COMMENTARY | Broadcast decency: Is there a shred of decency left in most of the shows broadcast to today’s television viewers? Decency is a term that could be defined differently by each of the 312 million people in the United States. I would say that the crude humor and sexual innuendos used in the majority of today’s television shows make them indecent while others may consider this content quite funny and appropriate. Those who find this humor to be suitable may consider nudity and profanity as content not acceptable to the general public. In another sector of the population there may be specific people who consider nudity tolerable for prime time viewing but believe that profanity and crude humor should be disallowed.
The Supreme Court is currently debating these issues. It would seem that they have previously set forth rules in an attempt to regulate decency in television but have been quite inconsistent in enforcing them. They may impose a fine on the offending network for one occurrence while they allow another infraction to “slide by” without punishment. As with the other laws that have been made in this country, they tend to be disobeyed when the promised punishment is not enforced upon the offender.
Can decency be legislated? That high and lofty goal seems to be unattainable. As shown previously, we would need a solid definition in order to control infractions. Similar to the 312 million possible definitions of decency given by the U.S. public, we have many different definitions being tossed about by the Supreme Court members. Without knowing a definition for indecency we can never punish those who try to push the limits.
One big concern brought out in these arguments is free speech. There is a problem with that, though. There are different types of free speech considered under the law. Can we place broadcast content under the category of commercial speech? Obscenity? If we could deem these as a commercial class there are relatively straightforward guidelines to be followed. It is consideration under the obscenity classification that causes problems with the previously mentioned definitions of obscenity itself.
Of course, many (including myself) would say, “If you don’t like it change the channel.” I wholeheartedly agree with this principle and practice it with impunity. The problem comes with making these indecent scenes and language available to our children during prime time viewing. An arguable point to be considered for that idea would include the 24-hour availability of the same type of content (and worse) on the Internet, in movies, and in general life. Since it seems that we can’t regulate morality would that mean we should just give up?