How About We Have FCC REFORM.....

[rsmith6621]

...and stop this abuse via violence that BECK,LIMBNUTS,SAVAGE and FAUXNEWS seem to get away with hourly incitement of violence against lawmakers and the law....

I don't believe that this type of behavior is considered free speech....

[The Wielding Truth]

1. The Fairness Doctrine had this covered until Reagan took it out.

The Fairness Doctrine
How we lost it, and why we need it back

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2053

[DJ13]

2. It only covered over the air broadcasting

The cable companies were exempt.

However..... I bet a crafty FCC chair could make the case that any cable channel carried by the satellite operators (Dish, Direct TV) were "over the air", and as such could be regulated.

[rsmith6621]

3. Seems Easy To Me...

...to update this since most cable lines are laid in public easement along public roads...

[alp227]

4. Bravo. Also the FCC should stop drinking the Parents Television Council's Kool-Aid

The PTC is notorious for letting its members stuff the FCC mailbox with complaints. Here's how it works: PTC thinks some show is so offensive that it warrants a federal indecency investigation, and then it posts a video and graphic description on its website and lets its members file complaint about said show with FCC. It does not matter if the complainant actually saw the show on the broadcast time proper. Funny thing is, the two primetime entertainment shows that PTC successfully got FCC to fine networks were aired at 10PM Eastern/Pacific but an hour earlier in the Central/Mountain Time Zones. Those shows:
- NYPD Blue episode "Nude Awakening", which infamously showed actress Charlotte Ross's nude buttocks for a few seconds as she as her character exited a shower. There's also a scene in which her 7-year-old son accidentally walks in on her coming out of shower. That episode aired in January 2003 at the "10/9c" timeslot; NYPD Blue ended its 12-year run in 2005; the FCC finally decided to fine ABC about a million dollars for the episode in JANUARY 2008!
- Without a Trace episode "Our Sons and Daughters", whose plot was about a high school sex scandal that led to murder. It included a scene of a teen orgy. Originally shown in November 2003; re-run in December 2004. PTC complained about both showings; CBS settled with the FCC for $3.5 mil to dismiss the complaints about the 2003 showing but was fined $3.8 million in 2006 for the 2004 showing because the PTC started its mass-complaints bot two weeks after the 2004 showing

PTC has been complaining non-stop about supposed sleaze on shows like Nickelodeon's new claymated sitcom Glenn Martin, DDS and the much more risque content on FX's 10PM dramas. Well, where's the PTC's outrage over Glenn Beck's insanity on Fox News? If PTC is so concerned about the public airwaves, why hasn't it gone after Rush Limbaugh for his jokes about anal sex if Howard Stern, Comedy Central, etc. have joked similarly?

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OK, enough ranting about PTC here. I think that the Fairness Doctrine needs to come back. At a time when Americans really need to be well-informed the wingnuts are taking over the political discourse in America especially with health care. Just look at all the terrorist threats on Democratic Congress members after Sunday night's health care vote! Listen to all the right-wing noise pollution on the PUBLIC AIRWAVES. Sometimes, free speech just crosses the very unacceptable line.