As creative artists and members of the public, we deeply regret the passage today of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 by the House of Representatives. The exponential increase in “indecency” fines for broadcasters, and the application of those fines to performers on their first offense, will turn the chill that has already descended over our nation’s media into a deep freeze. Today’s vote was a tragedy for creative artists. More importantly, it was a tragedy for the American public.
As a result of today’s House vote, the American public will be denied even more opportunities to view quality programming, repeating the tragedy of last Veteran’s Day when broadcasters fearful of an FCC fine abruptly canceled “Saving Private Ryan” – a multiple Oscar-winning tribute to veterans. Today’s House action revokes the public’s right to choose what to watch – and what not to watch – and turns that choice over to Big Brother: the FCC, the Parents Television Council, and the giant media conglomerates who will self-censor programming to avoid these exponentially increased penalties.
We applaud the Members of the House who stood up to demand that the House address in this Bill one of the principal causes of indecent programming on television -- media concentration. Media concentration robs the public of its right to view a wide diversity of programming, including far more “family friendly” content. Concentration also robs the public of the tools it needs to avoid objectionable programming. For example, the public should be able to subscribe to cable television without paying for and receiving channels it finds offensive. But today, they have no choice – because of media concentration.
As creative artists who are also parents in many cases, we share the concern of policymakers about the problem of objectionable programming. But censorship is not the way. Rather, let’s do something about the root cause of the problem – media concentration.
Increased Indecency Fines Pass House
