PR of the week

"In court today, FCC and Fox lawyers conducted a battle of words surrounding the use of profanity by celebrities Nicole Richie and Cher at the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards. Deciding when profanity is acceptable and when it is offensive will be decided by a federal judge later this spring. However, according to a recent study the American people have already decided against such behavior.  9,095 people were polled recently by the American Bible Society..."

"... one of America’s leading authorities on the Holy Scriptures, and 51% of those polled felt that TV networks should develop future shows containing positive messages and even refer to God and the Bible.

"For example, NBC struggled over whether or not to keep reference to G-d and religion in the cartoon show VeggieTales, an early Saturday morning children’s treat. In the end, after much urging from the American Bible Society, NBC kept the religious references in and VeggieTales remains a huge success.

"The study entitled What Is More Offensive On Television: Religion Or Sex And Violence? proved that 21% of Americans felt that future television programming should be free of sex and murder. With 83% of those polled saying they are not offended by references to God or the Bible on network television- the real question becomes, “Who is going to lead the move toward morally based television?”

Comments

[JLF]

Well this is my opinion. Anyone that may watch those shows know who is going to be on. And if you know who is going to be on, well you should have an idea of what that person is like and how their mouths are. If you don't want to hear it, don't watch it. Capite (Italian for understand). Not a very hard things to do. Like if: you don't like the heat get out of the kitchen.

[Charles Hulse]

While in general I am in sympathy with JLF's comments it is necessary to remember not everyone is familiar with celebrities and their occasional unfortunate utterances. While I am unwilling to let a survey by the American Bible Society be the basis for arbitrary rules set by the FCC it is necessary capire (that's the italian verb meaning to understand-I want to show off in print too), that parents want to be able to protect their children from profane dribble uttered by some
celebrity who has no other thought to give us.