ATHENS, Ga., March 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- Many politicians now complaining about indecency on television and radio are engaging in election-year posturing that could threaten freedom of expression in the United States, a University of Georgia professor says.
"The indecency feeding frenzy in Washington, D.C., is merely election-year posturing, a blatant appeal to 'family values' at the expense of freedom of expression," says Bill Lee, a professor in UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and an expert in communication law.
Lee faults the Federal Communications Commission for not clearly defining "indecency."
FCC guidelines say that a television or radio broadcast will be found indecent if it, first, describes sexual or excretory organs or activities and, second, broadcasts material patently offensive as measured by a national standard.
"The FCC has failed to provide a clear definition of indecency. Terms such as 'patently offensive' are highly subjective," Lee says. "The FCC's actions are reminiscent of Justice Stewart's description of obscenity, 'I know it when I see it.'"
Lee points out that the FCC prohibits obscenity at anytime, and indecency during hours between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are more likely to be watching or listening.
Political debate over broadcasters' responsibilities heated up after public complaints about half-time entertainment televised during the Super Bowl and later, the suspensions of shock jocks Bubba the Love Sponge and Howard Stern for material broadcast on radio.
Lee says, "Broadcasters should be responsive to their audiences, not politicians using this issue as part of their re-election campaigns."
Established in 1915, the Grady College of Journalism and
Mass Communication provides seven undergraduate majors:
advertising, broadcast news, magazines, newspapers, public
relations, publication management and telecommunication
arts. In addition, the college offers three graduate
degrees, and it is home to the Peabody Awards, one of the
premier programs in broadcasting.
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