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 Statement  of  FCC  Commissioner  Jonathan  S.  Adelstein 
 Before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Commerce,  Science,  and  Transportation  Hearing  on  Protecting  Children  from  Violent  and  Indecent  Programming 

 And  House  Subcommittee  on  Telecommunications  and  the  Internet  Hearing  on  H.  R.  3717,  The  Broadcast  Decency  Enforcement  Act  of  2004 
 February  11,  2004 
 Mr.  Chairman,  Mr.  Ranking  Member,  and  members  of  the  Committee,  thank  you  for  inviting  me  to  testify. 
 Like  many  of  you,  I  sat  down  with  my  wife  and  children  to  watch  the  Super  Bowl.  I  was  expecting  a  showcase  of  Americas  best  talent,  both  on  and  off  the  field,  and  the 
 apotheosis  of  our  cultural  creativity  during  the  entertainment  and  advertising  portions.  Instead,  like  millions  of  others,  I  was  appalled  by  the  halftime  show    not  just  for  the 
 shock-  value  stunt  at  the  end,  but  for  the  overall  raunchy  performance  displayed  in  front  of  so  many  children    one  in  five  American  children  were  watching,  according  to  reports. 
 And  the  advertising  set  a  new  low  for  what  should  air  during  family  time. 
 The  Super  Bowl  is  a  rare  occasion  for  families  to  get  together  to  enjoy  a  national  pastime  everyone  should  be  able  to  appreciate.  Instead,  a  special  family  occasion  was 
 truly  disrespected. 
 I  could  highlight  any  number  of  tasteless  commercials  that  depicted  sexual  and  bodily  functions  in  a  vile  manner.  Any  sense  of  internal  controls  appeared  out  the 
 window,  so  long  as  the  advertiser  paid  the  multi-  million  dollar  rate. 
 One  commercial  that  really  stung  my  family,  and  many  other  parents  with  whom  I  spoke,  was  a  violent  trailer  for  an  unrated  horror  movie.  It  showed  horrible  monsters 
 with  huge  fangs  attacking  people.  I  literally  jumped  out  of  my  chair  to  get  between  the  TV  and  my  three-  year  old.  Other  parents  told  me  they  couldnt  reach  for  the  remote 
 control  fast  enough.  I  wonder  how  those  who  chose  to  broadcast  such  violence  can  sleep  at  night  when  they  gave  so  many  American  children  nightmares. 

 No  parent  should  have  to  jump  in  front  of  the  TV  to  block  their  children  from  such  images,  whether  during  a  commercial  or  a  halftime  show.  No  parent  should  feel 
 guilty  for  not  being  with  their  child  every  single  moment  in  case  they  need  to  block  the  TV  during  what  most  would  consider  to  be  a  family  viewing  event. 

 The  entire  Super  Bowl  broadcast  was  punctuated  by  inappropriate  images  that  were  an  embarrassment  for  our  country.  The  halftime  show,  with  its  global  appeal,  was  a 
 wasted  opportunity  to  showcase  the  best  that  U.  S.  culture  has  to  offer.  The  U.  S.  has  the  worlds  greatest  musical  culture  to  promote  across  the  globe,  and  that  includes  the  many 
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 artists  who  performed  at  the  event.  Our  musicians  and  artists  offer  a  vibrant  musical  melting  pot  that  expands  our  horizons  and  enriches  our  culture.  As  a  musician  myself,  I 
 am  proud  of  artists  who  everyday  express  their  creativity  without  trying  to  one  up  each  other  in  shock  value.  There  is  plenty  of  magnificent  talent  here  for  the  whole  family  to 
 enjoy.  It  is  those  performances  that  broadcasters  should  showcase.  Instead,  the  halftime  show  needlessly  descended  into  lewdness  and  crassness. 

 This  latest  incident  is  only  the  tip  of  the  iceberg.  There  is  nearly  universal  concern  about  the  state  of  our  public  airwaves.  I  personally  received  more  than  10,000 
 emails  last  week,  and  the  FCC  received  more  than  200,000.  But  that  pales  in  comparison  to  the  number  of  people  who  over  the  past  year  expressed  their  outrage  to  me  about  the 
 homogenization  and  crassness  of  the  media.  The  public  is  outraged  by  the  increasingly  crude  content  they  see  and  hear  in  their  media  today.  They  are  fed  up  with  the  sex, 
 violence,  and  profanity  flooding  into  our  homes.  Just  this  month  at  an  FCC  hearing  in  San  Antonio,  a  member  of  the  audience  expressed  concern  with  indecency  on  Spanish-language 
 television  novellas. 
 Complaints  are  exploding  that  our  airwaves  are  increasingly  dominated  by  graphic  and  shocking  entertainment.  Some  observe  that  broadcasters  are  only  responding 
 to  competition  from  cable  programming.  Take  MTV,  a  cable  network  known  for  pushing  the  envelope.  Its  owned  by  Viacom,  which  also  owns  CBS.  Its  no  coincidence  that 
 MTV  produced  the  halftime  show.  But  the  network  thoughtlessly  applied  the  cable  programmers  standards  during  the  Super  Bowl    the  ultimate  family  event. 

 As  a  musician,  I  recognize  that  channels  like  MTV  have  a  place  in  our  society.  I  also  understand  and  respect  that  many  would  prefer  that  they  not  intrude  into  the 
 mainstream  of  American  family  life.  Parents  who  purchase  cable  television  have  the  legal  right  to  block  any  channel  they  dont  consider  appropriate  for  their  children.  More 
 parents  should  be  made  aware  of  this  right.  Free  over-  the-  air  broadcasting,  however,  offers  no  such  alternative  to  parents.  For  broadcast  material  designed  for  mature 
 audiences,  its  a  matter  of  the  right  time  and  place. 
 Enough  is  enough.  As  a  parent  and  an  FCC  Commissioner,  I  share  the  publics  disgust  with  increasingly  crude  radio  and  television  content. 

 Ive  only  served  on  the  Commission  for  about  a  year,  but  Im  proud  that  weve  stepped  up  our  enforcement  in  that  time.  And  we  need  to  ramp  it  up  even  further.  In  my 
 view,  gratuitous  use  of  swear  words  or  nudity  have  no  place  in  broadcasting. 
 We  need  to  act  forcefully  now.  Not  surprisingly,  complaints  before  the  FCC  are  rising  rapidly,  with  more  than  240,000  complaints  covering  370  programs  last  year.  In 
 the  cases  on  which  I  have  voted,  I  have  supported  going  to  the  statutory  maximum  for  fines.  But  even  this  statutory  maximum  -  $27,500  per  incident  -  is  woefully  inadequate. 
 I  welcome  the  efforts  by  Congress  to  authorize  us  to  increase  fines  substantially  across  all  our  areas  of  jurisdiction. 
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 Awaiting  such  authority,  Ive  pushed  for  new  approaches  to  deter  indecency.  We  can  increase  the  total  amount  of  fines  by  fining  for  each  separate  utterance  within  the 
 same  program  segment.  And  we  need  to  hold  hearings  to  consider  revoking  broadcasters  licenses  in  serious,  repeated  cases.  I  worked  last  April  to  have  the  FCC  put 
 broadcasters  on  notice  that  we  were  taking  these  steps  to  establish  a  stronger  enforcement  regime.  Our  challenge  now  is  to  act  more  quickly  when  we  get  complaints,  and  to  ensure 
 that  our  complaint  procedures  are  as  consumer-  friendly  as  possible. 
 But  there  are  limits  to  what  the  FCC  can  do.  We  must  balance  strict  enforcement  of  the  indecency  laws  with  the  First  Amendment.  If  we  overstep,  we  risk  losing  the 
 narrow  constitutional  authority  we  now  have  to  enforce  the  rules.  Nevertheless,  many  cases  I  have  seen  in  my  tenure  are  so  far  past  any  boundary  of  decency  that  any 
 broadcaster  should  have  known  the  material  would  violate  our  rules. 
 So  it  may  very  well  take  more  than  the  FCC  to  turn  this  around.  We  are  not  the  only  ones  with  a  public  trust  to  keep  the  airwaves  free  from  obscene,  indecent  and 
 profane  material.  Broadcasters  are  given  exclusive  rights  to  use  the  public  airwaves  in  the  public  interest.  The  broadcasters  themselves  bear  much  of  the  responsibility  to  keep 
 our  airwaves  decent.  As  stewards  of  the  airwaves,  broadcasters  are  in  the  position  to  step  up  and  use  their  public  airwaves  in  a  manner  that  celebrates  our  countrys  tremendous 
 cultural  heritage.  Or  they  can  continue  down  the  path  of  debasing  that  heritage.  Their  choices  ultimately  will  guide  our  enforcement. 

 Serving  local  communities  is  the  cornerstone  of  the  broadcasters  social  compact  with  the  public.  When  people  choose  to  become  licensed  broadcasters,  they  understand 
 that  a  public  service  responsibility  comes  with  that  privilege.  In  his  famous  remarks  lamenting  the  vast  wasteland  of  television,  Newton  Minow  rightly  observed  that,  an 
 investment  in  broadcasting  is  buying  a  share  in  public  responsibility.  1  Every  broadcaster  should  take  that  to  heart.  Public  responsibility  may  mean  passing  up  an 
 opportunity  to  pander  to  the  nations  whims  and  current  ratings  trends  when  it  is  more  important  to  stand  up  and  meet  the  needs  of  the  local  community. 

 Broadcasters  need  to  show  more  corporate  responsibility.  They  must  rise  above  commercial  pressures,  and  recognize  the  broader  social  problems  they  may  be 
 compounding. 
 Many  factors  set  the  cultural  and  moral  tone  of  our  society.  I  welcome  the  attention  that  our  indecency  enforcement  is  receiving.  I  dont  think  of  it  as  silly  or 
 overblown,  as  some  have  suggested.  The  question  before  America  is  whether  the  coarsening  of  our  media  is  responsible  for  the  coarsening  of  our  culture,  or  vice  versa. 
 My  answer  is  both.  They  feed  on  each  other. 

 1  Newton  N.  Minow,  Television  and  the  Public  Interest  Speech  Before  the  National  Association 
 of  Broadcasters  (May  9,  1961). 
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 Media  consolidation  only  intensifies  the  pressures.  Fast-  growing  conglomerates  focus  on  the  bottom  line  above  all  else.  The  FCC  should  reconsider  its  dramatic 
 weakening  of  media  ownership  limits  last  summer. 
 Local  broadcasters  also  need  the  ability  to  reject  network  programming  that  doesnt  meet  their  communities  standards.  The  FCC  must  preserve  the  critical  back-and- 
 forth  local  affiliates  have  with  the  networks  in  the  fight  against  indecency. 
 In  terms  of  taking  positive  steps,  the  FCC  can  do  more  to  help  families.  Because  our  particular  focus  today  is  on  children,  one  vital  step  is  completing  a  pending 
 rulemaking  on  childrens  television  obligations  of  digital  television.  The  FCC  started  this  proceeding  more  than  three  years  ago,  yet  it  remains  unfinished.  We  should  quickly 
 complete  this  proceeding  to  help  meet  childrens  educational  needs,  and  give  parents  tools  to  help  their  children  make  appropriate  viewing  choices. 

 During  the  Super  Bowl,  and  on  far  too  many  other  occasions,  people  feel  assaulted  by  what  is  broadcast  at  them.  My  job  is  to  protect  our  families  from  the 
 broadcast  of  obscene,  indecent  or  profane  material.  That  also  means  promoting  healthy  fare  for  our  children.  After  all,  the  airwaves  are  owned  by  the  American  people,  and  the 
 public  is  eager  to  take  some  control  back. 
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