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Madison Maher
K. Mount
English 11
8 March 2016
SGP Paper
This country was founded upon civil liberties that granted us our rights in the
United States Constitution. Within these civil liberties is the freedom of speech; however
this freedom has been distorted since the creation of the radio and television. Radio and
television have been regulated for years now by the government, and regulations have
restricted the broadcasters’ freedom to speech. The government should never regulate
radio and television broadcasting because it violates our first amendment rights,
encourages censorship, and enforces regulations inconsistently. In a world where new
technologies are advancing swiftly and most technologies are at our finger tips,
regulating television and radio will not prevent anything from being seen, rather, it will
only make it harder to find for the people who want access to the information they are
looking for. Regulating what radio and television broadcasters say will not stop
information from reaching the people, because other forms of media will obtain this
information and put that same information out for people to see in a distorted and often
more offensive manner.
Regulation of radio and television restricts this country’s First Amendment right
to freedom of speech. It only gives people certain privileges, which ultimately takes away
that granted freedom. Giving the government the opportunity to regulate radio and
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television opens the door to censorship and the keeping of crucial information from the
public. Citizens should keep this from happening, and becoming informed about the
problem of regulation on television and radio broadcasting is the best way to get started.
Certain people believe regulation is best for this country, but who should decide when
freedoms have reached their limits? The government has restricted these freedoms, since
television and radio became a problem, with acts and bills passed by congress.
Radio regulation began with simple legislation over the newly found wireless
communication industry during the 1910s (Messere). Radio rapidly began to grow and, as
it became popular in the 1920s, Congress felt it best if they started regulating what the
broadcasters could and could not air. This is when the Radio Act of 1927 was passed
which started regulation on the policy for broadcasting (Messere). This act was
significant because it marked the first time that broadcasters were given fewer First
Amendment rights than newspapers. As technologies advanced with the television, the
Communications Act of 1934 was approved to expand the regulations to the television
and create a permanent commission to regulate radio and television called the Federal
Communications Commission, or the FCC.
Radio and television have been regulated since the times of their creation. Times
have changed, as this country has grown older and smarter. Regulation may have once
been necessary when there were only few channels to choose from, and radio and
television were people’s only sources of getting information about the government’s
decisions and actions and also for some entertainment. At the time, the broadcasters may
not have felt that their freedom of speech was being taken from them, because they did
not feel it violated any right that they had to an extreme where they need to take action to
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the court. However, today’s society, people demand the right to speak their opinions
freely on broadcasts over the radio and television and not get fined for what they say.
America esteems itself highly for the accomplishment that every citizen is
informed on the current events in this country. Our country boasts that citizens have a
right to say what they think on publicly viewed broadcasts, but that is not entirely true.
Indecent expressions of opinions are protected by the First Amendment because it is a
form of showing our viewpoint on a certain matter, but even indecency, which is different
from obscenity, has been banned from radio and television. Indecency has been defined
by the FCC as language or material that describes sexual or inappropriate activities that
exceed the level of measure for the community standards, where as obscenity is showing
indecent behavior on the air (Federal Communications Commission). Their definition of
indecency has been arbitrary and capricious, and the FCC has exploited the fear that
unsupervised children might hear something inappropriate on the airwaves (Foerstel,
viii). With that in mind, it is not the job of the government to keep information whether
indecent or obscene from the citizens. The citizens have the right to decipher what they
agree upon and what they do not when they hear it on the radio and television. Yet, the
government regulates broadcasters’ opinions to match the opinions they want the nation’s
people to hear. Fox News is a prime example of this, because most information people
receive from that television broadcast has a certain political belief and persuades people
to think that certain way. People do not get both views on shows, because that broadcast
would get fined if “indecent” viewpoint had been shown. The broadcasters on Fox news
present the views of mostly conservatives, due to the fact that they disagree with and
think that the views of democrats are outlandish.
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The government should not be allowed to control want they think is best for
children to see or hear. Parents have different viewpoints, and not all parents agree on
what they think is best for their child. Should the citizens of the United States let the
government have that opportunity to regulate information from children when that is a
parent’s job? It should be up to a parent to decide what should be blocked from their
radio and television. In a world where indecency and obscenity can be found in any form
of media, radio and television is not the only source which parents have expressed their
concern for their children. Carter G. Phillips, a lawyer representing Fox, told the court in
a case that “Today, broadcasting is neither uniquely pervasive, nor uniquely accessible to
children, meaning broadcasting television and radio aren’t the only options out there
anymore (Vettese).The government does not regulate what goes on the internet or what
goes in magazines, and kids see those every day. It is the responsibility of parents to
watch their children and know what their child should or should not be watching.
The FCC fines and punishes radio and television stations for infractions with the
rules, but they are not consistent in enforcing these fines. Broadcasts of Saving Private
Ryan continued to play the detailed battle sequences and harsh language without getting
fined by the FCC. However, for a broadcast about the history of jazz, where musicians
used similar expletives, PBS was fined (Vettese). Just recently, actress and singer, Cher,
used vulgar language on the Golden Globe Awards, and the network got fined. The next
morning, however, morning news and radio talk shows were replaying what she said and
did not get fined for this infraction. If the FCC is going to punish networks and stations
they should fine broadcasters and prevent anyone to review this incident. Regulating the
radio and television cannot simply consist of picking and choosing networks and stations
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to punish. The FCC should punish and fine all infractions with the law. These regulations
are not consistent and if they are not consistent, they should not exist. Inconsistency is
unorganized and does not make a good impression for the government.
People on the
other side of the
controversy would
argue that regulation
is something that this
country needs always.
They feel that people
have the freedom of
speech but when it starts to obstruct justice or creates destruction then it becomes a
problem. Radio and television broadcasters use this freedom in destructive ways when
they use obscene or indecent behavior on their broadcasts. The FCC states that obscene
material is not protected by the first amendment rights and can’t be broadcasted
(Vettese). The FCC has a right to revoke a license due to violations to the rules against
obscene, indecent, or profane material. This graph illustrates the number of complaints
and fines that the FCC received and gave out during the years of 2001 to 2004 alone. The
number of obscene material and indecency that parents did not like and was not censored
were high and that caused a lot of parents and guardians to file complaints against these
radio and television broadcasts. The Obama Administration supports the FCC’s power to
regulate broadcast media more strictly, saying that it’s even more important in a world
where violence, vulgar language, and sexual imagery are a commonplace on cable and
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that it could prevent entering into a no boundaries realm (Vettese). However it should not
be up to the government to regulation what goes on radio and television.
So where does the line get drawn as to where it is right for the government to
intervene in radio and television? There is no reason or way to justify regulating
broadcast in radio and television. It is a violation of our first amendment right due to the
fact that this country was founded on the basis of freedoms; one being freedom of speech.
It limits the radio and television broadcasters’ freedom and that takes away from the
American dream. Deregulating television and radio will have effects that can improve
this country if people just allow it to happen. It keeps the government from censoring the
media to persuade people a certain way. People will get the whole truth in radio and
television is deregulated and find out others’ opinions so that they can form their own as
a result. Government should never have that control as to control what goes on radio and
television broadcasts. Today just the radio and television are regulated but if you give the
government an inch and they’ll take a mile, so how much are you willing to give the
government?
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Works Cited
Vettese, John. "Should the Government Regulate Radio and TV Broadcasts?." Annenberg
Classroom. 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
Foerstel, Herbert N. "Introduction." Free Expression and Censorship in America: An
Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press, 1997. viii. Print.
Drew, L.. "FCC Complaints and Fines 2001-2004." Wikipedia. N.p., 18 June 2008. Web.
24 Apr 2012
Jennings , Brian . "The Fisrt Amendment Yesterday and Today." Censorship: The Threat
to Silence Talk Radio. Threshhold . Simon and Schuster, Inc., 2009. Print.
"Indecency, Obscenity, and Profanity." Federal Communications Commission. Web. 17
Apr. 2012.