TV watchdogs unhappy that FCC had no bite in 2005

WASHINGTON - A leading television watchdog group expressed disappointment Thursday that U.S. regulators were poised to end the year without issuing any fines for on-the-air indecency after record citations in 2004.

Members of the Parents Television Council, which has crusaded against coarse language and sexual content on television, made numerous complaints during the year and fear that the inaction by Federal Communications Commission will lead to racier programming.

The council's primary targets included an episode of CBS' popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation that included references to abuse of a man's private parts, as well as profanity during the ABC network's broadcast of the Live 8 concert that drew attention to poverty in poor countries.

...

However, the FCC has not proposed a single fine this year after a record $7.9 million in 2004, including $550,000 against 20 CBS stations that aired the exposure of singer Janet Jackson's breast during the Super Bowl halftime show in Houston.

"Here 2005 is going to end essentially tomorrow and nothing has been done all year," Melissa Caldwell, the PTC's director of research and publications, said in a telephone interview. "I'm a bit disappointed. I would have expected to see something happen before now."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3555230.html

:nopity: You didn't get to bully us all as you'd hoped, assholes?

they don't give a fuck about yer family values or even yer jeezus. They only care about money and you assholes just don't have enough of of it, so enjoy rolling around in the sawdust and playin with snakes on Sunday, 'kay?

Remember? :sarcasm:

It's that simple.

Cuz, yeah, 2004 was an election year, and yeah, ptc, you were p-l-a-y-e-d.

Just like the so-called homophobe "Christians" with the "protecting marriage" bullshit.

sheesh

Doesn't require opposable thumbs to change the channel. Tell me why is it when the Dems controlled congress that they were trying to create a "nanny" state but when the pukes have the "majority", they are not? This whole "family package" hoopla is just another way to part the fools from their money. Gonna block all news channels cuz they certainly aren't "family" oriented. Don't want your your litter watching a show, supervise them. Better yet, just get rid of the TV. Leave my kids alone.

And so they take almost no chance. Did you know that Britain gets to see American Football before the USA does? We get a few games broadcast here, live, while the American transmissions have a 10 second delay in case of streakers or wardrobe malfunction. I'm seriously tempted to post spoilers for the Superbowl on some American board I don't like - but I couldn't do that to DU.

By the way, do self-appointed groups normally get called 'watchdogs' in the USA? In the UK, I'd expect the FCC to be called a 'watchdog'; the "Parents Television Council" is a pressure group for censorship at best, or "self-righteous moral prigs" if we're being honest.

Pro-censorship groups are often referred to by this label, but groups that should normally deserve the label (like the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wall Street, for example) are referred to simply as "regulatory agencies."

that is a tad MISleading. they're the ONLY 'television watchdog group' really. responsible for 99.9% of all fcc complaints. the story doesn't once mention their evangelical roots either. bad reporting.

I'd love to see that more widely disseminated.

They'll be ba-ack.