U.S. House Passes Tough Broadcast Indecency Bill
Jun 12th, 2006 • Posted in: NewsWASHINGTON
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly lastweek in favor of a bill that would multiply by a factor of ten the top finesbroadcasters would pay for airing indecency.
By a 379-to-35 vote, the House cleared the way for PresidentBush, who has said he supports the measure, to sign it into law, the tradejournal MediaWeek reported. The bill originated in the Senate.
The new top fine will be $325,000 for each indecent act,according to a report from MSNBC.
Broadcast standards came sharply into national focus duringthe halftime show of the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast on CBS, when a"wardrobe malfunction" resulted in an unexpected (at least forviewers) overexposure of singer Janet Jackson’s breast.
While the measure sailed through Congress and has beenwelcomed by the Federal Communications Commission, it has its critics.
"What is at stake here is freedom of speech and whetherit will be nibbled to death by election-minded politicians and self-righteousPietists," Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) told the industry publication BillboardRadio Monitor.
Ackerman noted that after the Super Bowl halftime incident, several ABCaffiliates refused to air the respected war movie "Saving PrivateRyan" because of some swear words in the dialogue.
The Poynter Institute, a media research organization, notedthat a large percentage of obscenity complaints filed by the FCC come viaemails from organized activist groups.
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