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Congress Considers Imposing New Broadcast Standards

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Continuing outrage over the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "Super Bowl" half time show has propelled pending legislation on broadcast indecency standards to the front burner. Committees in both houses of congress met last week to continue the debate on the subject. The Senate committee is chaired by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) while the House committee is chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich).

Both committees are looking to increase fines tenfold from the current $27,000 per violation to $270,000 per violation. Another proposal under consideration is to increase the likelihood that local television stations would lose their broadcast license if they broadcast indecent programming. The final legislation, to be worked out in committee and voted on by both houses of congress, may even contain a return to a ban on violent programming during the hours when children are most likely to be watching.

The battle over defining nationwide broadcast indecency standards will be hard fought. Many parental and family watchdog groups want congress to instill a standard in keeping with "traditional family values." First amendment and industry watchdog groups counter that it is a free speech issue and that the broadcasting industry already offers a rating standard to help viewers determine whether or not a program may be suitable for their viewing.

The demand for programming restrictions is high, however, particularly in this election year. Said FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, "If I were an industry leader, I might want to clean up my own act instead of inviting what they see as the heavy hand of government go get involved." He wasn't just speaking about over the air broadcasters either. Added Copps, "I don't think the cable industry should presume they are immune from responsibility."

For more information on these congressional hearings please see http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/1...

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