EMC 2410 Lecture 15 - Content Control

EMC 2410
Intro to Electronic Media

Edward Bowen

Lecture Fourteen

You Can‟t Say / Do / Hear / See That

Guidelines
Twitter:

http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules

• Violence and Threats: You may not publish or post
direct, specific threats of violence against others.
• Unlawful Use: You may not use our service for any
unlawful purposes or for promotion of illegal activities.
International users agree to comply with all local laws
regarding online conduct and acceptable content.
• Pornography: You may not use obscene or
pornographic images in either your profile picture or
user background

Guidelines

September 15, 2009

"In the process of reporting on remarks by President
Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC
News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of
those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-
record portion of the interview. This was done before
our editorial process had been completed. That was
wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC
and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen
again.” ABC spokesperson

Guidelines

L.A. Times Twitter Guidelines:
• Integrity is our most important commodity: Avoid
writing or posting anything that would embarrass The
Times or compromise your ability to do your job.
• Assume that your professional life and your personal
life will merge online regardless of your care in
separating them.
• Even if you use privacy tools (determining who can
view your page or profile, for instance), assume that
everything you write, exchange or receive on a social
media site is public.
• Just as political bumper stickers and lawn signs are
to be avoided in the offline world, so too are partisan
expressions online.

Guidelines

Washington Post Twitter Guidelines:
• When using these networks, nothing we do must call
into question the impartiality of our news judgment.
We never abandon the guidelines that govern the
separation of news from opinion, the importance of
fact and objectivity, the appropriate use of language
and tone, and other hallmarks of our brand of
journalism.”
• Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or
posting anything – including photographs or video –
that could be perceived as reflecting political racial,
sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could
be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility.

Guidelines

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/terms.php
• You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user.
• You will not post content that: is
hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence;
or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
• You will not use Facebook to do anything
unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory.
• You will not do anything that could
disable, overburden, or impair the proper working of
Facebook, such as a denial of service attack.
• You will not facilitate or encourage any violations of
this Statement.

Guidelines

Facebook
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/facebookfollo
w/

Guidelines

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

YouTube reserves the right to decide whether Content
violates these Terms of Service for reasons other than
copyright infringement, such as, but not limited to,
pornography, obscenity, or excessive length. YouTube
may at any time, without prior notice and in its sole
discretion, remove such Content and/or terminate a
user‟s account for submitting such material in violation
of these Terms of Service.

Guidelines

Anonymous
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on
MasterCard and Visa websites
Twitter Subpoenas

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/twitter/

Television Pioneers - Rod Serling

• “Patterns” (Kraft Theatre - 1955)
• “Requiem for a Heavyweight” (Playhouse 90 – 1957)
• “The Arena” (Studio One - 1956)
• “A Town Has Turned to Dust” (Playhouse 90 -1958)
• “The Twilight Zone” (Series: 1959 – 1964)
• “The Loner” (Series: 1965-1966)
• “Night Gallery” (Series: 1969 – 1973)

Television Pioneers - Rod Serling

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77SEuyeQAAg
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJSjsoE7gcg

Television Pioneers - Edward R. Murrow and
Rod Serling

Television Pioneers - Edward R. Murrow and
Rod Serling
• Both were well-respected and critically lauded in their
fields.
• Both produced thought-provoking and socially relevant
material.
• Both fought against network and sponsor censorship of
their work.
• Each found their careers stalled when they fought the
system.

Television Pioneers - Karl Freund

• Director of Photography on over 100 films from 1911 to
1950, including …

1950, including …
• “Metropolis” (1927)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j8Ba9rWhUg

1950.
• He directed the original “The Mummy” in 1933.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2645yn0Wmqk

1950.
• He won the Academy Award for “The Good Earth” (1937).

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/337833/Good-Earth-The-Movie-Clip-A-Tree-Will-Grow.html
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/29291/Good-Earth-The-Movie-Clip-A-Plague-Of-Locusts.html

1950.
• And was a lifelong technical innovator.

• In 1951, he was asked by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez to
devise a method for producing their upcoming show “I
Love Lucy,” on film.

• Freund set the standards by which television
programs, specifically situation comedies, would be shot
for decades to come.

http://www.lucyfan.com/freundfilming.html
http://www.lucyfan.com/filmingthe.html

• Freund set the standards by which television programs,
specifically situation comedies, would be shot for decades
to come.
• Three film cameras, on dollies, shooting simultaneously.
• Interconnecting sets.
• A live audience.
• Live music accompaniment.
• Uniform, high key light.
• Low contrast sets and wardrobe.

• Freund set the standards by which television
programs, specifically situation comedies, would be shot
for decades to come.
• Three film cameras, on dollies, shooting simultaneously.
• Interconnecting sets.
• A live audience.
• Live music accompaniment.
• Uniform, high key light.
• Low contrast sets and wardrobe.

With this method they shot a half hour episode each week in
one hour.

• The episodes would then be edited on three interlocked
Moviola editing machines.

http://www.lucyfan.com/danncahnremembers1.html
https://www.editorsguild.com/FromtheGuild.cfm?FromTheGuildid=119

Television Pioneers - Lucille Ball
• And would end up looking like this:

Love and Marriage:
• In 1951, at least 16 states had laws against interracial
marriage.
• And at least 8 specifically prohibited marriage between a
white and an Hispanic.

Love and Marriage:
• In the movies and on television, married couples were
only seen occupying double beds.

Love and Marriage:
• And even when the storyline of the show included the birth
of the couple‟s son, the word “pregnant” was not allowed.

Love and Marriage:
• And even when the storyline of the show included the birth
of the couple‟s son, the word “pregnant” was not allowed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P27oUog2BpM

So…
• They did not want Edward R. Murrow to broadcast his
McCarthy program.
• They did not want Rod Serling to write about Emmett Till.
• They removed references to “gas chambers” in Serling‟s
“Judgment at Nuremberg,” and Coke bottles from “Noon
on Doomsday.”
• They did not want Lucille Ball to have an Hispanic
husband.
• And they would not let her use the word “pregnant.”

• They also …
• Hid Elvis Presley‟s gyrating hips.

• They also …
• Tried to stop Milton Berle from having the Step Brothers
on The Texaco Star Theatre.

• They also …
• Objected to the level of violence in early television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqyojnM9tlc

• They also …
• Had trouble with this …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NmMRLQIPHk

• They also …
• Had trouble with this …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knw1CeU-HK4

Television Pioneers - Jack Parr
• They also …
• Took exception to this joke from Jack Parr, and edited it
out of his program.

Television Pioneers - Jack Paar
• Hosted “The Tonight Show” from 1957 to
1962, succeeding Steve Allen.
• In doing so he invented the late night talk show format that
continues to this day.
• He moved to format to prime time as “The Jack Paar
Program” from 1962 to 1965.

Television Pioneers - Jack Paar
Jack Paar - As I Was Saying …

Their objections center around four issues

• Language (especially expletives relating to excremental
function, sex, and sexual organs)

• George Carlin: “Seven Words You Can Never Say on
Television” (1972)



George Carlin: “Seven Words You Can Never Say on

• S**t
• P**s
• F**k
• C**t
• C********r
• M**********r
• and t**s




October 30, 1973: WBAI-FM broadcast a subsequent
version of the routine.




October 30, 1973: WBAI-FM broadcast a subsequent
version of the routine.

Complaint to the FCC leads to a Supreme Court decision
supporting the FCC‟s power to regulate indecency on the
airwaves.




http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/174956/june-24-2008/the-word---bleep



• Sex and Nudity

• Violence

• Race

But the question is …

WHO IS “THEY?”

• Are they …
• The Government?
• The Networks?
• The Sponsors?
• The Advertising Agencies?
• The Viewers?

• Are they …
• The Government?
• The Networks?
• The Sponsors?
• The Advertising Agencies?
• The Viewers?

YES

censor
• Verb
• transitive verb: to examine in order to
suppress or delete anything considered
objectionable <censor the news>;
also: to suppress or delete as
objectionable <censor out indecent
passages>

Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press;
or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of
grievances.

Except …

Obscenity, child pornography, or speech that
constitutes “advocacy of the use of force or of law
violation ... where such advocacy is directed to inciting
or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to
incite or produce such action.” (No protection)

Except …

Obscenity, child pornography, or speech that
constitutes “advocacy of the use of force or of law
violation ... where such advocacy is directed to inciting
or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to
incite or produce such action.” (No protection)

and

Commercial speech, defamation (libel and slander),
speech that may be harmful to children, speech
broadcast on radio and television, and public
employees‟ speech. (Limited protection).

Radio Act of 1927
Created the Federal Radio Commission, precursor to
the Federal Communications Commission, with the
power to grant and deny licenses, and to assign
frequencies and power levels for each licensee.

Prohibited "obscene, indecent, or profane language.”
Allowed programming to be considered when
renewing licenses.

Established principal that the radio spectrum belongs
to “the people” and can therefore be regulated …

… and that broadcasting is protected by the First
Amendment, but a unique medium requiring special
treatment.

Communications Act of 1934
• Establishes the Federal Communications
Commission.
• Title I (Structure): Seven member commission
(reduced to five in 1983) appointed by the president
and approved by Congress. Chairman selected by
president
• Title II: Common carriers (telephone and microwave
providers), interstate and international commerce.
• Title III: Broadcast station requirements
• Section 326 prohibits commission censorship of
broadcast stations.
• Section 315 - Equal Time Rule, Fairness Doctrine
• Federal law makes obscene or indecent language
over a broadcast station illegal.
• Title VI extends regulatory power to cable television.

Federal Communication Commission
• Provides broadcast licenses
• The powers to license, short-
license, withhold, fine, revoke or renew broadcast
licenses and construction permits, based on "public
interest, convenience and necessity"
• Classifies stations and prescribes services
• Assigns frequencies and power
• Approves equipment and mandates standards for
levels of interference
• Makes regulations for stations with network
affiliations
• Prescribes qualifications for station owners and
operators
• Levies fines and forfeitures
• Issues cease and desist orders.


Broadcasting

• The Scarcity Rationale

• Conflict in Licensing

• Intrusiveness

• PICON Standard (Public Interest, Convenience, or
Necessity)


Cable

• The Scarcity Rationale

• Conflict in Licensing

• Intrusiveness

• PICON Standard (Public Interest, Convenience, or
Necessity)

It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time. It is also a violation of
federal law to broadcast indecent or profane programming during certain hours. Congress
has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) the responsibility for
administratively enforcing the law that governs these types of broadcasts.

The FCC has authority to issue civil monetary penalties, revoke a license or deny a renewal
application. In addition, violators of the law, if convicted in a federal district court, are subject
to criminal fines and/or imprisonment for not more than two years. The FCC vigorously
enforces this law where we find violations. In 2004 alone, the FCC took action in 12 cases,
involving hundreds of thousands of complaints, assessing penalties and voluntary payments
totaling approximately $8,000,000. The Commission has also toughened its enforcement
penalties by proposing monetary penalties based on each indecent utterance in a broadcast,
rather than proposing a single monetary penalty for the entire broadcast.

At the same time, however, the Commission is careful of First Amendment protections and
the prohibitions on censorship and interference with broadcasters' freedom of speech. The
FCC has denied complaints in cases in which we determined the broadcast was not indecent
based on the overall context of the programming. Regardless of the outcome, the FCC
strives to address every complaint within 9 months of its receipt.

From the FCC website


WLBT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEfMVzeGd8Q
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WLBT

April 22, 2004: "I believe that Muslims in this country are a
fifth column.... The vast majority of Muslims in this country
are very obviously loyal, not to the United States, but to their
religion. And I'm worried that when the time comes for them
to stand up and be counted, the reason they are here is to
take over our culture and eventually take over our country …
You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill
them.
Jay Severin, WTKK, Boston

http://youtu.be/SvzfQD5OYA0
http://youtu.be/oe3LRp9pQP8

After over 80 complaints to the FCC:

No “clear and present danger of serious substantive evil.”


• Cher (2002 Billboard Music Awards): F*** „em.”
• Bono (2003 Golden Globe Awards): “This is
really, really f***ing brilliant.”
• Nicole Richie (2003 Billboard Music Awards): “Have
you ever tried to get cow**** out of a Prada purse.
It‟s not so f***ing simple.”
• Libra (2008 Big Brother episode): “Memphis was in
the f***ing room.”
• Jenny Slate (2009 Saturday Night Live) “I f***ing love
you for that.”
• Joe Biden (2010 Press Conference): “This is a f***ing
big deal.”

https://www.parentstv.org/ptc/action/bigbrother10/main.asp

The final straw …

Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004)
Halftime Wardrobe Malfunction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOLbERWVR30


The Fallout:
• Crackdown on indecency in broadcasting, including
daytime television
• Record $550,000 fine against CBS
• Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005
• Increase of the FCC fine per indecency violation from
$27,500 to $325,000
• Clear Channel removes Howard Stern from several
markets.
• Annual Victoria‟s Secret Fashion Show cancelled
• George W. Bush reelected president

“Superbowl XXXVIII”

• 2004: Wardrobe Malfunction
• Amount of time the nipple spent on-air: 1.01 seconds
• Cost to NFL (in sponsor refunds): $10 million
• Ranking among 2004 Internet searchers: 1
• Ranking in TiVoís "most rewound moments": 1
• Number of American complaints to the network: more
than 500,000
• Number of Canadian complaints: about 50


The Fallout:
• After cases ping-pong from circuit to Supreme
court and back again …
• 2008: In Federal Communications
Commission v. Fox, the Supreme Court
upheld the fleeting expletive rule, but failed to
rule on the first amendment implications.


July 2010
• A Federal Appeals Court strikes down FCC‟s fleeting
expletive policy.
• Cited several examples of chilled speech, including:
• a Vermont station's refusal to air a political debate
because one local politician previously had used
expletives on the air, and
• a Moosic, Pa., station's decision to no longer provide
live coverage of news events unless they affect
matters of public safety or convenience.


Enforcement Actions

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Welcome.html

The Networks - Standards and Practices

Self-Regulation
National Association of Broadcasters Code (1950)
• “Advancement of education and culture”
• Community responsibility
• Responsibility toward children
• General program standards
• Suspended in 1976 when Family Hour ruled
unconstitutional
• Advertising standards limiting number and length
commercials (largely abolished in 1982)


Self-Regulation and Self-Censorship

• Societal responsibility
• To counter potential governmental censorship
• To preserve the network brand
• To maintain the desired audience
• To keep advertisers and sponsors
• To avoid issues of liability


Content Rating


“M*A*S*H””
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpvonVbH-c


“Bones”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnkO2XKEncw


http://www.thedailybeast.com/video/item/conan-obrien-versus-standards-and-practices

Television Pioneers - Sylvester “Pat” Weaver

• President of NBC, 1953 - 1955; Chairman 1955 -1956
• Introduced the practice of networks producing their own
television programming, then selling advertising time
during the broadcasts, reducing the influence of individual
sponsors.
• Created “Today” and “The Tonight Show”

• 1994: It's very disappointing,'' he said. ''There's occasional
good things on, but there's no consistent arts
programming. ''

The Sponsors and Agencies
• 1950‟s: Sponsors demand that those with purported Communist
affiliations be blacklisted.

• Westinghouse Electric once tried to change the title of Rudyard
Kipling's “The Light that Failed.”

• 1959: "Playhouse 90 - Judgment at Nuremberg” All references
to gas chambers eliminated from its re-enactment of the Nazi
trials at the behest of the show's sponsor, the American Gas
Association.

• 1964: General Motors threatened to withdrawal from Bonanza
should an episode starring black actors William Marshall, Fria
Hartman, and Ken Renard be aired. After confrontations with
NBC and the NAACP, as well as considerable negative
publicity, General Motors reversed its position. The
episode, "Enter Thomas Bowers," was telecast on April 26 as
scheduled.

• Product placement:

• Cisco technology has featured in a number of TV shows
and movies, and if you're a fan of the blockbuster series
24 you will be well aware of how Cisco technology has
helped Jack Bauer save the world!
• When you see Cisco solutions in action on TV or in the
movies you can better understand how our network
technology is transforming the way we communicate and
collaborate.
• Watch the clips, find out more about the technology
behind the scenes, or check out other TV shows and
movies that feature Cisco technology.Look out for these
shows on DVD!

http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/UK/about/tvmovies.html#~CSI:%20NY

Product placement:

2004

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-may-4-2004/back-in-black---product-placement

Product placement:

2007

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid271557392?bctid=1333281767

Product placement:

“30 Rock”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGx3PBdb4f8

Product placement:

2008

http://www.charlierose.com/view/clip/9608

The Viewers (Special Interest Groups)
November 2010
PTC Report Notes “Sharp Rise” in Primetime Broadcast
Profanity

Parents Television Council says its new report documents a "sharp
rise" in profanity in prime time broadcast TV, both in frequency and
"harshness." In a study of the first two weeks of prime time in 2010
compared to the same period in 2005, PTC says there has been a
69.3% increase in the past five years, with the greatest increase
coming in the 8-9 p.m. time period that was once the so-called family
hour. PTC President Tim Winter attributes the rise to the court
challenges to the FCC's authority to regulate indecency. PTC says 111
f-words have been used in the family hour in 2010, vs. 10 in 2005,
and a total of 276 vs. 11 in all prime time periods of 2005.

(John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, Nov. 9, 2010)

September 2010
Sesame Street Pulls Perry Segment

Sesame Workshop has decided not to air a parody featuring Katy
Perry after complaints that her costume was too revealing,
following the segment's preview on YouTube. "Sesame Street has
a long history of working with celebrities across all genres,
including athletes, actors, musicians and artists," said Sesame
Workshop in a statement. "Sesame Street has always been
written on two levels, for the child and adult. In light of the
feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video, which was
released on YouTube only, we have decided we will not air the
segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is
aimed at preschoolers.” But it added that "Katy Perry fans will still
be able to view the video on www.katyperry.com."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHROHJlU_Ng

September 2010
Sesame Street Pulls Perry Segment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHROHJlU_Ng

September 2010
PTC Shifts '$#*! My Dad Says' Campaign to Local Stations

The Parents Television Council is taking its campaign against CBS's
new show, “$#*! My Dad Says,” to the local level. It had been
targeting national advertisers - a spokesperson said it has contacted
over 300 advertisers - but said Sept. 21 that it would shift the
campaign to "grassroots activists" who will " take their concerns
directly to their hometown CBS affiliates and each affiliate's local
advertisers." PTC President Tim winter says that PTC members will
keep track of the local advertisers in the show and get in their faces
over that decision. CBS has said that the show "will in no way be
indecent and will adhere to all CBS standards," adding that: "Parents
who choose to do so will find the show can easily be blocked using
their V-Chip.”

(John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, Sept. 21, 2010)

Pearl Jam and President Bush

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQH1tp8_zAA

Pearl Jam and President Bush

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybc9mcBIcWY

“South Park”

• 2006: Mohammed

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/103667/a-crap-cartoon

"It is neither realistic nor constitutionally sound to
read the First Amendment as requiring that
people of Maine or Mississippi accept public
depiction of conduct found tolerable in Las
Vegas or New York City.”

Supreme Court Ruling, 1973

EMC 2410 Lecture 15 - Content Control

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EMC 2410 Lecture 15 - Content Control