FCC Seeks To Rein In Violent TV Shows

FCC SEEKS TO REIN IN VIOLENT TV SHOWS
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi and Frank Ahrens]
The Federal Communications Commission, concerned about the effect of television violence on children, will recommend that Congress enact legislation to give the government unprecedented powers to curb violence in entertainment programming. The FCC has concluded that regulating TV violence is in the public interest, particularly during times when children are likely to be viewers -- typically between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The agency's recommendations -- which will be released in a report to Congress within the next week, agency officials say -- could set up a legal battle between Washington and the television industry. First Amendment experts and television industry executives, however, say that any attempt to regulate TV violence faces high constitutional hurdles -- particularly regarding cable, because consumers choose to buy its programming. Further, any laws governing TV violence would have to define what violence is. The FCC report contains broad guidelines but leaves the details up to Congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR200704...
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