BROADCASTING, THE FCC, AND PROGRAMMING REGULATION: A NEW DIRECTION IN INDECENCY ENFORCEMENT
Open Access
Author:
Weinert, David J
Graduate Program:
Mass Communications
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
February 12, 2018
Committee Members:
Robert D. Richards, J.D., Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Robert D. Richards, J.D., Committee Chair/Co-Chair Robert M. Frieden, J.D., Committee Member Matt Jackson, Ph.D., Committee Member Thomas M. Place, J.D., Outside Member
Keywords:
Broadcasting Enforcement Federal Communications Commission Indecency Programming Regulation
Abstract:
The U.S. Supreme Court, in June 2012, left broadcasters in a “holding pattern” by dodging the longstanding question of whether the Federal Communications Commission’s broadcast indecency policy can survive constitutional scrutiny today given the vastly changed media landscape. The high court’s narrow ruling in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. exonerated broadcasters for the specific on-air improprieties that brought the case to its attention, but did little to resolve the larger and more salient issue of whether such content regulations have become archaic. As a result, the Commission continues to police the broadcast airwaves, recently sanctioning a Roanoke, Virginia television station $325,000 for alleged broadcast indecency.
This dissertation yields an in-depth analysis and synthesis of the legal obstacles the FCC will encounter in attempting to establish any revamped policy governing broadcast indecency. It discusses the insuperable First Amendment considerations that will trouble the Commission in its efforts, including the current exceptions that swallow the rationale for the regulations and the dramatically changed media landscape that render them unsuccessful.
