Brownback: Public Airwaves Need Higher Standard

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, believes the Senate will vote on his broadcast indecency bill in the near future. His bill would increase fines for indecency dramatically, fine on-air talent for indecency and create a “three strikes and you’re out” provision, ending in license revocation. It also includes a “shot clock” at the FCC to ensure timely enforcement decisions.
He told attendees of NAB’s indecency summit that content on public airwaves “should be held to a higher standard.”
As an example of what the public thinks of the Super Bowl halftime show, he released a letter sent to CBS from John Thurman of Wyoming. Brownback called it “an outstanding response” and believes the writer speaks for many Americans.
Thurman stated, “American soldiers are engaged in a culture war in Iraq and Afghanistan. At this point in the battle, it’s no longer our armies against their armies; it’s our ideas of freedom and liberty against the enemy’s ideas of fear and repression America has put out a message of hope to the world – live free, have hope and enjoy the fruits of a free and open democratic society. The Super Bowl half-time show poisoned that message.
“Given the opportunity to share the best of America with the world, the show’s producers instead chose to showcase the vilest, narrowest, most hedonistic aspects of our culture.”