WP:Fox Calls for Ct. Review of Standards:FCC Rules Archaic, Says in Appeal

[DeepModem Mom]

Fox Calls For Court Review of Standards
FCC Rules Archaic, It Says In Appeal

By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 4, 2004; Page E01


Fox Broadcasting Co. is appealing a record-setting $1.18 million fine for airing racy fare on a show called "Married by America," saying the government's indecency rules for broadcast television are unconstitutional because they don't apply to cable and satellite television.

Fox said the show was not indecent, and it argues that over-the-air broadcasters are now treated as "second-class citizens" by a Federal Communications Commission that unfairly holds them but not their rivals to decency standards.

If the FCC upholds the fine, Fox could take the case to court, creating the first test case against federal indecency standards in a quarter of a century, media lawyers said. The indecency rules are based on a Supreme Court ruling made in 1978 -- well before the widespread use of cable and satellite radio and television, the Internet and technologies that allow parents to block objectionable material. Even some within the FCC have said that the rules are ripe for legal challenge....

***

Executives at News Corp, which owns Fox, declined to comment, saying they wanted the filing to speak for itself. Executives at the other networks also declined to comment; both CBS and NBC have high-profile indecency appeals before the FCC. CBS is appealing a proposed $550,000 fine spurred by Janet Jackson's Super Bowl halftime show in February and NBC is appealing an indecency ruling caused by singer Bono's use of obscenity during a 2003 awards show....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34112-2004Dec3.html

[cornermouse]

1. I never watch Fox. Recent programming has been lousy.

99.9% trash.

[johnfunk]

11. Whole Network sucks except for "Arrested Development"

"The Simpsons" has lost their edge, and "Malcolm in the Middle" seems to have nothing to do with America's legendary militant black organizer and leader.

[ClintonTyree]

2. This is the "fair and balanced" ...."news service"................

that a majority of the "moral Americans" are depending on for their news. On one hand, FOX is spewing the lies and hatred that are shaping the political climate in our country, and on the other they're perverting those same "moral American" families by trading in filth and sensationalism.
I guess the people that claim to be the moral compass of our country are too small minded to see that FOX is using them for their own agenda. That being, constantly reminding more "intelluctually challenged" FOX viewers that Liberals are all godless heathens not fit to govern our country, but at the same time creating and distributing the most tasteless, immoral programming on the air today.
FOX----Henhouse. Yep, "fair and balanced", that's FOX!

[DeepModem Mom]

3. "FOX----Henhouse": Good!

[sonicx]

4. hey FOX, who heads the FCC...? what's that?? a repuke!?!?!

:nopity:

[dbt]

5. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Mommy, make them STOP!

While the FCC has been largely toothless since the Raygun Error, it has gotten one thing right: the airwaves are ultimately public property. This is why cable and satellite are not held to the same standards that over-the-air broadcasters face.

As Rust Limpballs is so fond of squawking: You can't have it both ways.

:evilgrin:
dbt

[liveoaktx]

12. Yup! Broadcasters use the public airwaves FREE in exchange for

following some rules, which include, besides decency standards, devoting a certain amount of their programming for the public interest.
Maybe a good followup case for a citizen would be to challenge whether the broadcast networks truly serve the public interest.

[fishface]

6. Welcome to the world you helped create you morons.

How's it feel when it's being jammed up YOUR ass?? LMMFAO

[rfranklin]

7. So rightwing Republican lovin' Fox fights to broadcast indecency???

This is terrific and should be thrown in the faces of every Bush-lovin' "christian" you meet.

[Flammable Materials]

10. I think it'd be great ...

... if people could jam the phones on Sean Hannity's and Bill O'Reilly's radio programs, get through the screeners, and keep hammering away at this.

"The company that you work for makes the 'smut' that you rail against! The 'Hollywood Elite' that you piss and moan about all the time? They earn the money that writes your paycheck! You think you matter at Fox News, but as far as the corporation is concerned, you're a short-order cook."

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Hypocrisy, Chutzpah and Irony

I love Hypocrisy, Chutzpah and Irony and Fox is full to the hilt of all three.

What I have to wonder ...... will the radical fundamentalist base that adores Faux News see this as a good thing or a bad thing?

Its a crazy world in which we now find ourselves. Here I am, rooting for Fox!

Whoodda thunk it???

[Flammable Materials]

9. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Fox is Orwellian:

The Ministry of Truth creates propaganda for the outer party, and the Pornosec division creates trashy entertainment for the proles.