BY DAN
KENNEDY
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Powell panders over F-word.
Not to intrude on your day with F-bombs, but it was the Federal
Communications Commission that ruled last October on the fine
distinctions between the adjectival and verb forms of that fine old
Anglo-Saxon word.
I don't find this quite as
personally exciting as quoting from the footnotes of the Starr
Report. Nevertheless, here is the excerpt from the
FCC report (PDF file)
exonerating the broadcast media for putting Bono on the air while he
used the phrase "fucking brilliant" at an awards show:
As a threshold matter, the
material aired during the "Golden Globe Awards" program does not
describe or depict sexual and excretory activities and organs. The
word "fucking" may be crude and offensive, but, in the context
presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or
activities. Rather, the performer used the word "fucking" as an
adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation. Indeed, in
similar circumstances, we have found that offensive language used
as an insult rather than as a description of sexual or excretory
activity or organs is not within the scope of the Commission's
prohibition of indecent program content.
God, I love it when the FCC talks
dirty to me!
Anyway, the decision, arrived at by
the FCC's enforcement division, is now being challenged by the head
of the agency, Michael Powell, who, according to this
report on CNN.com, "is
actively campaigning inside the agency to get that ruling overturned
by the full commission."
Powell also wants fines for
broadcasters who let the naughty bits slip through to be raised from
$27,500 to $275,000. At an appearance at the National Press Club
today, Powell reportedly said, "Some of these fines are peanuts.
They're just a cost of doing business. That has to
change."
The pandering, puffy-faced
offspring of Secretary of State Colin Powell is better known for
trying to convince us that corporate media concentration is good for
us. Edging into James Dobson territory is new for him, and somewhat
at odds with his image as a libertarian technocrat. But, of course,
it is an election year.
The MediaDrome notes
that "given the fact that Bono's outburst was broadcast live, it's
difficult to imagine how stations are to be expected to exert
control." Worth reading.
posted at 4:39 PM |
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link
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
