FCC and indecency
This ruling just came in…NPR is covering it on news magazines this evening, and probably more tomorrow. This is a big deal for all broadcasters. For a station like NCPR, it has made it difficult to play some music and cultural material in which one of the “bad” words was imbedded; ditto for documentaries and news clips containing those words. At NCPR, we were not looking for the right to use “bad” words gratuitously, but we didn’t want to face massive fines for playing material within which those words occurred naturally.
Court strikes down FCC indecency rules.
The U.S. Court of Appeals today struck down the FCC’s indecency policies, ruling they’re “unconstitutionally vague” and are “creating a chilling effect” on broadcasters who have no way of knowing what the agency will find offensive. The decision isn’t yet in effect, which means stations must continue to live by the FCC’s rules.
The three-judge panel left little room for interpretation. “By prohibiting all ‘patently offensive’ references to sex, sexual organs and excretion without giving adequate guidance as to what ‘patently offensive’ means, the FCC effectively chills speech, because broadcasters have no way of knowing what the FCC will find offensive,” the decision reads.
The case was centered on a fight over whether the FCC could fine stations for unexpected violations – so-called fleeting violations. It was brought by Fox Television which was hit for several award show airings of the f-word. “We are extremely pleased with the decision handed down today by the Second Circuit,” Fox TV says in a statement. “We have always felt that the government’s position on fleeting expletives was unconstitutional.”
(From “Radio Ink”)
