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Are they kidding? I vaguely remember this episode -- WAT one of my favorite shows partly because it takes on tough stuff -- and it was nothing like you see at all hours day and night on Cable, satellite, etc. I'm surprised they didn't fine them for the one on child porn. It was explicit, although not graphic.
To make broadcast networks follow a different standard seems ridiculous and archaic. But then, that's the FCC.
Quote:
CBS Fined $3.6M for 'Indecent' Programming
$550,000 Slap for Janet Jackson's 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Upheld
By JENNIFER C. KERR, AP
WASHINGTON (March 15) - A government crackdown on indecent programming resulted in a proposed fine of $3.6 million against dozens of CBS stations and affiliates on Wednesday - a record penalty from the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC said an episode of the CBS crime drama "Without a Trace" that aired in December 2004 was indecent. It cited the graphic depiction of "teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy."
CBS said it strongly disagrees with the FCC's finding.
The program "featured an important and socially relevant storyline warning parents to exercise greater supervision of their teenage children. The program was not unduly graphic or explicit," the network said in a statement.
The network can appeal the decision to the FCC. The company has 30 days to ask for reconsideration and provide an explanation as to why the network should not be held liable.
The proposed fine was among decisions from the agency stemming from more than 300,000 complaints it received concerning nearly 50 TV shows broadcast between 2002 and 2005.
Rejecting an appeal by CBS, the FCC also upheld its previous $550,000 fine against 20 of the network's stations for the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl two years ago.
These were the first fines issued under FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, clearing a backlog of investigations into indecency complaints. The commission issued no fines last year.
"The number of complaints received by the commission has risen year after year," said Martin. "I share the concerns of the public - and of parents, in particular - that are voiced in these complaints."
Responding to other complaints, the commission found that Fox Television Network had violated decency standards during the 2003 Billboard Music Awards. During the broadcast, reality-show star Nicole Richie uttered the "F" word and a common vulgarity for excrement.
"Each of these words is among the most offensive words in the English language," the FCC said. But it declined to issue a fine against Fox because at the time of the broadcast existing precedent indicated the commission would not take action against isolated use of expletives, the FCC said.
While in the past it may have been unclear what would result in a fine, the ruling from the FCC appears to put broadcasters on notice that they could face fines for the "S" word.
A 2004 decision from the FCC regarding the "F" word - uttered by rock star Bono during a Golden Globe Awards ceremony - made clear that virtually any use of that expletive was inappropriate.
Martin, a Republican, has long advocated a tough stand against indecency violators. Before becoming chairman last year, he complained in several cases that the agency should be fining broadcasters based on each offensive utterance, not each program. That way, the FCC could find several violations in a program, drawing a bigger fine and sending a stronger message.
Martin is also on record supporting legislation to increase the maximum fine an indecency violation could draw. The current maximum is $32,500 per incident, but some lawmakers have called for boosting the penalty to as high as $500,000.
Federal law and FCC rules ban radio and over-the-air television stations from airing obscene material, such as describing sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, at any time. The rules also bar stations from broadcasting indecent material - references to sex or excretions - between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children might be more likely to be in the audience.
The rules do not apply to cable or satellite.
The agency's proposed fine for "Without a Trace" covers broadcasts aired at 9 p.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones.
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oderint dum metuant (Latin for 'let them hate, so long as they fear').
Well, in truth I'm actually not a total hawk, but I'm not a dove either -- I'm more like an angry pigeon flying over the political arena after a really big meal. -Abba Gav
I hope you are not talking bad about this show....their fans seem rabid.
No. I've heard it's a quality show, but the commercials make it look very violent.
My issue is that you get fined $3.6 million for talking about sex, but there's no problem with gun violence. Show all the shootings and stabbings you want, but don't you dare talk about sex!
With all of the outcry against the FCC and its censorship I wonder what the posters here feel is acceptable and what type of content warrants censoring???
My point- it's difficult to draw the line for what is ok and what is not. But clearly, with respect to public broadcasting, at some threshold censorship ought to be applied . How do you define that threshold?
__________________
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."
-Samuel Langhorne Clemens
I can assure you, WAT is not salacious or lewd. More than most shows, its about people being responsible to family, friends. And I agree that ruling against sexual content (or excrement, for that matter) yet having no rules about the nature and extent of violence in the same time slot, is absurd.
Plus you can SAY a lot about sex, you can blatantly imply or hint at anything, but you can't show a breast or a butt in prime time. It really seems to me that FCC is totally out of touch with 90% of what is on TV, and holding the airwaves to a different standard may have been semi-reasonable before cable and satellite and internet, but now, it's ridiculous.
Quote:
the Parents Television Council, which got supporters to e-mail complaint forms, thinks it is helping. Because the only way for anyone to see the offending minute of television, which would have otherwise disappeared, is to click on the council’s Web site, where the offending scene is posted.
The most archaic part of the ruling, though, is that the $3.6 million is only levied against CBS affiliates in Central and Mountain time zones because they air the last of their prime-time shows at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m., so they can wake up early and do their good, honest Central and Mountainy things. Despite going to bed earlier, for some reason 9 is still considered within the nation’s 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. “safe harbor” period for kids.
It makes sense, then, that the FCC — which rules over things flying free through the airwaves and not by cable, satellite or a printing press — should only be fining people who get their network stations through rabbit ears. So it’s really 14 percent of CBS’ New Year’s Eve underage viewers in the Central and Mountain time zones who were affected. And, seriously, if you’re a teenager in Idaho watching “Without a Trace” with the help of rabbit ears on New Year’s Eve, the original air date, I don’t care how enticed you are by the scene, your odds of getting invited to a sex orgy are not all that strong.
I also watch 24, although it's pretty dull this year. More than just incredible amounts of graphic violence, they show torture -- including of and by the 'hero' -- often as the only way to get anything accomplished.
__________________
oderint dum metuant (Latin for 'let them hate, so long as they fear').
Well, in truth I'm actually not a total hawk, but I'm not a dove either -- I'm more like an angry pigeon flying over the political arena after a really big meal. -Abba Gav
Last edited by AZZenny; March 28th, 2006 at 11:23 AM.
With all of the outcry against the FCC and its censorship I wonder what the posters here feel is acceptable and what type of content warrants censoring???
My point- it's difficult to draw the line for what is ok and what is not. But clearly, with respect to public broadcasting, at some threshold censorship ought to be applied . How do you define that threshold?
Censorship belongs in the home. I don't need anyone else telling me what I shouldn't see or hear. You don't want to watch it, don't turn it on. Worried about what your kids are exposed to, don't own a television. To have small groups of people dictating what is good for the masses based on their puritan ideas is a joke.
Censorship belongs in the home. I don't need anyone else telling me what I shouldn't see or hear. You don't want to watch it, don't turn it on. Worried about what your kids are exposed to, don't own a television. To have small groups of people dictating what is good for the masses based on their puritan ideas is a joke.
So anything goes...
Every known society throughout history has had a code of mores.
Censorship is not about telling you what you can see and hear. It is about telling the producers of programs what they are able to display, in what arena. Content not permitted on broadcast media is readily available in other arenas.
The problem with the "don't want to see it don't turn it on" position is that without restrictions and regulations there is no way for a person to know the content of a program beforehand. Those programs that are expected to be "family safe" may contain content that is not. How would that distinction be made prior to viewing?
Your mistake is in thinking that it is "small groups of people dictating to the masses"... The reverse is closer to reality, the majority restricting the few to the prevalent social more. Just as it has always been...
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-Samuel Langhorne Clemens
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