POLITICS: Activist Group Has the Ear of the FCC

The Parents Television Council is a group of concerned "parents" that has taken it upon themselves to complaint to the FCC over what they find indecent content. Only one-tenth of one percent of complaints that weren't about Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction has come from this group this year. The number of complaints the FCC received each year has increased from 350 to over 1 million in four years. That's dramatic to say the least.



The reason for such a high number of complaints can probably be contributed to the fact that the PTC's website has a direct link to complain to the FCC. I find it unsettling that a very small percentage of people have taken it upon themselves to dictate to the FCC what is questionable or offensive material.

Hopefully the FCC takes into account the opinions of people that aren't easily offended as well.



Related News Links:
www.parentstv.org

[edit on (12/6/0404 by PistolPete]

Wow, lots of chuckles after only a few minutes browsing their website. I feel for the over-sheltered children of these people, they are going to really have a shock when they hit the real world and dont have the wings of mommy and daddy to protect them anymore. Kind of funny to see some of my favorite shows such as CSI and Las Vegas on the top 10 worst shows for families. I wonder why they dont decry the daily images streaming across from Iraq and other war-torn parts of the globe?

The funniest thing I found on their website would have to be the stellar list of celebrity advisors. Such A-list personalities as Bruce Jarchow, Susan Wales, William Blinn, and certainly the greatest of them all: Billy Ray Cyrus.

The fact that this group uses a hodgepodge of these so-called celebs to assert they're a non-partisan group is crazy. The founder of the group is a known staunch conservative L. Brent Bozell III.

Pete - From your link:

...the agency on Oct. 12, in proposing fines of nearly $1.2 million against Fox Broadcasting and its affiliates, said it received 159 complaints against Married by America, which featured strippers partly obscured by pixilation.

But when asked, the FCC�s Enforcement Bureau said it could find only 90 complaints from 23 individuals.

�All but four of the complaints were identical�and only one complainant professed even to have watched the program,� Fox said.

While I agree that PTC is an annoying little group - it would also appear that the FCC is exaggerating numbers and imposing rather punitive and harsh fines based on very few, rather suspect complaints. Think about that - $1.2 million dollars in fines because one person who saw the show was offended by it.

IMO the PTC is simply giving the FCC the excuse they were looking for to start censoring (no other word for it) what they have determined to be offensive.


B.

This group just wants to dictate (impose their view about) the kinds of information others may be exposed to. It's a slippery slope. First, no nudity ( the Howard Stern Show would be much more interesting without the annoying pixilation of all the interesting content!), then no 4 letter words (it's hard to follow some conversations with all the bleeps), then .... no offensive political dissent.

Has the ACLU chimed in on the fines being levied by the FCC?

People need to learn how to vote for and against programs with their channel changer. How hard can that be. You don't even have to get off your Barco loungerl. If you the content is offensive to you, DON'T WATCH IT! If you don't want your kids to watch it, DON'T LET THEM!

Holy cow pie, you might have to exercise some critical thought and take action in the moment rather than allow yourself to be offended for hours on end, only to realize after it's too late that you've polluted your brain yet again. Once the garbage is in there you can't get it out no matter how hard you try!! Crowbars, Comet Cleanser, years of therapy, Repubican ten stepo programs, ... nothing works! So don't watch it in the first place!!! Play it safe, just watch the FOX NEWS NETWORK and you'll have a fair, balanced, upspun, and very PC view of reality with plenty of very good company sop you can feel that you are part of something much bigger than yourself.

Who are PTC? Are they a public interest group or is there something else going on?
PTCs homepage
One agenda item up on top is a'la carte cable television subscriptions. On its face this seems a worthy goal for many. After viewing the dark, underbelley of PTC one has be suspicious.

Brina Carnell
Parents Television Council's Wrestling Moves Were Fake
By Brian Carnell
Tuesday, July 9, 2002
USA Today is reporting that World Wrestling Entertainment has reached a settlement with the Parents Television Council over claims the PTC made that four children died after attempting moves they saw on WWE's Smackdown!.
The PTC agreed to pay WWE $3.5 million, retract the claims and publicly apologize for its statements.
The amusing thing is that PTC is an offshoot of Media Research Center. MRC is a conservative media watchdog whose mission is to point out inaccuracies and bias in the mainstream media.
Anyway, here's the full statement of retraction from PTC/MRC head honcho L. Brent Bozell,

Brian Carnell
FCC Rules In Favor of Buffy and Against PTC Complaint
By Brian Carnell
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Parents Television Council -- the group last seen paying WWE $3.5 million after the PTC lied about the WWE's role in a number of child deaths -- filed a complaint about an episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. The episode in question featured simulated sex between Buffy and Spike, which the PTC claimed was indecent.

PRweb
The Parents Television Council Making Money Off of WWFE Product Sales

The Parents TelevisionCouncil(PTC) has been attacking the WWF's sponsors for quite some time now, causing many to reconsider their sponsorship of the syndicated weekly television show Smackdown!

However, during their campaigning against the World Wrestling Federation(WWF[Stock Exchange symbol WWFE), they were secretly making money off of WWF product sales on-line, with their on-line "MarketPlace." In the MarketPlace of the PTC website (www.ParentsTV.org), it states:

". . .Every time you make a purchase in our MarketPlace, a percentage of the sale goes directly to the Parents Television Council. . ."

Google for Parents Television Council 95,000 hits!

Another front organization using pressure tactics to push some agenda. Over 98% of FCC complaints come from this organization.

Want a conspiracy? What is their (PTC) agenda, what are they up, who supports them, why?