Thanks to Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl halftime show, not to mention other breaches of taste, Washington has been awash in promises to crack down on raunchy fare.
The Federal Communications Commission has made a show of cracking down on violations of its broadcast standards–as when it reversed an earlier ruling and found that singer Bono’s use of a common vulgarity during the Golden Globe Awards was “indecent and profane.” The House of Representatives has passed a bill raising the fine for each offense from $27,500 to $500,000 and authorizing automatic license revocation actions against any station guilty of three violations. There is even talk in Congress of applying the broadcasting rules to cable channels, which have had much freer rein.
The public anger stimulating these moves is understandable. Parents have good reason to want some means to shield their children from foul language, excessive violence and sexual material. But the responses from regulators and lawmakers run the risk of violating the 1st Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of expression. They also share a very serious flaw: They put decisions in the hands of government officials rather than parents.
That’s a complete reversal of the approach taken the last time Congress addressed the problem, back in 1996. The answer offered then was the V-chip–a device to let parents block out any programs they found inappropriate. But eight years later, the V-chip has been forgotten–not because it failed, but because few parents gave it a try.
Since 2000, every new TV set sold in the United States has had to be equipped with a V-chip, which by now adds up to 80 million sets. Both cable and broadcast networks had to create a movie-like ratings system, allowing viewers to block shows with particular ratings.
Despite the concept’s initial appeal, though, most parents couldn’t be bothered to follow through. A pilot project offering extensive support in learning to operate the gadgets produced pitiful results: 77 percent of the parents never used it, and only 8 percent used it consistently.
Before Washington embarks on a heavy-handed and constitutionally dubious effort to solve the problem, it ought to give the previous solution a chance to work. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the telecommunications subcommittee, has requested that the industry “do a better job in educating parents about the tools they already may possess.”
Among his proposals are for shows to display the TV rating more often and for networks to run more public-service ads to increase awareness of how to take advantage of these options. The industry is already taking positive steps. Fox is going to run a one-hour special on V-chips, and Comcast plans Web site links explaining how to operate the device, while offering free blocking of channels to cable subscribers.
Americans are always tempted to demand that Washington solve any given problem right away. But this is one of those cases where one policy can’t possibly satisfy everyone in this large, diverse country. It would be much better to rely on a tool that lets each family find its own solution.
