please write Congress not to increase fines for broadcast indecency

[Eric J in MN]

Congress is considering increasing fines for broadcast-indecency to $500,000 per incident.

This would allow the FCC to destroy any radio personality who says something they don't like. The balance between preventing indecency and freedom-of-speech will be destroyed if fines are increased.

Please write your Congressperson and both your Senators:
"Please do NOT increase fines for broadcast indecency."

A better solution is to make shows intended for adults periodically say, "This show is for adults."

Anyway, please write Congress.

You can find your Congressperson and Senators' official websites by typing their names into a search-engine like google.com, and then find a form or email-address there.

If you don't know the names of your Congressperson or Senators, use:
http://www.vote-smart.org

[KharmaTrain]

1. We Need Massive Ownership Rule Changes

First, this latest FCC ruse is the equivelent of letting gun manufacturers off the hook for product liability. Stern or any personality could be fined, but his boss, or the company that carries his program avoids any action. This would surely destroy free speech (especially since the concept of "community standards" is so vague) that "indecency" would be extended to "words that incite"...and create a crazy-quilt of regulations that would tie up the courts for years to come.

What is needed is a complete revision of the FCC and then re-opening Ownership regulation rules...rolling back some of the '96 Dereg chances on how many properties a company can own per market, committments to local programming as the first priority of retaining their license and making license challenges not only realistic, but viable...the current procedure (no station has been successfully challenged since the 80's) is so costly it's not even worth investigating.

Eric, I strongly suggest people writing their Congressperson with their feelings about the current FCC actions and ownership laws. There are even Repugnicans, surprise surprise, who aren't happy with this latest witch hunt and the power of the large corporations. In the past I've posted revisions I've felt would be a big improvement and would welcome a discussion in the Media forum on this topic sometime.

Hopefully the large corporates have over-reached and there are lots of exciting things happening in broadcasting's future...the time is now to start organizing and shaping its future. This is a page from the GOOP handbook from 20 years ago that has served them well, it's time we took our airwaves back.

[Eric J in MN]

2. I agree that people should also ask Congress to limit the

I agree that people should also ask Congress to limit the number of radio stations a company can own, for example, to 100 per company.

However, Congress definitely won't do that anytime soon.

There is some hope that this awful plan to increase fines for each "indecency" incident to $500,000 won't pass the full House and full Senate.

Therefore, this month, I think it's more important for people to ask Congress not to pass the indecency-fine increase.

[KharmaTrain]

4. A Little Clarification

First, the ownership rules are supposedly based on market-size, not the number of overall stations. Companies like Clear Channel are not only ignoring this law...they still have many properties they were supposed to divest but have gotten extensions that permit them to own more in some market than they should. Also, through Limited Marketing Arangements (LMAs) they can control stations they don't outright own. Lately they've been "harvesting" stations through shell or third-party operators, in anticipation of the next wave of FCC deregulation that almost went through last year. Actually the changes have passed the commission, but are currently under review...sorta like football instant replay. If the FCC finally decides, it can roll back the changes, in the meantime those rule changes that everyone was in such an uproar about last year is still going ahead.

Also, the Senate has precious little to do with broadcast law or regulation. All the power is in the House...not a good thing. For years Billy Tauzin (whose about to bolt for a cozy lobbyist gig) has been in the pockets of the large broadcast corporations...especially Hicks and Clear Channel...and holds a lot of sway when votes come down to the House floor. And that's the problem...while an overwhelming number of people don't want more broadcast deregulation, it's moving ahead as the big corporations know they have the House floor votes and a majority on the FCC.

Again, this new increase in fines is a farce. One factor that is rarely mentioned is how rare it is that a fine actually is collected or any lasting damage is caused by it. Yes, Stern has been fined 1.7 million in the past (I think that's the figure he's used)...but that's not how much was ever paid or how those fines rank into proportion of the revenues he and his corporate owners make.

Going after the individual is the real scary thing here. Infinity can swallow a $500k fine like chump change...a personality, especially in a medium or small market would be financially ruined and his/her career destroyed. Yes, this we must fight and now.

Cheers

[Eric J in MN]

5. Congress can't increase fines to $500,000 without both the House and

Congress can't increase fines to $500,000 for indecency without both the House and the Senate voting for it.

We should write our Congresspersons and our Senators.

[saltpoint]

3. Good idea.

Will do.

[Eric J in MN]

6. thanks (nt)

nt