WASHINGTON, DC – In a court filing submitted late last night, minutes before the expiration of a court-ordered deadline, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dismissed charges of broadcast indecency violations against two television shows it had previously ruled against, and upheld two other indecency rulings issued earlier this year.The FCC upheld rulings in which Cher’s utterance of “fuck” during the December 9th, 2002 broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards, and Nicole Richie’s use of the words “shit” and “fucking” during the 2003 Billboard Music Awards were deemed to be indecent.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin said that the FCC’s action shows that the Commission will stand up to Hollywood.
“This order affirms that the use of the ‘F’ and ‘S’ words in the 2002 and the 2003 Billboard Music awards was indeed indecent,” Martin said in a statement released after last night’s filing. “Hollywood continues to argue they should be able to say the ‘F-word’ on television whenever they want. Today, the Commission again disagrees.”
The FCC reversed earlier rulings with respect to episodes of “NYPD Blue,” and an episode of CBS’ “Early Show,” dropping their cases against those programs in last night’s filing.
Several episodes of NYPD Blue that ran between January 14th and May 6th of 2003 featured characters using the words “dick,” “dickhead” and “bullshit,” but the complaint against the show was dropped due to what Martin called “procedural grounds.”
In his statement, Martin emphasized that the NYPD Blue complaints were dropped due to the complaint being improperly filed, and “were not decided on the merits.”
In the Early Show incident, a Survivor cast member described a fellow member of the cast as a “bullshitter,” but the show escaped being charged due to the fact that it is a “news program,” according to the FCC.
While the FCC reiterated its position that the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards broadcasts were “indecent,” the commission did not issue a fine because the programs aired prior to a ruling in which the commission held that some versions of the word “fuck” are automatically considered indecent.
In January 2003, during the broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show, U2 singer Bono used the description “fucking brilliant,” an utterance that drew complaints from the Parents Television Council and other “decency groups,” but the Commission declined to find the program indecent, reasoning that Bono’s use of the word was “fleeting,” and the singer was not describing or depicting “sexual or excretory organs or activities.”
Rather, the Commission initially ruled, in October 2003, that the singer was employing the work “fucking” as an “adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation,” which is not considered “indecent.” This was consistent with past rulings from the FCC that included statements like “fleeting and isolated remarks of this nature do not warrant Commission action.”
In March 2004, however, the Commission reversed itself with respect to Bono’s comment, and held that uttering the “F word,” regardless of context and intent, “inherently has a sexual connotation.”
NBC and others petitioned the FCC to reconsider its Bono/Golden Globe ruling, saying that the FCC’s inconsistent rulings and reversal of position with respect to “fleeting utterances,” has chilled speech, leaving broadcasters in a very unsure position.
Last night’s filing apparently hasn’t quelled the concerns of the broadcast industry, or those of at least one commissioner.
“Today’s decision highlights our concern about the government’s inability to issue consistent, reasoned decisions in highly sensitive First Amendment cases,” said Fox spokesman Scott Grogin. “We look forward to court review, and the clarity we hope it will bring to this area of the law.”
Although the FCC’s decision filed last night was unanimous, commissioner Jonathon Adelstein – a frequent critic of his fellow commissioners and the direction of the FCC with regards to broadcast indecency – again voiced his concern over the effect of the FCC’s lack of clarity on the subject.
“The consequences of this new policy reveals its lack of logic,” Adelstein said. “When the commission determines a national network broadcast violates our national community standards, we will only fine the local station that has a complaint filed against it by a viewer in its media market. Although our obligation is to enforce the law to protect all children, we will only fine a local station that has the misfortune of being in a market where a parent or an adult made the effort to complain.”
With the FCC response now in hand, the court will adjudicate the two remaining cases under an expedited schedule; according to the Associated Press, the first round of briefs in the case is due in two weeks, and oral arguments could commence as early as January.
