Soviet Narco State
24-01-2005, 13:39
In case you didn't already know, FCC, chairman Michael Powell has announced his retirement last week! Woohooo!!! This is the man who's sensless attacks on all things his pea-sized, puratanical brain considered indecent led to such absurdities as TV networks being to afraid to show "Saving Private Ryan" because of vulagar language (They were fighting a friggin war!), and Fox pixilating Peter Griffin's fine animated ass on "The Family Guy".
But yeah there is a catch, Bush's likely new appointes are more indecency nutcases and even more owned by big media companies. F---king Fantastic!
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/opinion/24mon2.html
Michael Powell, the Federal Communications Commission chairman who rarely met a media merger he didn't like or an off-color broadcast he did, announced last week that he would resign. Mr. Powell's disappointing reign will be remembered for the extremes to which he went to punish what he called indecency, and for his abdication of responsibility for regulating the businesses that came before him. When President Bush appoints a new chairman, he should look for someone who can bring the commission to a more moderate position on both of these issues.
As chairman of the F.C.C., one of the government's most important regulatory bodies, Mr. Powell should have been an advocate for reasonable regulations that protect consumers and promote competition. Instead, he brought to his position an extreme commitment to deregulation that seemed to serve big business's interests most of all. One high-profile example was his attempt to remove regulations on the Baby Bells that were designed to make local telephone service more competitive. Although Republicans had a majority on the commission, Mr. Powell was unable to get his colleagues to back this particular antiregulatory crusade.
The other main cause Mr. Powell championed was the commission's misguided campaign against on-air indecency. The broadcasts that the F.C.C. targeted were too often innocuous, such as the singer Bono's use of a single expletive after he won a Golden Globe award, and the fines excessive, most notably the $550,000 imposed on Viacom for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at last year's Super Bowl. Media companies and artists have complained, with good reason, that the commission's indecency standards are so vague that they are being discouraged from engaging in constitutionally protected speech.
The two people being mentioned most prominently as possible successors to Mr. Powell come with some demerits. Kevin Martin, currently a Republican commissioner, has shown a welcome willingness to break with his party. But he has taken an even more extreme line on indecency than Mr. Powell. Becky Klein, a former chairwoman of the Texas Public Utility Commission, is coming off an unsuccessful run for Congress in which she accepted large contributions from telecommunications companies that seemed to be betting she might end up at the F.C.C. Ms. Klein's record underscores the third important job qualification, along with reasonable positions on media concentration and indecency: a demonstrated record of independence from the industries the F.C.C. regulates.
But yeah there is a catch, Bush's likely new appointes are more indecency nutcases and even more owned by big media companies. F---king Fantastic!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/opinion/24mon2.html
Michael Powell, the Federal Communications Commission chairman who rarely met a media merger he didn't like or an off-color broadcast he did, announced last week that he would resign. Mr. Powell's disappointing reign will be remembered for the extremes to which he went to punish what he called indecency, and for his abdication of responsibility for regulating the businesses that came before him. When President Bush appoints a new chairman, he should look for someone who can bring the commission to a more moderate position on both of these issues.
As chairman of the F.C.C., one of the government's most important regulatory bodies, Mr. Powell should have been an advocate for reasonable regulations that protect consumers and promote competition. Instead, he brought to his position an extreme commitment to deregulation that seemed to serve big business's interests most of all. One high-profile example was his attempt to remove regulations on the Baby Bells that were designed to make local telephone service more competitive. Although Republicans had a majority on the commission, Mr. Powell was unable to get his colleagues to back this particular antiregulatory crusade.
The other main cause Mr. Powell championed was the commission's misguided campaign against on-air indecency. The broadcasts that the F.C.C. targeted were too often innocuous, such as the singer Bono's use of a single expletive after he won a Golden Globe award, and the fines excessive, most notably the $550,000 imposed on Viacom for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at last year's Super Bowl. Media companies and artists have complained, with good reason, that the commission's indecency standards are so vague that they are being discouraged from engaging in constitutionally protected speech.
The two people being mentioned most prominently as possible successors to Mr. Powell come with some demerits. Kevin Martin, currently a Republican commissioner, has shown a welcome willingness to break with his party. But he has taken an even more extreme line on indecency than Mr. Powell. Becky Klein, a former chairwoman of the Texas Public Utility Commission, is coming off an unsuccessful run for Congress in which she accepted large contributions from telecommunications companies that seemed to be betting she might end up at the F.C.C. Ms. Klein's record underscores the third important job qualification, along with reasonable positions on media concentration and indecency: a demonstrated record of independence from the industries the F.C.C. regulates.