WASHINGTON, DC – According to reports from the Associated Press and Reuters news services, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering issuing a report to Congress claiming that it can regulate televised violence in the same fashion it broadcasts indecency, if Congress grants it the authority to do so.FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and senior Democratic commissioner Michael Copps are pushing for approval of the FCC report, which has bipartisan support in Congress, as well.
“In general, what the commission’s report says is that there is strong evidence that shows violent media can have an impact on children’s behavior and there are some things that can be done about it,” Martin said Thursday, in a joint interview with the Associated Press that also included commissioner Copps.
“The pressure to do something on this is building right now,” Copps said, adding that TV violence frequently comes up during media ownership hearings that Copps conducts across the country.
“People really feel strongly about this issue all across this land,” Copps said. “This is not a red state or a blue state issue.”
The FCC report also recommends that cable and satellite TV could be forced to offer “a la carte” programming, allowing viewers to select their own channels. The a la carte structure is another approach that Martin strongly supports.
“We can’t just deal with the three or four broadcast channels,” Martin said Thursday. “We have to be looking at what’s on cable as well.”
The Associated Press, citing an anonymous “agency” source, said the FCC report cites studies asserting that violent programming can lead to “short-term aggressive behavior in children.”
The FCC report, not yet officially published, is already generating concern on the part of free speech and entertainment industry groups.
“What this is is government control of creative content, and we have a real problem with that,” said Jonathon Rintels, executive director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media.
Rintels noted that, among other things, defining the scope of the FCC regulations for televised violence would be tricky.
“Will it count on the news?” asked Rintels. “Will it count on news magazines like 60 Minutes and Dateline? What about hockey games when the gloves come off and people start punching each other?”
Rintels added that the rules imposed by the FCC would create “huge gray areas of censored content.”
When asked about the potential problems with implementing FCC restrictions on violent content, Copps replied the “fact that it’s difficult should not take this issue off the table.”
