ARTICLE · 05 OCTOBER 2004

Broadcasting in the Crosshairs

Holland & Knight LLP

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During the past year or so, federal regulators and legislators have subjected the broadcast industry to unprecedented threats of punishment. This wave of increasingly aggressive sanctions and regulatory proposals has taken many forms.

United StatesGovernment, Public Sector

Originally published 3rd Quarter 2004

Article by Charles R. Naftalin (Washington, D.C.)

During the past year or so, federal regulators and legislators have subjected the broadcast industry to unprecedented threats of punishment. This wave of increasingly aggressive sanctions and regulatory proposals has taken many forms.

Regulation of Content

Indecency

The political posturing for the upcoming Presidential election has spawned substantial new federal efforts to punish indecent broadcasting. Indecent broadcasts are prohibited between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on the theory that children likely may be in the audience and should be protected from exposure to such material. To be actionable indecency, broadcast radio or television programming must describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or functions in a manner patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards. In responding to an indecency complaint, the Commission should consider the following

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