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Show , Thursday, September 9, 2004 3 f v. f ,: I .- s ' .7 ' : : J , J fw" : i , i T fV V r , ' . f;, h -r - -?' tt.. ' :.::'7 , - . s . .. V." '1 LIONEL HAHNAbaca Press Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake perform during halftime of Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium Sta-dium in Houston in February. Decency Continued from 1 tempt by the FCC to further curtail the First Amendment rights of listeners and broadcasters broad-casters by mandating what should or should not be programmed," pro-grammed," says Kathleen Kir-by, Kir-by, a Washington, D.C., attorney attor-ney who represents broadcasters. broadcast-ers. The crackdown on indecency illustrates just how much some attempts to regulate broadcasters broadcast-ers can affect our own rights. To begin with, the FCC's definition defi-nition of indecency is so vague that it forces broadcasters, producers pro-ducers and entertainers to self-censor self-censor to avoid crossing a line they cannot see. Enforcement can be capricious, capri-cious, unfair and uneven. A lone individual can lodge complaints that can mire a broadcaster in drawn-out proceedings and untold un-told costs. It may be good news to millions mil-lions of fans, for example, that indecency complaints against "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Will and Grace" were dismissed dis-missed earlier this month, but securing that official stamp of approval came at a cost to the media companies that put them on television. The Howard Stern radio show, frequently the target of FCC complaints, wasn't so lucky. In June, Clear Channel Communications paid out $1.75 million to settle complaints about on-air comments. Earlier this month, Emmis Communications forked over $300,000 to resolve complaints about indecent comments by a Chicago shock jock and to keep the FCC from reinstating complaints previously dismissed by the commission. CBS could be forced to shell out as much as $550,000 in possible pos-sible fines for the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction." Beyond that, this power to regulate speech is very seductive. seduc-tive. There is no real limit to the quest for limitations, as a variety vari-ety of proposals in Congress and elsewhere since the Super Bowl incident attest. Some would broaden the regulatory reg-ulatory authority over broadcasting broad-casting to include cable and satellite. They would extend the reach of regulation beyond indecency in-decency to violence in programs. pro-grams. They would add sports and news to entertainment programming pro-gramming as targets of regulation. regula-tion. They would replace live programming with delayed broadcasting. Is there some popular groundswell of concern driving this campaign to regulate regu-late and restrict what we choose to see and hear? It doesn't does-n't appear that way. Most of us believe that adults in their own homes make the best decisions about what to watch or listen to for themselves them-selves and their children. According Ac-cording to the First Amendment Center's latest State of the First Amendment poll, about eight in 10 Americans say that parents, not government officials, should be primarily responsible for shielding children from sexual material they don't want them to see and hear (81 percent for television tele-vision and 77 percent for radio). In the presence of such findings, find-ings, and common sense, the call for increased regulation of the airwaves appears not only overwrought but exaggerated. The vast majority of us consider con-sider ourselves decent human beings. But pur definitions of decency in expression extend over a wide range. We don't have to endorse indecency to favor fa-vor freedomi. Adult Americans should be.aliowed maximum freedom to choose what they and their families listen to and watch. When a government agency, driven by whatever pressures or under its own volition, forces content and programming decisions deci-sions on private broadcasters and their audiences, then that fine line between permissible regulation and unwarranted censorship is crossed. That's when we need to send a clear message to our elected leaders that not only is all politics poli-tics local, but all censorship is personal. I Paul K. McMasters is the First Amendment ombudsman at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center. swim yAyuu I? I MEIER & FRANK EARLY RIRD TEN DOLLAR GIFT VALID FRIDAY & SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10 & 11, 8AM-r:oo:j CUP YOUR $10 CERTIFICATE AND USE IT ON ANY SALE OR CLEARANCE PURCHASE OF $25 OR MORE !f (Si-, no i ! k: ANY SALE OR CLEARANCE PURCHASE OF $25 OR MORE ifiMai GET AN EARLY START! 4 HOURS ONLY! FRIDAY fi SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 & 11, 0AM-II00M FREE S10GIFT 8AM-N00N HERE'S $10! GO SHOPPindJTS Oil US! YOU DECIDE WHERE TO SPEND IT! MEIER & FRANK tNot valid on fine Watches. 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