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Show Pornography CEDAR CITY - The highly emotional battle revolving around pornography has come to Cedar City. "Do we have the right to decide what our neighbor can watch on televison?" a topic recently discussed at a Utah Association of Women meeting has stirred up a great deal of controversy regarding the cable television industry and its use of sometimes sexually explicit ex-plicit material. D'Ann Jones, a spokeswomen avidly against the present way the cable television industry is run, presented her views at the meeting, and was later interviewed by the Record. (Her comments are on the left.) She has been actively involved for the past year and a half trying to pass legislation that would place the same regulations on cable television as are placed on regular television channels by the Federal Communications Commission. Also interviewed was Chris Houtz, manager of the local cable company in Cedar City who supports citizens' rights to choose what they will watch on subscribed for television. (His views ttfii Oil tiie-tigilt.) However, what the law currently states concerning pornography is a different issue in itself. Although information released by the UAW states that there is no regluation by any governmental authority over cable television at the present time, there is an existing law in the state of Utah that regulates the use of pornographic por-nographic material. "It's a very thorough statute that has been worked on by experts in the f?fr V f i fill V: ' Teenagers are not really ready to cope with this kind of material. That is why they need the protective influence of not only their parents, but of the community. They have shown that they are not capable in other areas like drugs, where they get in over their heads and do not know how to cope with it. D'Ann Jones you couldn't show it to the state judiciary committee." Do you feel that people who choose to view material such as HBO are affected by it in any way? "Not always in a visable way. But as I quoted from Dr. Victor Cline, he said that even if someone does not commit a rape, it distorts his perspective." How do you feel about teenagers viewing HBO? "Teenagers are not really ready tc cope with this kind of material. That is why they need the protective influence of not only their parents, but of the community. They have shown that thej are not capable in other areas lik drugs, where they get in over theii heads and do not know how to cope wit! it. "A parent needs to know what theii child is doing in order to be able to hel them. In areas they would not know i their children had seen this material a a neighbor's home or not. The chil might be having a terrible struggl see JONES on page A3 What prompted you to begin your battle against the cable industry? "Someone came into our community with a petition that asked if we cared if our neighbor had cable TV. Before signing it, I wanted to find out what cable TV would bring into our area. "When I found out that it was bringing indecent material, I carried a counter-petition that said yes we want cable TV but we want it regulated with the same standard as regular television so they don't bring in indecent material." Will you explain basically why you testified before the state judiciary committee? "I represented the Utah Association of Women and took cable clips to show them so that they would actually know what they were fighting. But when I followed one of the cable lawyers they would not allow me to show one of the film clips. They felt like it should not be shown in a public place. It's ironic that you can show it in your living room, but JoiieS continued from page A 1 pornography is shown on HBO. What is your definition of pornography? By my definition there is no pornography por-nography on HBO. Explicit sexual acts would be considered pornography. I guess I'd go with the motion picture industry and its definition and that is why there is an X-rated rating on it." What about the burlesque type shows that air on HBO? "Then again, I don't think that is pornography. You can take the human body and show the whole thing, and to me that's not pornography. You can specify in-between certain parts of the body and that would definitely be pornography. I don't think HBO has shown pornography." Do you think that some of the programming on HBO is a little bit risque? "There are some movies. But you have to realize that we don't have control over the program. We don't have that dictatorship to say that this movie is a little too risque or not." How do you feel about certain cities trying to ban HBO, like South Salt Lake and Roy for instance? "It kind of upsets me. I realize that I'm prejudiced, being in the industry. But I don't like someone telling me what I can and cannot do. I have a book of federal regulations that I have to adhere to anyhow. Even if I was not in the industry I think that it would gripe me that my next door neighbor says that I can watch this and I can't watch that. "For example, this lady, (D'Ann Jones) she is a mother of nine kids, and I think that she is trying to look out for her kids. I think that it is a shame that she has to do it outside of the home and that she can't teach her kids better inside the home where it should be. This country was founded on freedom, and I don't like the idea of them breeching upon my personal freedom. Yet I realize that I'm a little prejudiced." Do you think that the television industry in-dustry should be regulated in anyway? "The television industry has the most .. strict censor of any industry. In short it ";. is , known as the off-on switch. The people dictate what will be watched on television. People regulate the industry. in-dustry. It's not just a few. It's the silent, majority that really regulates the industry, in-dustry, not the few that speak up like Mrs. Jones." |
