Oppose Censorship

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Originally Posted by FCC

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission today issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture against Infinity Broadcasting Operations, Inc. for apparently willfully broadcasting indecent material in connection with “The Howard Stern Show” on WKRK-FM, Detroit, Michigan. The Commission proposed the statutory maximum forfeiture of $27,500 for the broadcast.

The Commission based this action on the results of its investigation triggered by a complaint concerning material in which the show’s cast discussed sexual practices and techniques. Specifically, the Commission found that the broadcast included explicit and graphic sexual and excretory references. In addition, the Commission found that this material was lewd and vulgar, and that it appeared to have been used to pander, titillate and shock. Thus, the Commission concluded that the material apparently met the indecency standard and warranted sanction.

The Commission proposed a forfeiture for the maximum statutory amount due to Infinity’s recent history of the airing of indecent broadcasts.

Action by the Commission on March 8, 2004 by Notice of Apparent Liability, (FCC 04-49). Chairman Powell; Commissioner Abernathy; Commissioner Adelstein issuing a statement. Commissioner Copps dissenting and issuing a statement. Commissioner Martin concurring and issuing a statement;

Enforcement Bureau contact: Janice Wise and Lisa Fowlkes at (202) 418-7450

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It's starting. Everybody read this e-mail that I sent to the FCC this morning. No matter what you feel about any other issue, the First Amendment is under attack. An un-elected government body is trying to tell you what you can and cannot hear. Please, no matter what your affiliation - conservative, liberal, Dem, Republican, whatever - this should matter immensely to you. Please read over my e-mail and send a similar one to fccinfo@fcc.gov. Feel free to copy and paste mine, because that's what all these grassroots campaigns do when they protest something - they pay people in old folks homes and lazy people who want to work at home to fill in form letters and send them to the FCC. This is serious. Cleaning up the airwaves is one thing, but let the courts make laws about it, not fuzzy rules from the FCC.

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Originally Posted by Mike's e-mail

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in regards to comments I heard on the Oprah Winfrey Show last night on regular television.

Oprah and her guest were discussing an activity known as “tossing salad”. I learned about this activity many years ago from a special that the subscription TV network HBO ran on prisons, wherein the prisoners interviewed described, graphicly, what “tossing a salad” entailed. I was offended deeply by the description of this activity and was utterly shocked and disgusted when, lo and behold, the very same description was thrust into my face without any warning. Thankfully, I do not have any children who could have been damaged by hearing this flagrant and obscene talk, but my heart goes out to any parents whose children DID hear Ms. Winfrey’s indecent discussion. Ms. Winfrey’s show airs at 4:00pm on regular television – I do not subscribe to cable, I use a regular set of “rabbit-ears” antennae for reception – and to have content such as this detailed at a time when almost all children are home from school is abhorrent.

Ms. Winfrey’s show should be fined for this indeceny and I will let all of my friends and family know to file a formal complaint against this injustice to the American public. Thank you for your time. May God bless America, yourselves and the wonderful work you do to clean up the airwaves and television.

Sincerely,

Michael Vincent Colianna

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:confused:

Did I miss something? You dislike the censorship on Howard Stern but are advocating it for Oprah Winfrey? How are the two related? How does the FCC know you're at all opposed to what happened to Stern? Were they really talking about tossing salad on Oprah? I gotta check that show out more often.

I think the point is that the FCC is somehow playing sides here, because Ope is a daytime stay-at-home-mom show and they're getting away with shit that Stern wouldn't have.

P.S.: lol @ censorship

Yeah, I'm not understanding the relation between your email and the news brief. I don't even see anything about "fuzzy rules from the FCC", nor do I see why courts are better equipped to handle...well, whatever it is the problem is...exactly.

...

I think sarcasm might be lost on the FCC, dude. If not ment for sarcasm, your email confuses me.

I believe it's called sarcasm.
*edit* nevermind.

If we want to stop censorship, we should write an email asking to stop censorship...not an email asking for even censorship accross the board. Can't say I support that email at all.

No, he's using satire. The FCC would never ever fuck with operah, which is considered "clean, safe" programming. Operah can get away with using the same kind of language as stern would without a fine, 'cause she's.... well, oprah.

I don't think this is the best way to go about it though, dunno if government bodies have a good mind for satire. Though it would be funny to see oprah catch a huge fine, maybe the best thing to do would be just write them an email about how you feel without all the irony. Or better yet, an acutal written letter. And send one to your congressman too.

[edit] beat to it by like, everybody.

I'm not REALLY for any censorship, but if they fine Oprah, especially when the bill to raise the fines goes through, it will be thrust into the national spotlight. Right now it's just the ravings of Howard Stern, a shock jock, because he says "anal" every now and then, even though that's not the real issue.

And yes, Oprah and her guest were discussing the movie "Thirteen" about the 13 year-old girl who gets involved in drugs and sex and tossing salads came up. It was GRAPHICLY described.

I used to hate Howard Stern's show back when I was in CT. But now that I'm out here and he's the only good thing on in the morning during my 2-hour drive to work, I've listened and realized that he's NOT the racist I thought he was and that nothing he says could even be construed as indecent. Aside from that, WPLR in CT (I don't know if they're still around) exposed the FCC's connection to ClearChannel back in like 2000 or so when they talked about the hostile takeovers of almost EVERY station in CT, so this stuff Stern is talking about - the paperwork delays and all that - are real.

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Originally Posted by cka

I think the point is that the FCC is somehow playing sides here, because Ope is a daytime stay-at-home-mom show and they're getting away with shit that Stern wouldn't have.

P.S.: lol @ censorship

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Ah.