Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Conservatives and liberals alike are concerned by growing media consolidation, notes Jack Bradigan Spula, but he warns that "this outrage is being channeled into a national debate about 'indecency,' 'values' and moral policing." The Federal Communications Commission, headed by Michael Powell, recently announced large fines for broadcasters whose programming is deemed indecent. The problem is that the large fines will still be just a drop in the bucket for large networks but "will burden small independents disproportionately - and thus tilt the playing field even more to mega-corporate advantage." Monty Pythonite Eric Idle has commented on the trend with a song dedicated to the FCC. (Warning: It contains profanity. Idle says that at $5,000 per F-word, his song will cost half a million in fines to any station that broadcasts it.)
Printer-friendly version