FCC and Dirty Words...Redux

 

 

 

(May 04, 2009)

 

Last month the Supreme Court upheld its 1975 ruling that gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the legal authority to ban so-called dirty words from the airwaves and the power to levy fines against radio and television stations that violated the standard. This latest action follows broadcasts in 2003 in which Bono, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie during live television broadcasts (on separate occasions) uttered words that the FCC claimed were indecent.

When I began my broadcast career nearly 40 years ago, journalists used a seven-second delay for live broadcasts to give the control board operator time to “bleep” language considered either obscene, inflammatory or libelous.

The color of colloquial language and nature of public discourse may have deteriorated during the decades, but the technology to prevent their “accidental” broadcast has not.

The FCC certainly is empowered to regulate and supervise broadcast stations that, afterall, are granted a license to use (not own) the airwaves for the public’s “interest, convenience or necessity.” Whether this FCC mandate should continue is a question for the Congress and Supreme Court to decide at a future date.

Meanwhile, broadcasters should stop worrying about whether this latest Supreme Court decision imposes any new worries or constraints on their First Amendment rights. It doesn’t. Just keep your finger on that delay button.

Steve Coon (Ames, Iowa)