Looks as if we are getting some heavyweight assistance.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [FAIR-L] The FCC, Radio & Censorship: Defining Decency
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 17:33:10 -0400
From: FAIR-L@FAIR.ORG
Reply-To: fair-l-request@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
To: FAIR-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT:
The FCC, Radio & Censorship: Defining Decency
June 25, 2001
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently fined a community
radio
station for airing a political rap song that attacks sexual exploitation
and
degrading lyrics in popular music.
On May 17, the FCC issued a $7,000 fine to Portland, Oregon's KBOO, a
listener-sponsored station, charging that Sarah Jones' "Your Revolution"
violated the Commission's decency standards, which were revised in
April.
The song, which challenges the sexualization of women in rap, asserts
that
"your revolution will not happen between these thighs."
The FCC ruled that "Your Revolution" contained "unmistakable patently
offensive sexual references" that "appear to be designed to pander and
shock." This ruling came after the FCC issued an order, nearly seven
years
in the making, to "provide guidance to broadcast licensees regarding
compliance with the Commission's indecency regulations."
The FCC's indecency rules define indecent speech as "language that, in
context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured
by
contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or
excretory activities or organs."
Far from clarifying the FCC guidelines, the Jones case reveals how
unqualified the FCC is to determine the bounds of decency. Much of what
might be considered "indecent" in the song are references to the sexism
in
the songs Jones is criticizing.
The Jones case received less attention than the FCC's June 1 decision to
impose a fine-- also $7,000-- on commercial radio station KKMG in
Colorado
Springs, Colorado for airing an edited version of "The Real Slim Shady,"
a
song by rap artist Eminem. The FCC determined that the song violated its
indecency standards, despite the fact that expletives had been bleeped
out
or removed. Ironically, "The Real Slim Shady" also includes an
anti-censorship message, pointing out what Eminem sees as double
standards
about what kinds of speech are considered acceptable in popular culture.
The FCC's new "get tough" policy stands in sharp contrast to Powell's
earlier statements about indecency. As Salon pointed out (6/13/01),
Powell
expressed skepticism about taking action on decency at his first press
conference as FCC chair: "I don't want the government as my nanny. I
still
have never understood why something as simple as turning it off is not
part
of the answer." His changed may be due to pressure from conservative
groups.
''This is probably a result of pressure from this organization,"
Morality in
Media's Paul McGeady said of the Eminem decision (Village Voice,
6/19/01).
While cracking down on "indecency," the FCC's interest in regulating
corporate control of the public airwaves seems to be at an all-time low.
FCC
Chair Michael Powell has advocated a deregulatory strategy that would
likely
remove the remaining legal limits on media consolidation.
By penalizing KBOO, the government is punishing an attempt to respond to
offensive speech with more speech. Sarah Jones' critique is likely to
be a
more effective response than censorship to the cultural violence and
misogyny represented by Eminem-- but if the FCC fails to uphold its
mandate
of maintaining a diversity of voices on the public airwaves, there will
be
fewer and fewer places where such a critique is likely to be heard.
ACTION: Please contact the Federal Communications Commission about its
attempts to define "decency" for the public. You might encourage the FCC
to
focus its attention on media consolidation instead, which has a much
broader
and more lasting impact on the content of the nation's airwaves.
CONTACT:
Michael Powell, FCC Chair
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St. S.W.
Washington, DC 20554
mailto:mpowell@fcc.gov
Phone: 1-888-225-5322
Fax: 1-202-418-0232
For more background on the Jones case, please read:
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0125/lee.shtml
----------
Feel free to respond to FAIR ( fair@fair.org ). We can't reply to
everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate
documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies
of
your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses,
to us
at: fair@fair.org .
FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the
Fox
News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 7 pm
and
Sundays at 11 am (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings.
FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 130
stations in
the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit
http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html .
Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra!
For more information, go to:
http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993.
FAIR's INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: FAIR accepts internship applications for its
New
York office on a rolling basis. For more information, see:
http://www.fair.org/internships.html
You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site: http://www.fair.org , or by
sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU . Our subscriber list is kept
confidential.
You may leave the list at any time-- just send a message with "SIGNOFF
FAIR-L" in the body to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU .
FAIR
(212) 633-6700
http://www.fair.org/
E-mail: fair@fair.org
list administrators: FAIR-L-request@american.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jun 26 2001 - 02:47:18 CEST