Freeing Up the Airwaves

I just received this link through the list-serve at my radio station. As radio djs we are all quite interested in any moves that are made regarding indecency and obscenity laws promoted by the FCC. We like to know what we may or may not get in trouble for. I sure don’t want to end up getting my station in trouble for uttering something that I’m not supposed to, like Bono for instance. Additionally, although considering some words or phrases obscene or indecent seems reasonable, it seems ridiculous and out-dated for others. For instance, the phrase “piss and vinegar” can get you in trouble because piss pertains to urine and urine is considered vulgar because it is a bodily fluid. I know many would like to maintain the US in a 1950’s conservative way of life, and the FCC is helping to try to do just that. However, the reality is that the times, they are a’changin’, and what may have been indecent before may be commonplace in today’s world.

The article makes some really interesting points about the future of indecency in the US as technology advances. We have been brought into a new age of free information via the internet that opens up a whole new can of worms for the Supreme Court to deal with. Will the Supreme Court side with the FCC and continue to limit the content that adults are allowed to receive, or will it take this new age of information and the competition that things like cable and the internet have brought to the once hallowed purveyors of information, the broadcast networks? The networks are fighting for their freedom to compete in the market that they once used to own. And, who knows which way the Court will go these days?

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