National Association of Broadcasters at Decency Forum

[SOURCE: National Association of Broadcasters, AUTHOR: Bruce Reese, Bonneville International]
"It may be useful to remember that the vast majority of broadcasters have never had the FCC take any action against them on the indecency issue. It is also worth noting that many of the complaints that have been filed originate with one or two well-organized interest groups. Now, anybody has a right to lodge complaints. But, we should not mistake mass, Internet generated complaints for an organic outpouring of citizen outrage. Another fact to consider: the FCC is well equipped to mete out fines. . . as it demonstrated in 2004, issuing 7.7 million dollars in indecency fines... compared to just 48 thousand dollars in 2000. So, I hope these facts can play a role as the Committee examines this issue. All that said, local broadcasters recognize that we have an obligation to provide programming that meets our communities' local standards. And our competitors have no parallel constraints."
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/testimonies/112905_reese_decency_forum.htm