How the Government Screwed Up Media Regulation

The FCC has levied a record $3.6 million fine against CBS for an episode of “Without a Trace” that included a teen orgy. You can read the Parents Television Council’s happy reaction here and the CBS Public Eye blog’s criticism of the FCC’s decision here. You can also watch the video here.

The orgy scene is lurid, but nothing most folks over 12 haven’t seen before. The problem is that — when it comes to media regulation — the genie already has been let out of the bottle. The federal government merrily deregulated all of broadcast television’s competitors in the 90s, so to hold broadcast to a different standard simply because the airwaves are “public” only dooms the medium to failure in the end.

The reality is, the airwaves are no more public than the ground where cable lines are planted and on and on. The government’s recent backtracking — including Super Bowl boobgate and reaction against the FCC’s latest proposed round of deregulation — is too little, too late.

Should there be any “re-regulation” — which its detractors on the business side would call “socialism” and which its detractors on the civil-liberties side would call “censorship”? We still like Mary Pipher’s answer to that question:

I am often asked if I believe in censorship. In some ways I do. I don’t think we should advertise to children. I think shows that brutalize children should be off the air. Instead, we need decent children’s programs, as they have in Europe. But mainly I would argue for more stories, not fewer. I like to hear that extended family, neighbors, old people, people from different backgrounds, poets, teachers, and children are telling stories to each other. Everyone has stories to tell.

Now too few stories are being told by too few people with motives that are too narrow. I would prefer that children hear stories told by adults who care for them, rather than by multinational entertainment corporations. I would like more adults who care about children to have opportunities to tell their stories to children via films, tv shows, and books, and in person. For good stories can save us… We need stories that teach children empathy and accountability, how to act and how to be.

Does the “Without a Trace” orgy meet Mary’s criteria? Mmmm, not so much.

(Image from Wikipedia)

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