Stand Up To Censorship and the PTC

[kerrygoddess]

Amanda Toering
SpeakSpeak.org
Members of SpeakSpeak.org are protesting PBS executives’ decision to censor the HBO film “Dirty Bomb.” We understand that Right-wing groups have created a difficult climate for broadcasters. The line between what is acceptable and what is obscene has been obscured by the activism of a fanatical minority. Because of the lobbying of Parents Television Council president Brent Bozell, the FCC slapped broadcasters with unprecedented obscenity fines in 2004.

This squeamishness about material not rubber-stamped by the Radical Right comes from effective mobilization on the Right’s part. However, we are here to tell you that they are not the majority. They do not speak for us. And in a way, we are partly responsible; we should have spoken up sooner.

We are speaking up now, and from now on we will be as visible as the Right. We will also reconfirm the fact that we are the level-headed majority.

PBS programming executive Jacoba Atlas has said that the deletion of the contamination scene in “Dirty Bomb” was made because “you want to pick your battles.”

This is a battle worth fighting.

The scene in no way qualifies as obscene according to the FCC’s three-pronged test. It is an integral part of a terrifying story. And as Atlas herself has stated, “we decided that these were excellent films that deserved to be seen by a wider audience.”

She’s right. They do. And they deserve to be seen in their entirety. The shower scene is not obscene and should not be cut. PBS should not preemptively give in to the bullying of a Right-wing group that probably claims very few PBS viewers. WE are your constituency, and we will fight for you.

This weekend, members of SpeakSpeak have used the SpeakSpeak.org website to send dozens of letters to PBS executives. The effort is ongoing. Many SpeakSpeak members are also PBS supporters. This issue has resonated with all of us.

Below are some excerpts from the letters that have been sent to PBS management. Correspondence is still coming in. We’ll update you as more of our members speak out. If you wish to receive the full text of any of these letters, SpeakSpeak would be happy to forward them to you.

Until then, we hope you realize that we are on your side. We would like to help quash this absurd and unrepresentative movement by a handful of Right-wing activists.

For FCC Contact Info & links to SpeakSpeak.org - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=240