Rehr To D.C.: Clarify Indecency

REHR: TO DC: CLARIFY INDECENCY
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
In his first major speech as the new president of the NAB, David Rehr said Monday that the broadcast media have to emphasize parental control and defend the First Amendment, but he also said they have "no objection to playing by the decency rules" so long as Congress and the FCC will draw the lines more clearly. "The FCC's recent indecency fines [a package of proposed fines and findings against TV shows for language and sexual situations] did little to clarify these rules," he said. "We need clearer guidance from the FCC and Congress on where the lines are drawn." While Rehr told an NAB opening-session crowd that they "cannot forget the importance of the First Amendment," and that NAB will "defend it wholeheartedly," he also threw in a caveat saying: "No one should imply that protecting the First Amendment is tantamount to promoting the right to be obscene." The distinction between obscenity and indecency, however, is that the media have no protection from obscenity, which is illegal, while indecency is protected speech, though currently channeled to times of day when the FCC considers kids least likely to be tuning in (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.).
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6327626?display=Breaking+News