An indecent intrusion.Byline: The Register-Guard Finally, parents can relax, secure in the knowledge that their children are not being force-fed traumatizing TV broadcasts of sexual or excretory ex·cre·to·ry adj. Of, relating to, or used in excretion. excretory pertaining to excretion. excretory behavior see elimination behavior. content of a patently offensive nature. And even if the kids are - being patently offended by sexual or excretory content - parents know that now there will be punishment. It will soon be 10 times more painful for a television network or station to send sexual or excretory content of a patently offensive nature out over the airwaves. On Wednesday, those upstanding guardians of American morality in the U.S. House of Representatives jacked up the fine to $325,000 for sex and excrement excrement /ex·cre·ment/ (eks´kri-mint) 1. feces. 2. excretion (2). ex·cre·ment n. Waste matter or any excretion cast out of the body, especially feces. that patently offends. Used to be a paltry $32,500, which makes it surprising that every other show wasn't filled with naked people going to the bathroom in their front yards. Not anymore, ladies and gentlemen. The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, passed unanimously by the Senate last month, sailed through the House last week on 379-35 vote. (Makes you wonder what kind of shows the 35 supporters of exposing impressionable im·pres·sion·a·ble adj. 1. Readily or easily influenced; suggestible: impressionable young people. 2. children to sexual or excretory content of a patently offensive nature are watching in their homes.) The massively beefed-up fines will finally help an injured nation heal from the shock of seeing what was deemed to be a patently offensive portion of Janet Jackson's right breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show A halftime show is a performance given between the first and second halves or the 2nd and 3rd quarters of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of divisions (such as baseball or boxing), or for sports that don't stop. on CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. . Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist referred to the outrage as "a televised striptease" that occurred "when families (were) watching a Sunday night football Sunday Night Football can refer to one of three National Football League television series:
The Jackson Horror, perhaps because it involved families, the Sabbath and Jackson's black patent leather costume, drew $550,000 in Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. fines against 20 network affiliates. Had the Horror occurred under the new regulations, CBS would have faced at least $6 million in fines, which would have prompted pundits to begin calling Jackson "The Six Million Dollar Woman." A note of caution: The only parents who can really relax are those who don't have cable or satellite TV in their homes. The FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. regulates only the old-fashioned over-the-air broadcast stations. So even though he's safe from patently offensive sexual or excretory content on the rabbit-ear-antenna-delivered stations, it's still possible Junior is down in the rumpus room watching "Girls Gone Wild" with Snoop Dogg on cable. Looks like it's still going to be up to parents to know what their children are watching on TV and to decide what's appropriate. But apparently, that kind of family-based enforcement isn't covered in the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. |
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