*Pages 1--2 from  Microsoft Word - 29124*
 July  2,  2003 
 Mr.  L.  Brent  Bozell  III  Parents  Television  Council 
 325  South  Patrick  Street  Alexandria,  VA  22314 

 Dear  Brent: 
 I  am,  as  you  know,  tremendously  pleased  with  the  work  that  you,  the  Parents  Television  Council  and  the  other  organizations  that  have  joined  with  you  are  doing  in 
 Americas  battle  against  indecency  on  the  public  airwaves.  I  used  to  refer  to  a  race  to  the  bottom  in  describing  increasing  indecency  in  our  national  programming,  but  Im  not 
 so  sure  there  even  is  a  bottom  any  more.  It  just  seems  to  get  worse.  At  the  same  time,  the  FCC  has  earned  a  grade  of  F  for  the  job  it  has  failed  to  do  in  enforcing  the  statutes 
 that  exist  to  curb  indecency.  The  Commission  puts  too  much  of  the  onus  on  listeners  to  prove  violations  of  the  law,  and  when    once  in  a  great  while    some  infraction  is  actually 
 found,  our  fines  dont  represent  even  a  slap  on  the  hand.  And  weve  never  taken  a  license  away  from  those  who  repeatedly  peddle  smut  and  violence  to  our  children. 
 Indeed,  we  didnt  even  send  a  recent  WKRK-  FM,  case  containing  some  of  the  worst  material  Ive  ever  read,  to  a  license  revocation  hearing!  So  you  can  see  why  I  am  pleased 
 that  you  and  a  broad  bipartisan  coalition  are  on  the  job. 
 I  agree  with  you  that  we  need  to  put  more  Commission  resources  into  the  job.  But  first  we  need  to  have  a  Commission  commitment  to  do  the  job  in  the  first  place. 
 Absent  such  a  leadership  commitment,  nothing  will  ever  get  done.  That  means  having  accountable  Commissioners,  not  the  staff,  make  these  decisions.  I  also  agree  with  you 
 that  the  Commission  needs  to  put  behind  it,  clearly  and  unequivocally,  the  requirement  that  the  complaining  listener  must  provide  a  tape  or  transcript  of  an  allegedly  indecent 
 broadcast.  And  I  further  agree  that  we  need  to  process  complaints  much  more  speedily  than  we  do.  The  Opie  and  Anthony  case  is  still  outstanding  after  nearly  a  full  year,  and 
 other  complaints  that  I  have  been  urging  our  Enforcement  Bureau  to  investigate  have  been  pending  even  longer. 

 I  applaud  your  asking  the  Commission  for  early  commitments.  I  hope  you  will  keep  pushing,  and  pushing  hard,  on  this.  As  I  traveled  across  the  nation  during  my  media 
 ownership  hearings  this  year,  I  saw  first-  hand  the  palpable  and  rising  anger  of  the  American  people  over  what  they  and  their  children  are  being  served  up  during  prime-  time 
 viewing  hours.  I  also  saw  that  many  viewers  believe  there  is  more  than  a  casual    perhaps  a  causal    relationship  between  the  rising  tide  of  indecency  on  the  airwaves  and 
 the  rising  tide  of  media  consolidation  that  has  taken  place.  Unfortunately,  the  majority  of  the  Commission  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  my  suggestions  that  we  study  this  relationship  before 
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 we  voted  on  the  ownership  rules.  I  dont  believe  we  had  any  business  voting  on  June  2  without  having  looked  into  this  question. 
 Brent,  I  believe  we  are  at  a  real  crossroads  on  this  issue.  Your  efforts  have  been  so  critically  important  in  making  this  a  visible  issue  and  I  think  there  is  a  determination 
 all  cross  America  to  do  something  now.  That  includes  enforcing  the  law  with  sufficient  resources  so  we  dont  make  a  mockery  of  the  law;  looking  at  possibly  changing  our 
 definition  of  indecency  if  the  current  definition  is  not  getting  the  job  done  (and  seriously  considering  incorporating  excessive  violence  into  that  definition,  because  such  violence 
 is  every  bit  as  indecent  as  excessively  graphic  sexual  depictions);  and  having  Congress  pursue  this  matter  to  see  what  it  can  do  to  encourage  more  Commission  vigilance  on 
 these  issues  and  what  more  might  be  done  statute-  wise.  In  this  regard,  I  was  enormously  encouraged  at  recent  Senate  Commerce  Committee  passage  of  amendments  to 
 significantly  strengthen  our  indecency  enforcement. 
 I  look  forward  to  continuing  to  work  with  you  on  all  this,  convinced  as  I  am  that  the  moment  is  at  hand  when  the  peoples  righteous  anger  can  be  turned  into  a  righteous 
 policy  against  those  who  so  flagrantly  misuse  their  trust  as  stewards  of  the  public  airwaves. 

 Warm  regards, 

 Michael  J.  Copps 
 cc.  Christian  Coalition  Concerned  Women  for  America 
 Kids  First  Coalition  Culture  and  Family  Institute 
 Morality  in  Media  Family  Research  Council 
 Citizens  for  Community  Values  American  Mothers 
 Salvation  Army 
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