Killing my free speech

[Kevin]

Originally posted by ztawinthropgirl
I have a suggestion, and I am not trying to be faciscious (sp?) when I say this. How about all of those that are against these fines start writing letters to their individual congress and house representative expressing your views? This is one of the only ways you'll be heard and possibly make a difference. We still have the rights to write letters to whomever we choose, especially our government representatives. Let's use the rights that are given in the Constitution and defend our individual views and opinions by standing up for what we believe in. Only the American public can fight censorship in America because we have the right to public criticism of government officials. There is a law that defends that right.

That's all fine and everything. At this point, however, the congress has already given almost unfettered power to the FCC in terms or regulating what is "decent" on the airwaves. It's the FCC, not Congress who decides who to go after for indecency. The FCC also gets to decides guilt. Want to appeal the FCC's decision? Appeal it to the FCC.

At this point, the only way you'll get the legislative branch to take power away from the FCC is if the FCC does something which is incredibly unpopular. Unfortunately, there is a large percentage of Americans (possibly a majority) that think it's about time the FCC did something to regulate people like Stern, etc.

My concern is that by kicking fines up to what they are, Congress has put us onto a slippery slope in terms of the FCC regulating what's on our airwaves.

There are, fortunately, alternatives to public airwaves such as digital radio, cable TV, etc. I think folks like Stern will find a happy home on XM or Sirius -- and people will sign up just to hear him. That's what'll happen though. The FCC will not be forced to do something incredibly unpopular. Shows that may be risky will be unloaded by companies like ClearChannel and then picked up for a bargain price by digital providers that fall outside the scope of decency restrictions.

I think networks like Fox, WB, etc. are in a pretty scary place right now. The definition of indecency is too broad. Today, it's JJ showing herself to the world. Tommorow, the guy getting racked on America's Funniest Home Videos might draw a fine. For the rest of us, it's just getting harder and harder not to go over to a cable/digital radio provider.