TV stations are not airing Saving Private Ryan because of the FCC:
Many ABC affiliates around the country have announced that they won’t take part in the network’s Veterans Day airing of Saving Private Ryan, saying the acclaimed film’s violence and language could draw sanctions from the Federal Communications Commission.
. . .
In a statement on WSB-TV’s Web site, the Atlanta station’s vice president and general manager, Greg Stone, cited a March ruling in which the FCC said an expletive uttered by rock star Bono during NBC’s live airing of the 2003 Golden Globe Awards was both indecent and profane.
The agency made it clear then that virtually any use of the F-word � which is used repeatedly in Saving Private Ryan� was inappropriate for over-the-air radio and television.
The Bono case “reversed years of prior policy that the context of language matters,” Stone said. He added that broadcasters could not get any clarification from the FCC on whether the movie violates the standard.
It would be bad enough if the FCC simply banned the broadcast of profane language. But , if possible, the FCC has done something even worse by making the rules so murky that broadcasters don’t even know what they are allowed to air. Government agencies are supposed to promulgate clear policies so people know if their conduct is lawful. The broadcast decency standards are now a confusing mess. Nice going, FCC.
Oh, then there’s this:
[Ray] Cole [president of Citadel Communications] cited recent FCC actions and last week’s re-election of President Bush as reasons for replacing Saving Private Ryan on Thursday with a music program and the TV movie Return to Mayberry.
“We’re just coming off an election where moral issues were cited as a reason by people voting one way or another and, in my opinion, the commissioners are fearful of the new Congress,” Cole said.
Great. Thanks to message sent by supposed “values” voters, TV broadcasters are now afraid of airing programs which illustrate the deadly consequences of the war policies these same “values” voters support.
Yes, isn’t it great that our courageous leader doesn’t have any inhibitions in launching a war on the other side of the globe? Just don’t show us what such a war actually does. How about a rebroadcast of Return to Mayberry to help us celebrate the American victory in Fallujah?