FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The following is a statement from Jonathan Rintels, Executive Director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media, welcoming the FCC’s denial of indecency complaints against the Veterans Day 2004 broadcast on ABC of “Saving Private Ryan”:
The Center for Creative Voices in Media welcomes the unanimous decision by the FCC to deny complaints that the Veterans Day 2004 broadcast on ABC-affiliated stations of “Saving Private Ryan” was either indecent or profane.
“Ryan,” Steven Spielberg’s multiple Oscar-winning tribute to America’s veterans, had aired twice previously on ABC. In its decision today, the FCC properly considered that prior to the start of “Ryan,” the text of a viewer advisory was aired onscreen, along with the letters “TV MA LV,” the voluntary industry code warning parents that the broadcast is for mature audiences only and unsuitable for children due to the presence of violence and unacceptable language. Moreover, such warnings and codes also aired after each of the 10 commercial breaks during the broadcast and were posted on the ABC website in advance of the broadcast. If consumers and parents chose to turn on their television’s V Chip, it would have blocked the airing of the movie in their homes.
In short, the Commission found that those who might find the film offensive had the tools necessary to avoid watching it, or having their children watch it. We commend the Commission for recognizing, as President Bush recently noted in a C-SPAN interview with Brian Lamb, that parents, not government, are the "first line of responsibility when it comes to protecting children from indecent TV programming."
A large portion of the American public was deprived of the opportunity to view “Ryan” when 66 ABC affiliates canceled it, fearing the FCC would fine them, based on the Commission’s March 2004 Golden Globes decision. That decision found Bono’s exclamation of “fucking brilliant” to be both indecent and profane. As FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell said then, Golden Globes “clearly departs from past precedent” and puts broadcasters “on notice that they could now face significant penalties for similar violations.” Given that “precedent-setting” language in Golden Globes, it’s no wonder many broadcasters refused to air “Ryan,” which contains repeated exclamations of “fuck,” and variations thereof, as well as “shit,” “bullshit,” and variations thereof, “bastard,” and “hell,” but all within the historically-accurate context of American soldiers heroically fighting and dying during WWII.
Following the Golden Globes decision, a palpable chill has fallen over free speech and expression on broadcast television and radio. Writers, directors, producers, performers, and others are watering down or altogether cutting out appropriate, “decent,” and Constitutionally-protected speech and expression for fear of later being judged by the Commission to have violated the Golden Globe indecency rules. When the producers of the acclaimed PBS series “Masterpiece Theater” felt obliged to re-edit that highly-respected show for fear of an FCC enforcement action, then clearly the chilling of free and appropriate expression is real, it is pervasive, and it is contrary to the free expression rights and interests of not only America’s creative artists, but the American audience.
As Congress considers an exponential increase in the maximum fines the FCC can levy for indecency violations, and extending the application of those fines to performers on their first offense, the chill that has already descended over our nation’s media is turning into a deep freeze. This is a tragedy for creative artists, but more importantly, it is a tragedy for the American public.
In its “Ryan” decision, the FCC states emphatically that “context remains vital to any consideration of whether profanity or sexual content constitutes legally actionable indecency.” Thus, it appears that the FCC’s “precedent-setting” language in Golden Globes, which many read to mean context no longer mattered when it comes to the “F-word” or other indecent or profane material, may not be such an extreme departure from prior Commission decisions as was previously feared.
We certainly hope so. As creative artists who are also parents in many cases, we share the concern of policymakers about the problem of objectionable programming. But heavy-handed government fines and censorship are not the way. Giving parents and consumers the tools necessary to avoid programming that might offend them is.
Saving "Saving Private Ryan"
