When it came to media consolidation, outgoing FCC chairman Michael Powell was a hands-off guy—so much that he allowed the largest media consolidation in history to happen on his watch. But when indecency is involved, Powell's legacy has been one of über-involvement. From the $550,000 fine for CBS's wardrobe malfunction to an ever-narrowing filter for obscenity, former George magazine editor Richard Bradley explores Powell's tenure as content censor in chief.
Richard Bradley is the former executive editor of George magazine. He is author of American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and is writing a book about Harvard University.
Here’s a small but telling example of how Federal Communications Commission chair Michael Powell has stunted the climate for free speech in the United States. A woman I know has written a smart and informative book on women’s sexual health with the cheeky but candid title, Vaginas—An Owner’s Manual. She didn’t expect much TV airtime, but to her surprise, she can’t get on the radio either. Eventually a booker at an NPR affiliate in California explained why. If an interviewer said the word “vagina” on air, the producer explained, the station might be fined or otherwise sanctioned by the FCC. The author was, understandably, confused. The government can fine you for mentioning the proper name of a woman’s body part?
After being FCC chairman for four years, Powell has just announced his resignation. At first glance, this looks like good news for people who believe in the First Amendment. Over the course of his term, Powell has consistently supported the consolidation of media while using the FCC's powers to crack down on speech that he considers distasteful.
In the last year alone, Powell has:
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Fined CBS $550, 000 for its Super Bowl airing of Janet Jackson’s exposed breast, even though the network clearly had no idea that Jackson planned to do anything of the sort (and she might not have, either).
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Fined ClearChannell Communications $495, 000 for a Howard Stern broadcast in which a caller made an obscene remark, instantly disavowed by Stern.
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Fined Entercom radio stations $220,000 for allegedly violating the FCC’s definition of obscenity.
The list could go on, but the consequences are even more worrisome. ClearChannel has kicked Stern off its stations. Networks such as ABC and NBC have edited out material from shows, lest they run afoul of the FCC’s new vigor. Dozens of television refused to air Saving Private Ryan for fear that the government would fine them for the obscenities uttered in the film. In a time of war, media outlets should feel that they have the freedom to push the envelope. Instead, Powell used his power to crack down on freedom of the press.
He has done so, moreover, with a notable lack of popular support. Though Powell claimed that his actions were motivated by an outpouring of complaints to the FCC, the commission recently determined that, in 2003, a staggering 99.8 percent of those complaints were generated by the Parents Television Council, a conservative activist group. That doesn’t entirely invalidate the complaints or their legitimacy. But it does call into question the breadth of popular support for FCC crackdowns. And now the PTC and other conservative activist groups will push the White House to appoint someone at least as amenable to their feelings as Powell was.
In the past, Powell has argued that he is concerned about the “increasing coarseness” of popular culture. It’s a legitimate concern: You can’t watch Fox’s reality show, “Who’s Your Daddy?,” without wincing a little about the state of the nation. But who elected Michael Powell the arbiter of decency? And is the government really the best vehicle for enforcing social mores? After all, Republicans are supposed to be wary of the heavy hand of government agencies. Powell shares that hands-off view when it comes to regulating media consolidation , but not when it comes to telling the media what it can and can't say. [Click here for
In the end, what Powell may have succeeded in doing is driving intelligent or risqué programming onto premium cable TV or satellite radio, where the FCC has a harder time clamping down. The man who wants to cleanse the public airwaves of indecency may simply cleanse them of intelligence, leaving those airwaves bereft of their audience and their purpose. One wonders if that wasn’t what Powell wanted all along.
