The FCC

[Naked Snake]

The FCC, a group of people not elected, instead they were appointed. What did the FCC do? They decided that Television and Radio are the only two forms of media not covered by the first ammendment. Why is this important? Well...lets see, the first ammendment states we have freedom of speech, among other freedoms. Well...if we have freedom of speach how come T.V. and Radio has to be censored? This seems to me like our FREEDOM of expression and speech has been trampled on, and America as a whole has vastly ignored this fact. What did the FCC decide? There are many things you cannot say on T.V. or Radio, there are a lot of words on this list of "foul" words. The list goes as such : shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Hmm....now, let me ask you something. You are watching a T.V. show, and this guy in the show gets shot, and he says to his partner or whatever "OW, I'M SHOT" do you honestly think the guy really would have said "FUCKING COCKSUCKER FUCKING SHOT ME, THAT SHITHEAD CUNT!" or something similar? Damn right he would have. I think Americans should protest or something against the FCC, because they took away many of our rights from right under our noses. We have freedom of press, but we can't hear, I mean HEAR not read a cussword? Pretty fucked up if you ask me.

[Sharessa]

Censoring the radio is pretty lame, but there are a few stations that don't even bother which is cool. TV sucks anyway, but it might be better if it weren't all censored-up. Still, I wouldn't want my kids hearing that shit on TV all the time...they'd get enough from their dad. :P

[IMJack]

The thing with radio and TV is: Not everyone can go out and put on a TV or radio show. Anybody can speak in public, or hand out newspapers or fliers, or post bills; those, and others, are protected forms of free speech. None require any major preperation, save for printing the bills or maybe renting a forum. But TV and radio take a pretty big investment: you need gear, you need airtime, electricity, staff, et cetera ad nauseum.

Also, TV and radio are by and large commercial properties. Corporate-types invest their people and money in it, and hope to make a return on their investment. Nearly the entire TV and radio broadcast industry in America is controled by ten corporations. Frankly, the little guy with something to say doesn't even register to those ten corporations. The little guy can posts all the bills and give all the speeches he wants to on the streets, but the corporations won't even consider cancelling a rerun of M*A*S*H to let the little guy say his piece.

The FCC was built to police and censor the people who put on TV and radio broadcasts. In this day and age, ten corporations. Without the FCC, these corporations would show you whatever the hell they wanted to. Subliminal advertisement, anyone?

The First Amendment is about letting anyone and everyone say their piece. The ten corporations don't give a shit about anyone saying their piece, and the FCC knows it. You want to be heard? Go on public broadcasting, or public-access TV, or public radio. Things that the FCC created to protect your right to speak out, and to prevent the corporates from owning the entire entertainment and communications system.

(In case you care, the ten corporations are: AOL Time Warner, General Electric, Viacom, Disney, Liberty Media, AT&T, NewsCorp (FOX), Bertelsman, Vivendi Universal, and Sony.)

[Lüt]

if we have freedom of speach how come T.V. and Radio has to be censored? This seems to me like our FREEDOM of expression and speech has been trampled on, and America as a whole has vastly ignored this fact. What did the FCC decide? There are many things you cannot say on T.V. or Radio, there are a lot of words on this list of "foul" words. The list goes as such : shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

Uh, I hear those on TV all the time. The FCC isn't doing such a good job.

Besides, I think they only apply to family-time TV or something, all the late-night stuff goes uncensored. The main TV channels may buy into the FCC, but all their programs suck anyway. There's good stations like HBO and such who ignore the FCC. I think the FCC is really just giving strong recommendations which most stations will adhere to, similar to a certain group who also gives close recommendations to radio stations.

Somebody's gotta keep the level of shit from getting out of hand, and even though there's no group that says stupid TV show plots should be canned, there ought to be soon. Plus I've never really seen the point of ruining otherwise-OK entertainment with excessive vulgar material anyway. I think some kind of system where only certain rated programs can be shown during certain time periods would be good too, like 2-6pm is G-PG rated, 6-10 is PG-PG13, 10+ is R. Something like that.

[Naked Snake]

Lüt, I meant you can't say those things on basic cable, channels that you pay for like H.B.O., Cinemax, Showtime, stuff like that, they have less strict rules, they can show nudity but they cannot show penetration, they can show breasts but they cannot show a dick (thank god). The cursing, they can say what they want, as far as violence they can be pretty violent. The FCC still has a little hold over those subscription channels.

[Linguica]

If you run down the street naked, screaming "EAT SHIT MOTHERFUCKERS" at the top of your lungs, you'll be arrested. No one goes around complaining how their First Amendment rights are being trampled by that. So naturally you cannot do it on broadcast airwaves either.

However, on cable networks, ANYTHING goes. Because cable networks are not public or freely available, the companies that distribute them can put anything that they want on. It's a myth that cable networks have to obey any regulations -- Lifetime could rename itself "The Fuck Network" and show Faces of Death all day long, and the FCC wouldn't do a thing about it. However, cable networks for the most part know that they shouldn't do that sort of thing, partly due to simply decency, but also because no cable provider would distribute such a channel. However, sometimes exceptions to happen, like the infamous "shit" episode of South Park, which was perfectly legal despite the uproar of many mommies.

[læmænt]

Faces of Death

Isn't it called "Traces of Death"? Or is that a totally different movie? I'm kinda confused about that.

Cool movie though :)

[IMJack]

I was reading about this earlier today... "Faces of Death" is just a gross-out show that shows a lot of really unpleasant ways to get killed or maimed (skydiving into an alligator pit, rape/murder on video tape, you know). Not exactly "family-friendly" programming, ne?

[læmænt]

I know, I've seen it.

[Stitches]

swearing is not really necessary in speech
but who's to say what a swear word is or not?
well, but you do have little kids listening to the radio and watching tv, so people really dont want them to be exposed to it

[pritch]

South Park

/me loves.

My Cartman impression 0wnz, my mum says so, so nyah. She's a bigger fan than me!!

[Vominus]

swearing is not really necessary in speech

Swears are just another form of expression.
Example:

1.The burglars burned all of their rugs, stole their jewelry, smashed their windows, killed their dog, and shit on the floor!

2.The burglars burned all of their rugs, stole their jewelry, smashed their windows, killed their dog, and pooped on the floor!

I supposed using the word "defecated" might work, but it would stil take away from the impact of the expression.

I agree that swears are not necessary in speech, but they can also be very appropriate.

[Sharessa]

South Park

/me loves.

My Cartman impression 0wnz, my mum says so, so nyah. She's a bigger fan than me!!

Bah. Find a better show.

[DooMBoy]

FCC->Federal Commision of C*cksuckers! :p

[Stitches]

well yeah, there are those cases, im saying in normal conversations, like walking down the hall i hear ppl say fuck like it was and, i dont think it's necessary in those cases, but like when you're really mad, or just want to get a point across its a good way of getting attention

[JavaGuy]

swearing is not really necessary in speech

Swears are just another form of expression.
Example:

1.The burglars burned all of their rugs, stole their jewelry, smashed their windows, killed their dog, and shit on the floor!

2.The burglars burned all of their rugs, stole their jewelry, smashed their windows, killed their dog, and pooped on the floor!

I supposed using the word "defecated" might work, but it would stil take away from the impact of the expression.

I agree that swears are not necessary in speech, but they can also be very appropriate.

You stole that from a book.

[Psyonisis]

See how FCC regulation doesn't apply:

Live in Canada
Watch City TV

[Squashfoot]

how did south park get away with there shit episode. What made it legal. It was one of the most remarkable things i had ever seen on cable television.

[ShadyXMR]

It may be that the airwaves upon which they are broadcast are part of the public domain and therefore must be regulated or something. At least that's what they told us in school.

[Doom-Child]

You stole that from a book.

I don't know how much of what I say comes from either Dave Barry, Scott Adams, Monty Python, Lüt, or deadnail. Probably too much.

DC

[Ralphis`]

I think basically, it's about morals. Swearing constantly is not needed EVER. It's just ugly. People who find it neccesary to swear to "be cool" and such is just dumb. This is exactly why I hate rap. All the rappers need to do is sing a song with the word fuck 32 times in a row and it would sell like crazy. And it's because kids have been convinced into thinking "this is cool". Swearing is overrated by people.

[JavaGuy]

You stole that from a book.

I don't know how much of what I say comes from either Dave Barry, Scott Adams, Monty Python, Lüt, or deadnail. Probably too much.

DC

Drew Carry, actually.