The FCC has been treating us like babies for 5 years now, and it's gotten a bit tedious. A mere year ago, we* thought there could be no greater threat to the public airwaves than Michael Powell-he of massive deregulation, censorship, and indecency mania. A man who was so threatened by Janet Jackson's nipple, he decided to go after not only network TV content, not only Am/FM audio content, but CABLE TV content.
Kevin Martin is long-time conservative activist the Shrubster appointed on 3/17/05. Striking fear into hearts of those of us involved in media work, and those of us who simply enjoy various media formats. Martin's desire to deregulate government influence upon telecommunication companies and to increase the monitoring and enforcement "indecent content" on the airwaves(how do you reconcile those 2 things? You want to let one company own all the media outlets and then you want to crack down on them for their nonfamily friendly content?????WTF?)
"How does this effect me?" you ask. Flip it and find out.
There was some fear around this appointment to be sure. There was talk that Martin was more metered than Powell, he could be objective and wouldn't jump to do anything out of the "fabled" mainstream. Tough but fair, said the GOP (we all know how incisive their judgement is) like the best kind of father, loving yet strict and always well intentioned, or a really fabulous high school principal,tough enough to keep the peace, jovial enough to make you feel an integral part of the school.
We knew it was bullshit, of course. The Bush Admin does nothing for the good of the people, let alone the people's airwaves. And rather than nice guys with paternalistic governing styles, we have seen drunken childbeaters take the helm of every important appointment-the EPA, the FDA, the FCC, the IMF, the list goes on.
The bullshit regarding the FCC appointment has come full circle. A special position, called the Adivisor to the Chairman has been created for this woman:
Penny Nance
Look at that expression, see what happens when you are ridiculously uptight and unable to handle the fact that people make their own decisions, and we can't and shouldn't legislate taste: You look like you are constipated 24/7, b/c all that rigidity and deprevation builds up, and it reaaaallly needs to come out.
August 8, 2005
FCC Chairman Names Family Advocate as Adviser
by Pete Winn, associate editor
New consultant to Kevin Martin is long-time conservative activist.
A woman who has for years helped lead the grassroots war against indecent broadcasting has joined the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to advise the agency's new chairman, Kevin Martin, on policy matters.
Anti-por nography attorneys hope Penny Nance will be instrumental in helping commissioners enforce prohibitions against broadcast indecency. She will work as a special adviser in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.
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Pat Trueman of the Family Research Council said the move shows Martin is committed to keeping objectionable content off the public airwaves.
"He was committed before he was named chairman, when he was an FCC commissioner, and he is today," Trueman said. "This is further evidence of his commitment-that he would reach out to someone who's been a leader in the effort to protect families, and the fight against indecency on television, and bring that person on staff."
Bob Peters, president of the watchdog group Morality in Media, agreed that Martin had made a good choice, calling Nance's hiring "an indication that he means business about dealing with the indecency problem in broadcasting."
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Nance, until recently, has served as member of the board of directors of Concerned Women for America and was the founder of the Alexandria, Va.,-based Kids First Coalition-a group which works to protect children from TV smut.
"She has been very vocal and active on a number of pro-family issues over the past few years," said Daniel Weiss, Focus on the Family Action's media and se xuality analyst. "Just the creation of this office is a positive sign. The whole point of having a public liaison is to foster a greater working relationship with various people on the issues.
"It has added importance because it's someone like Penny, who has such a history of activism and efforts to protect families already."
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Nance has testified before Congress numerous times on issues ranging from abortion to Internet por nography. Trueman told CitizenLink she led the fight to bring back the "family hour" on broadcast television-and to bring basic cable television under the sway of existing indecency laws.
Peters, meanwhile, said pressure on the FCC-and on the White House-to enforce broadcast indecency laws has been building for years.
"I personally would give some credit to the Parents Television Council," Peters said, "because they had a change in focus from putting pressure on advertisers-which they did for quite a number of years-to focusing primarily on getting the FCC to enforce the indecency law. I don't think it would be fair to say that Parents Television Council can claim the whole credit, but they deserve a measure of credit."
In the end, the experts explained, it's the action the chairman initiates-not what his advisers do-that matters.
"Things will improve," Trueman said, "only if the president, in filling the two remaining vacancies on the commission, appoints commissioners who align themselves with Chairman Martin's views. If the president fails to do that, the FCC will tip in favor of non-enforcement."
Penny Nance is a former board member of Concerned Women for America an anti-Everything group, who most recently started the unsuccessful Nance lead campaigns against Starbucks, for including Armistead Maupin as #43 in the "In My Own Words" series of quote cups, as well as Hardees, for selling XL Cups with "Offensive Girlie Images" on them. Those "Girlie" images were Sports Illustrated Women's Sports stars. Highly offensive.
Aside from the spreading of hatred and intollerance, this new position of Nance's effects us on many levels. Cable TV is a paid service, which should take it out of the realm of FCC regulation, and yet, the new plan of attack centers squarely upon cable. There is also talk of going after Satellite TV and Radio. The whole creepy Paternalism that has been a staple of governing theory in the Bush Jr Admin has resulted in a prevelance of infantile reaction from our society. We also must take into consideration the fact that the Xtian right does not set the tone for America's listening and viewing pleasure. So why the FUCK are we allowing this? Never have we seen people so willing to give up their rights, take orders from government authority, and even worse, beg said authorities to strip us of our rights, essentially grounding us for our imagined crimes of decadance.
We love Howard Stern around these parts. We love CSI, NIP/TUCK, WEEDS, 6 FEET UNDER, THE L WORD, Sirius Sattelite Radio, and if you share these loves, we highly reccomend that you start bombarding the FCC in regard to attempting to force their narrow definition of "decency" upon the rest of us.
Remember, you can't do shit if you ride the fence!
There is no reason we can not deluge the FCC w/ letters complaining of the forced notion of decency, "doing it for the kids," and the government treating us like a bunch of babies. Of course, we also reccomend phrasing it in a more eloquent manner. Write a Complaint to the FCC.
*Please note our usage of the royal we. It serves no purpose, we just felt like it.
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