COMMENTARY | The United States Supreme Court met with broadcasters on January 10, 2012 to discuss the viability of the current Federal Communications Commission’s decency regulations. The broadcasters view the regulations as being too vague in description and believe they infringe on First Amendment rights. The FCC defines indecency on their website by saying “language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities.” These regulations have been challenged several times in the past, but the court has upheld the regulations.
Broadcasters feel they have the ability to uphold standards of decency with their own barometer. In an interview with Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, Fox News’ Megan Kelly stated that if the F-word were used “Parents would be so outraged that they’ll contact the advertisers, they’ll contact those broadcasters”. Not only do the broadcasters want to regulate themselves but they also feel if the FCC regulates them, then the same should go for cable and satellite broadcasts which are not covered by these standards.
Watchdog groups such as the Parents’ Television Council are chiming in on behalf of keeping the regulations in place. On their website they share” Today’s prime time television programming has become almost uniformly unsuitable for families, and often directly hostile to their values, making it very difficult for parents to shield their children and seek out alternative entertainment.” The council goes on to argue that “Because broadcast channels are available free over the air, it is assumed that children of any age can access their programming, and during prime time, it is presumed that they are doing so.” In the above mentioned interview with Fox News, Tony Perkins fears that “television is becoming a surrogate babysitter”.
One might ask why parents are not responsible for what their children view on TV? Personally, I believe ultimately they are. Unfortunately, there are the cases that Mr. Perkins mentioned, some view television as a babysitter. I believe broadcasters want to produce a product that is family friendly, but I also feel that term’s meaning has changed over the past 30 years. The broadcast networks are in business and ultimately the public decides what stays or goes on TV. With the advancement of technology, parents do hold more control then in the past by utilizing parental controls that guard against what parents deem inappropriate for their own children. However, we are talking about the regulating the “public” airwaves. I believe the government has a duty to maintain content controls until the public airwaves “die a natural death”, as Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr . stated.