Earlier this year, the FCC issued a report calling on Congress to increase the Commission’s powers to regulate television media content. While the report offered few specifics, it offered a chilling endorsement of increased government regulation of television content, all in the name of protecting our children. I’ve got three girls of my own, and I am the first to admit that not all television is appropriate for my kids. The notion, however, that my kids, your kids, or our society as a whole will be better off if some bunch of Washington bureaucrats just had more power to censor our television programming is just preposterous. With a bit of common sense, we can both protect our children and the free artistic expression that is at the heart of the American experience.

For the past few years, the FCC has been obsessed with profanity on television, despite the fact that a typical child likely hears more profanity in one day on the street or the playground than in an entire year of watching broadcast television. Each broadcast station now faces a $325,000 fine for every single word of profanity uttered on television between 6 am and 10 pm.

Maybe that sounds fine to some in the abstract, but here’s how this heavy-handed government regulation plays out in practice. Award-winning documentarian Ken Burns, critically acclaimed for the documentaries The Civil War, Jazz and Baseball, produced a film for PBS called The War about the American experience during World War II. The War contains four profanities exclaimed by men in the service. Fearing the strict fines ($1,300,000 for the four words the FCC might have found offensive), many PBS affiliates decided to air only a censored version of the documentary, limiting what all viewers could experience.

As with profanity, there have long been calls by some politicians to crack down on depictions of violence in the media. The recent FCC report, for example, renewed these calls for efforts to curb “excessively violent programming.” Which depictions of violence are appropriate, and which are worthy of federal punishment? Violence on broadcast television can include news coverage of the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq, reporting on local crimes, or a television series like 24. In 2004, 66 ABC affiliates refused to broadcast Saving Private Ryan because they feared running afoul of federal regulators due to the film’s language and depictions of violence.

If the federal government tried to dictate what adults could or could not watch, there would be an outcry against this blatant censorship. So instead, the bureaucrats speak movingly of our need to protect children as they consolidate their power. The FCC report called for “scientific literature” to determine the harmful effects of television content on children. Perhaps the government should save some taxpayer money and use common sense before resorting to “scientific literature” and teams of “experts.”

We don’t need a government nanny telling families what to watch. A survey conducted by Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research and Peter D. Hart Research Associates found that parents choose family responsibility over governmental regulation by 87%. According to The Pew Internet & American Life Project, 77% of parents already have rules for what TV shows their kids can watch. If parents prefer making their own decisions and are already actively enforcing their own rules, there is no need for the government to limit our freedoms.

In a world of cable television, satellite radio, Internet video and MP3 music, attempting to “protect” anyone by censoring broadcast media is a fools errand. Rather than sit as a star chamber to judge what we are able to see or hear, the FCC should be helping us to make our own informed decisions. The government should be empowering parents -- teaching them about useful tools such as the V-Chip and existing rating systems -- so that they may make their own decisions. And parents should be teaching our next generation to understand the information and entertainment proliferating around them; not take the media away from them.

With a bit of effort by parents and a good dose of common sense by our government, we can protect both our freedom of speech and our children. Free expression is not the problem, and giving more power to government bureaucrats most certainly is not the answer.

Robin L. Bronk
Executive Director
The Creative Coalition
www.thecreativecoalition.org

About The Creative Coalition

The Creative Coalition is a nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization formed for the charitable and educational purposes of bringing together artists and entertainers to learn about pressing societal issues so they can better inform and influence the community and nation. Founded in 1989 by prominent figures in the creative community, The Creative Coalition works to educate and mobilize leaders in the arts community on issues of public importance. Members include actors, actresses, writers, producers, directors, and others involved in America's creative arts. For further information, call 212-512-5876 or go to www.thecreativecoalition.org