Congress focuses on television indecency
Fallout from Super Bowl halftime show
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Lawmakers questioned broadcast executives at a congressional hearing Wednesday.
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Lawmakers vow stiffer penalties for broadcast decency violations, but some TV critics say the crackdown will be temporary. CNN's Kathleen Koch reports. (February 11)
CNN's Daryn Kagan and TV critic Ray Richmond debate the impact of the FCC's proposed increase of fines for indecency. (February 11)
The NFL's commissioner Paul Tagliabue says a great Super Bowl was overshadowed by the halftime breast-baring
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Outraged by how salacious programs on radio and network television have become in recent months, U.S. lawmakers vowed Wednesday to look at indecent shows on cable and satellite channels.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain urged cable and satellite companies to offer parents the ability to pick and choose what channels they get so they can protect their children from violence, sex and profanity, an idea that resonated with other lawmakers and regulators.
Federal regulators and lawmakers have sought to sharply increase fines for bad behavior on over-the-air television and radio stations after a rash of incidents, from the exposure of pop singer Janet Jackson's bare breast to foul language on the radio encouraging sexual violence against women.
The concept is "more persuasive than ever in providing parents control over their television sets," McCain, an Arizona Republican, said during a hearing that was called before the Jackson incident.
But lawmakers also heard that federal power to enforce decency standards on subscription cable and satellite service was limited compared to material on the public broadcast airwaves.
"It seems interesting that we say ... if it's on just a higher channel number, which you can get just by clicking your channel changer, we're going to ignore it and not pay attention to it," Sen. John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, said.
"We ought to look at the whole spectrum of what we get over our televisions," he said.
The Federal Communications Commission was inundated with complaints after Jackson's performance at the February 1 halftime show of the National Football League's Super Bowl. All the parties involved, Viacom Inc.'s CBS and MTV networks, as well as the performers and the NFL, apologized for the incident.
Viacom President Mel Karmazin pledged to use technology to briefly delay airing live events to prevent further incidents, but raised a note of caution that taking more drastic action could end live events altogether.
"With an enhanced system in place, some celebrities in fact may believe they can do and say anything based on the assumption that the network will catch the inappropriate-for-broadcast behavior before it airs," he told the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The panel has been holding a series of hearings on the issue and this time decided to focus on the Jackson incident and pending legislation to increase indecency fines.
While Congress and the FCC have proposed sharply boosting fines, FCC commissioners have called for the return of a family hour on prime-time television, tape and audio delay systems to ensure indecent behavior is excised from live events and to consider revoking broadcast licenses for repeat offenders.
"Absolutely the combination of what packages you get and what rights you have to block programming are the right places to look," FCC Chairman Michael Powell told lawmakers. But, "you can't just easily take the broadcast model and roll it over to cable."
McCain said that legislation may be necessary. Powell said the courts have held that cable and satellite companies enjoy free-speech protections more like a newspaper.
The agency recently proposed fining several Clear Channel Communications radio stations for violations and is on the verge of taking action against NBC television stations for an expletive uttered during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards show.
Federal rules bar the airing of obscene material and limits indecent material, often defined as involving sexual organs or activities, to late-night broadcast television and radio.
Karmazin said that increasing fines could put small broadcasters out of business and instead the agency should provide better guidelines for broadcast indecency.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
