Broadcasters Plan to Offer Voluntary Code on Indecency to Police Industry’s Airwaves

With bigger government fines looming and a new opinion poll showing 6 in 10 people “very concerned” about racy programs their children might see on television, broadcast executives on Tuesday said they would soon issue a voluntary indecency code for stations.

The code, which could be formulated as early as June, would be aimed at slowing the anti-indecency movement that has gained momentum since last year, when critics were galvanized by such incidents as Janet Jackson’s breast-baring Super Bowl performance. Broadcasters said they hoped to show that the industry can police itself on sex, language and violence.

Gary Chapman, chairman of LIN TV Corp. and co-chairman of the National Assn. of Broadcasters’ task force on responsible programming, said members had discussed suggesting a five- to 10-second delay on some broadcasts, perhaps including live news feeds to prevent onlookers from shouting expletives into open microphones.

Speaking to reporters at the NAB’s convention here, Chapman said stations might be asked to beef up employee training about indecency standards, and educate parents about channel blocking technology. Another suggestion could include urging networks to let their local affiliates preview telecasts.

“We would certainly want to be self-regulated [rather] than government regulated,” Chapman said.

Broadcast executives said they were already moving on their own. David Kennedy, president of Susquehanna Media Co. and task force co-chairman, said that combating indecency begins with “the philosophy at the top of the organization.”

Tony Vinciquerra, president and chief executive of Fox Networks Group, said he had already imposed changes at company stations. Those include delaying selective broadcasts, and even having paralegals monitor some shows.

Fox is appealing a $1.18-million Federal Communications Commission fine levied in October for airing a “Married by America” episode showing electronically obscured nudity.

“That was not our finest moment in TV,” Vinciquerra said of the broadcast. Still, he said, the program did not violate FCC indecency stands, which prohibit airing sexually explicit content between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when children may be watching.

Because they are the ones fined, stations are on high alert with Congress poised to raise station penalties at least tenfold.

Speaking to the broadcasters, House Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), expressed confidence that a House measure boosting fines to $500,000 per incident is legally sound.

“We’ve done a very careful job to make sure that what we did won’t be challenged in court,” Upton said. The measure passed by a 10 to 1 margin in February. A pending Senate bill calls for maximum fines of $350,000.

On Tuesday, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press said that a survey of 1,505 people showed that 69% support higher fines.

Some 60% of respondents said they supported requiring cable TV to follow the same indecency rules as broadcasters, and believe indecency rules should be more strictly applied when children are likely to be watching. But they also expressed reservations about too much government regulation of content.