A report in MediaWeek investigates how a conservative pressure group has been influencing the US Federal Communications Commission: "According to a new FCC estimate obtained by Mediaweek, nearly all indecency complaints in 2003 -- 99.8 percent -- were filed by the Parents Television Council, an activist group. This year, the trend has continued, and perhaps intensified. Through early October, 99.9 percent of indecency complaints -- aside from those concerning the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl halftime show broadcast on CBS -- were brought by the PTC, according to the FCC analysis dated Oct. 1." The significance of this huge number of complaints is that the FCC does not itself monitor American broadcasting. It relies upon viewer complaints for an indication of community standards and their violation. When a single, right-wing activist group like the PTC is able to generate hundreds of thousands of complaints, it creates an image of American society that is far removed from reality. Moreover, it has succeeded in getting the FCC to unfairly fine broadcasters for "indecent" material that the vast majority of TV viewers find harmless. For more, read the article in MediaWeek: www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000731656 or the discussion of that article on Slashdot: politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/06/231234 -- Jeremy Butler www.ScreenSite.org www.TVCrit.org ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu