Most networks skipped over the story of their own corporate advocacy
of broadcast profanity Tuesday night when the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals shredded the FCC's broadcast decency regulation. (All the major
broadcast networks signed on, with Fox in the lead). NBC's Brian
Williams offered 94 words, but erred in claiming "When a curse word has
slipped out in the past, the FCC has imposed heavy fines on networks."
There were no fines for NBC when Bono said "f-ing brilliant" at the
2004 Golden Globes, nor were their fines for Fox when Cher and Nicole
Richie for profanity at (respectively) the 2002 and 2003 Billboard
Music Awards.
ABC and CBS aired nothing. Fox News had no story in the transcripts
offered to Nexis for searching. Fox's corporate brethren at The Wall
Street Journal had a story, but reporters Amy Schatz and Jess Bravin [1]
wrote a 727-word article with absolutely zero space for critics of the
judges' decision (including the Brent Bozell-founded Parents Television
Council).
The story did make explicit that Fox "led the case against the FCC
and that "Fox is a division of News Corp., which also owns The Wall
Street Journal."
Other newspapers offered small scraps for anti-profanity groups. The Washington Post's front-page story by Cecelia Kang [2] offered 50 words out of 771, in paragraph eight:
The Parents Television Council called the decision a "slap in the face," and Concerned Women for America, an advocacy group for indecency rules, urged the agency to appeal, lest broadcast television be open to the sexually explicit content and language of cable programs such as "The Sopranos" and "True Blood."
The New York Times story by Edward Wyatt [3] put the anti-profanity spokesman in the very last paragraph (of a 17-paragraph story), with just 75 words out of 940:
Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, said that while the court's decision was troubling, it also emphasized the need for clarity about broadcast standards. ''It's of concern because the F.C.C. has been a critical protector of children's interests when it comes to media,'' he said, adding that he expects that the commission will try to construct a more targeted approach to keeping indecency off the airwaves at times when children are likely to be watching.
National Public Radio reported the story on Tuesday night's All Things Considered [4]
by getting a rundown and analysis of the court case from legal reporter
Nina Totenberg, but she offered zero reaction to the decision from
anti-profanity groups. But on Tuesday's Morning Edition [5],
NPR offered another story on FCC regulatory policy - on the proposed
NBC-Comcast merger - and NPR found air time for several critics gainst
the media companies on the antitrust front. (And Totenberg did a story
in that program on the Supreme Court year in review [6], with former Totenberg intern Tom Goldstein insisting there are not really any liberals on the court.)
The networks are obviously terrible at covering themselves when they
were brazen enough to go to court and argue that they should have the
right to broadcast profanities of any kind at any time of the day. That
is the effect of the 2nd Circuit's decision. At the very least, they
ought to be willing to air critics of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (and CW,
if anyone cares). Censoring the story and the dissenters is a cowardly
act. Remember this the next time they bray about the "public's right to
know."
-Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.