Throw Out the Trash TV, But Not the First Amendment
Looks like I and the good folks at Focus on the Family and the Parents Television Council part ways on this one: Cable Indecency Targeted
Legislation is being discussed that would allow the Federal Communications Commission to have jurisdiction over cable programming.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Congress, which continue to condemn indecency on television, have now set their sights on the cable industry, which provides a steady stream of offensive programming.
The problem is that the FCC controls broadcast television -- channels you could pick up with an antenna -- but not cable networks like MTV, Bravo and ESPN. Still, cable TV enters 85 percent of America's homes, and there are demands to include cable networks under the FCC's decency standards.
Cable industry spokesman Brian Dietz said that is not necessary.
"The cable industry doesn't feel that legislation would be necessary at this point," he said, "because cable has had a longstanding commitment to addressing parents' concerns about what their families see on television."
Filtering technology, he added, gives parents all the control they need to block offensive programming.
But Lara Mahaney, a spokeswoman for the Parents Television Council, said that's not good enough.
"For too long, the cable industry has gotten by with cheating the consumers and also giving them trashy material that they don't want," she said. "Right now, there's a call to Congress, or to at least the cable industry, to offer up packages where families don't have to take programming that they don't want."
One congressman who is listening to the call is Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss. He said he would support such legislation.
"I do think that we have reached a point . . . that has so outraged the country and the Congress that actions are going to be taken," he said. "I hope good legislation will be passed."
There is a huge difference between censorship of broadcast television and censorship of cable television. The public airwaves are just that: public. They have been deemed a public trust since the early days of their commercial use. Placing indecent material on the public airwaves is a lot like openly selling a pornographic magazine in a public park. The First Amendment guarantees the right to sell virtually any type of magazine in a privately-owned bookstore, but the public park belongs to all of us, and is therefore regulated.
The cable industry is more akin to the private bookstore than the public park, though the comparison is not exact. Currently the industry can force subscribers to either pay for channels they do not want or forego service altogether. No bookstore forces you to buy eight books you don't want along with two that you do. Certainly there are grounds for compelling the industry, whose service areas are de facto monopolies, to offer a la carte programming (the ability to purchase only wanted channels). If this cannot be done, the industry should be hauled before Congress and made to explain why.
But to place the cable industry under FCC jurisdiction is playing with fire. God forbid we do so, then one day get an FCC chairman with the sensibilities of the federal judiciary. We could see the Ten Commandments banned from TV as "offensive" content.
Like the bookstore, the cable industry has the First Amendment right to offer drivel and sometimes even outright evil content. We should fight for our right not to be forced to buy it, for a la carte channel sales, but we should not open the Pandora's box of government censorship. Conservatives are supposed to be against government intrusion and regulation, after all. We should strive for free market solutions whenever possible, and this is one instance where a free market, if the law facilitates it, can work.
My beliefs on social issues tend to be a conservative cocktail with a twist of libertarian. Yours may differ, but in any case you can use this
link to provide your opinion to FCC Chairman Michael Powell, and our
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Bonus Link:
For centuries, theologians have debated why God allows the existence of Andy Rooney. Click here to let Andy know what you think of his nasty comments on the most recent edition of "60 Minutes."
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Posted by Tim
at 12:20 AM EST
Updated: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 12:28 AM EST