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Pro-Family Groups Laud FCC's Crackdown on Broadcast Indecency

by Jenni Parker, Ed Thomas and Allie Martin
March 16, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The Federal Communications Commission wants CBS and some of its stations to pay millions in a crackdown on what the federal agency is calling indecent programming. The FCC is proposing a $3.6 million fine against the network and dozens of its affiliates, and family advocates are cheering the Commission on.

The FCC levied the multi-million-dollar penalty yesterday, citing indecent material that aired on CBS between February 2002 and March of last year, including in particular one episode of the CBS show Without a Trace that featured graphic depictions of teenagers participating in a sexual orgy.

Meanwhile, the Commission upheld a previous $550,000 fine against 20 CBS stations for the infamous Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Also, the federal regulators released decisions addressing more than 300,000 citizen complaints regarding indecent, profane or obscene TV broadcasts.

Several pro-family organizations are applauding the moves by the government officials showing that they are willing to hold broadcasters accountable for indecent content and other inappropriate programming. One such group, the Parents Television Council (PTC), commended the FCC's decision to uphold the substantial fine against CBS for the Super Bowl incident and to find that broadcast as well as many others "actionably indecent" and in violation of federal standards.

"Such material does not belong on broadcast television when millions of children are in the viewing audience," PTC executive director Tim Winter noted in a statement yesterday. "The broadcast airwaves are public property and belong to the American people," he observed, "and as such the broadcast industry must abide by community standards of decency" in accordance with well-settled laws affirmed by the Supreme Court.

"Those who violate the public trust are breaking the law and must be punished accordingly," Winter said. He went on to call for the suspension of those CBS employees involved in the re-airing of the Without a Trace episode, which had already generated widespread public outcry the first time it was broadcast.

AFA: Pro-Family Protest is Making a Difference
Other groups have commended the FCC for its responsiveness to the public's complaints, as embodied in Chairman Kevin J. Martin's statement of his belief that "the Commission has a legal responsibility to respond to [those complaints] and resolve them in a consistent and effective manner."

Martin said the recent decisions, individually and collectively, "demonstrate the Commission's continued commitment to enforcing the law prohibiting the airing of obscene, indecent, and profane material." Representatives of the American Family Association (AFA) are viewing the Commission's actions and statement as a long overdue vindication of pro-family citizens' persistent protest of broadcast indecency.

AFA's Kathryn Hooks describes the FCC decisions as "a direct result" of pro-family viewers who took action by lodging complaints with the Commission. "We applaud these concerned citizens and want to encourage them to continue to file complaints when they see broadcast indecency occurring," she says, "because those actions are making a difference.'

AFA special projects director Randy Sharp calls the FCC fines against indecency standards violators "a good first step in reminding them of their duty to the viewing public." CBS and other networks "have an obligation to produce programs that do not violate broadcast laws," he asserts.

Many of the complaints that prompted the recent FCC decisions came from supporters of the AFA-sponsored action websites OneMillionMoms.com and OneMillionDads.com. Sharp says those sites will continue to monitor network television and equip parents to file formal complaints with the federal agency against their local stations upon encountering offensive content on the public airwaves.

Meanwhile, the AFA spokesman says his organization will continue to anticipate FCC action on complaints that are still pending. However, he adds that the pro-family group agrees with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps in thinking that license revocation is the most effective means of stemming the tide of increasing sex and profanity on television.

CWA Cheers FCC's Charge, Boos Capitol Hill's Standstill
But while Sharp sees the fines against CBS and other recent commission decisions as "a good first step," Lanier Swann, director of government relations for Concerned Women for America, is calling the recent FCC actions "a huge leap in the right direction."

Swann says the Commission, by issuing these fines, has sent a loud message to TV executives that broadcast indecency will not be tolerated under the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's watch. "Consumers should take note that complaints will no longer fall on deaf ears," she says.

"The FCC has proven that it is willing to take a stand for families and refuse to allow broadcasters to go unpunished for violating decency standards," the CWA spokeswoman continues. "The television moguls behind this offensive programming are finally being held responsible and receiving a punishment that fits the crime."

But while the news of the commissioners' recent decisions is definite progress, Swann says the amount of each fine shows why Congress still needs to pass strong indecency legislation. "Current fine levels are simply too low," she contends.

That is why CWA is urging Senate leadership to pass HR 310, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which Swann says the Senate has ignored for over a year. The pro-family group's government relations director insists there is no reason to delay final passage of this legislation, which she asserts will "remind Hollywood that indecent entertainment will cost them, and it will cost them dearly."

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(My Note:  YEAH!!!! - It's about time!