Hey I subscribe to this mailing list as well. Rare to find heads into the
world affairs as well. Keep on fighting the good fight.
On Mon, 25 Jun 2001, Velanche Stewart wrote:
>
> 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
>
> ----------
>
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