According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as of the beginning of April, the FCC announced their allowance toward full frontal nudity and the f-word on regular television. The notice was distributed publicly on April 1, giving the nation a thirty day window to voice their thoughts on the latest change to TV and radio.

The FCC was established in 1934 by the Communications Act and operates as an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress. Their occupation is focused on regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

Along with managing communications, some of their goals are revising media regulations so that new technologies flourish alongside diversity and localism and also providing leadership in strengthening the defense of the nation?s communications infrastructure.

Media coverage on this topic has not been debated as much as people think it should. With the lack of publicity, Desert News discusses how groups such as Parents Television Council (PTC) and American Family Association (AFA) are strongly against the FCC?s proposal. These associations are taking a stand against the regulation, voicing their thoughts on how this should not be allowed.

“Current broadcast decency law prohibits expletives and nudity, even if brief or fleeting,” AFA said. “The Supreme Court has upheld the law as constitutionally enforceable by the FCC, despite lawsuit attempts by networks NBC and FOX to overturn it.”

AFA continued to state the unbelievable audacity that they think the FCC has by allowing this change to be allowed during prime time, when children are most prevalent watching TV.

LDS Media Talk sums up the reasoning for why the FCC is allowing this change to broadcasting. FCC is focused on reducing the complaint ratio and has successfully done that by reducing it by 70%.

“They want to focus only on ‘egregious’ cases of indecency in broadcast media,” LDS Media Talk said. “And ignore ‘isolated’ expletives and nudity.”

Publisher of Restoring Liberty, Joe Miller, writes his opinion about the upcoming issue determining the FCC allowing more TV programs and movies to show improper material even if that audience is families or young kids.

“Essentially, the FCC is contemplating allowing pretty much any profanity as long as it is ‘isolated’; in other words, it can?t be ‘repetitive’ or use[d] in a patently offensive manner…,” Miller said. “Similarly, for nudity, as long as it?s isolated and ‘non-sexual,’ the FCC is contemplating allowing it on the airwaves.”

During the Supreme Court?s case involving the Commission?s broadcast indecency policies, Chairman Genachowski instructed the staff to review the guidelines to determine whether or not they violate the First Amendment principles.

“The FCC?s purported excuse for rethinking its indecency standards is compliance with ‘vital First Amendment principles’ as established by recent Supreme Court cases,” Miller said. “It also wants to reduce its backlog of thousands of indecency complaints. To add injury to insult, the FCC doesn?t seem to mind that the new indecency standards would be applied to all hours of broadcasting, even those most frequently watched by children.”

The FCC is willing to drop the regulation against swearing and nudity, so long as any movie and TV producers follow certain guidelines. These guidelines include swear words and nudity that are considered to be ‘isolated.’

A resident of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff comments in an article written by journalists Angela Sykora and Chris Steller from the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff Patch, regarding the FCC’s request on the previous ban.

“My family members and I like nothing better than simply to sit down to an entertaining television show without concern for what content may offend us,” commented Larry Thate of Lake Bluff. “We love to relax and enjoy a program, without having to be on our guard for what might come along that undermines sound values.”

If you are interested in sharing your point of view on the FCC change on all broadcasting, please click on the link and share your opinion.

For more news, read the April 22 article, Choir, ensemble performs ‘Star Spangled Banner’.