Advertisement
Friday, January 6, 2012

7 years later, former FCC Chair Powell regrets changing fleeting expletive rule

Nicole Richie As Fox and ABC make their oral arguments to the Supreme Court next Tuesday, the Obama Administration will be defending the FCC's 2004 crackdown. But the man who led it now says "If I were voting again, I would have dissented." Michael Powell now leads the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and he tells Bloomberg "I've always been deeply troubled by the way the First Amendment changes when you change channels." But in 2004, the atmosphere was different, in the midst of an indecency backlash following the Janet Jackson Super Bowl flash and some f-words from Nicole Richie and Cher on live awards shows. The FCC voted to take action against radio and TV broadcasters who allowed a live bad word on the air, without giving them a chance for a warning. That was a change in policy. The cases have been in court ever since, and now the FCC is defending its 1978 Pacifica George Carlin "Seven Dirty Words" decision.



Previous and Next Stories

Advertisement
Advertisement