin Timberlake touches the chest area of Ms. Jackson and pulls her toward him by using her blouse, however the blouse apparently ripped and exposed her nipple. The response to this obvious accident was completely uncalled for. The FCC fined CBS over a half a million dollars for this accident. Then on Feb. 16, 2005 the House of Representatives passed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. This legislation states that the amount that the FCC can fine broadcasters up to 500,000 per infraction per deviant. For example, Howard Stern was fined personally for something derogatory on his morning radio show. But not only was Stern fined but also Clear Channel the company that broadcasts his show and every affiliate of Clear Channel. These fines prove nothing and also begin to show a very scary thought of censorship throughout America.

On Veteran's day this year, many networks shied away from playing Saving Private Ryan which is usually played uncut on that day in honor of the World War II veterans. In the FCC's definition of what is indecent it states," ....anything described in a patently offensive way, and lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific is considered obscene and indecent." While there is obvious violence and profanity in this movie it can be described anyway else. It's a movie about war how can violence and profanity be edited without keeping the integrity of the creative work as a whole.

"If we put Big Brother in charge of deciding what is art and what is free speech, we would see self- and actual- censorship rise to new and undesirable heights." says Rep. Jan Schakowsky. (CNN 1) Rated - R movies aren't the only programs that broadcasters are getting scared away from playing. The Oscars this year got the worst ratings they ever had in history simply because they were not entertaining and it appeared too pre-programmed. The lack of spontaneity and abundance of predictability just proved that the American public wants something to entertain them and not bore them to tears. Yes, the FCC does rely on viewer complaints but according to Sean P. Means of the Salt Lake Tribune," the complaint process has been hijacked by the Parents Television Council, which is a right wing organization whose members Spam the FCC with complaints through e-mail...... out of the million plus complaints last year, 99.9% were from the PTC." (Means 2) The thought that one group controls what we watch as a nation is a scary one, if our freedom of speech is challenged on network TV unfairly whose to say where it will end. The FCC has made no sign of slowing down, especially with the signing of the Enforcement Act. They are taking new steps to go even further into the rights of citizens.

One of the new advances the FCC has taken is verbally attack the Sunshine Act. In a letter to his fellow commissioners, FCC Chairman Michael Powell announced that he would like to "amend" the Act, which basically states that the public has a right to attend meetings of public bodies and allow the public to watch what our elected officials do with their time. The letter, which was released to all major news companies, stated that," ....the Act is not necessary to the goal of ensuring that Federal agencies