Post: Media Decency is a Children's Issue
Media Decency is a Children's Issue
As a parent and Senator, I continue to be troubled by the programming content broadcast on the public airwaves. My key concern is the effect this programming has on children. Some programming clearly has a positive effect, and I applaud those broadcasters who provide educational and entertaining material suitable for children. However, a growing amount of indecent and obscene material is being broadcast between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., when children are likely to be watching and listening. The amount of profanity, violence, and sexually explicit material broadcast on the most popular primetime shows is alarming.
I introduced a Senate bill earlier this year to increase the penalties on broadcasters who broadcast indecent or obscene material. My bill, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, was introduced in January and is cosponsored by 27 Democratic and Republican Senators. It is short and simple. It increases the maximum penalties on broadcasters from the current $32,500 to $325,000 per violation. Fines are imposed on broadcasters who broadcast obscene, indecent or profane language, as determined by the FCC.
This is a simple first step in the fight for decency on the public airwaves. It may not be the final answer, but it is something we can do in the short term to deter broadcasters from letting obscene and indecent matter be distributed to the general public. I hope that Congress can work with the broadcast industry to protect America’s children and families from indecent programming.
There are 1 replies to this post
Date: December 8, 2005
This is pretty thoughtful, and fines do work. Obviously, nobody wants to go down the censorship route, but bipartisan support and positioning on this issue is really critical in order to get the industry to respond. It would be good to have Sen.Brownback come out the Bay Area sometime.