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REPORTS
  
Dereliction of Duty
How the Federal
Communications
Commission Has Failed the Public
Executive Summary
The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was established by the
Communications Act of 1934. Among other things, the FCC was empowered by
Congress to enforce Federal Laws prohibiting the broadcast of "obscene,
indecent, or profane language" by means of fine or imprisonment.
In
the sixty years since the Communications Act was passed, the FCC has failed
to uphold those laws. The FCC has, in fact, failed the public by allowing
television and radio broadcasters to abuse their licenses and flood the
public airwaves with all manner of obscene, indecent, and profane content.
It is a telling indictment of the FCC's failure in this regard that until
last week (one day before Congressional hearings to look at the FCC's
failure to enforce broadcast decency standards), not one television station in the continental
United States has ever been fined for airing indecent material, and not a
single station has ever lost its license for repeatedly violating broadcast
decency laws.
Tens of thousands of official complaints about indecent broadcasts have been
filed with the Commission, only to be dismissed or utterly disregarded.
Despite public pressure, pressure from Congress, and even pressure from
within the agency itself, nothing has been done to address the utter failure
of this tax payer-supported government agency to uphold the public interest
when it comes to indecency enforcement.
Upholding the public interest begins with the FCC actively monitoring what's
on broadcast television. The FCC has a whopping $278 million annual subsidy
from the Congress, yet somehow can't find the time or the resources to
monitor what's on broadcast television. It shouldn't be up to the public to
point out the violations on the airwaves. It should be up to the FCC to
find them.
Second, the FCC needs to start responding to complaints instead of playing
games with the public. Every complaint deserves a timely response, yet on a
regular basis, thousands upon thousands of people filing complaints hear
nothing.
The
FCC must also be told to stop playing games with the public when it comes to
filing complaints. Do complainants need to attach a transcript of the show
in question or not? It depends on who in the FCC you ask.
The
FCC must be told to stop playing games with numbers. Each complaint needs
to be counted separately. The FCC needs to stop this practice of lumping
complaints together.
Third, the FCC must be told to start enforcing the law by attaching
meaningful fines to those who are violating the public trust with deliberate
indecencies on broadcast television. The $27,000 maximum fine is a joke.
Moreover, the FCC must fine stations for each violation within the
broadcast.
Finally, the FCC must get serious about revoking station licenses for those
who refuse to abide by standards of decency. The use of the public airwaves
is not an entitlement. It is a privilege, and a privilege to be honored.
Rather than giving networks more stations as a reward for their
irresponsible behavior, perhaps the Congress ought to consider steps to
reduce the number of stations allowed for those continuously spitting in the
public's face.
Full Report
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