The FCC v. Pacifica Foundation: GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS ON RADIO BROADCASTING

In 1978 a radio station owned by Pacifica Foundation Broadcasting out of New York City was doing a program on contemporary attitudes toward the use of language. This broadcast occurred on a mid-afternoon weekday. Immediately before the broadcast the station announced a disclaimer telling listeners that the program would include "sensitive language which might be regarded as offensive to some."(Gunther, 1991) As a part of the program the station decided to air a 12 minute monologue called "Filthy Words" by comedian George Carlin. The introduction of Carlin's "routine" consisted of, according to Carlin, "words you couldn't say on the public air waves."(Carlin, 1977) The introduction to Carlin's monologue listed those words and repeated them in a variety of colloquialisms:

I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss words and the words that you can't say, that you're not supposed to say all the time. I was thinking one night about the words you couldn't say on the public, ah, airwaves, um, the ones you defi

If the government could allow this type of speech to be regulated then they must also take into account that regulating indecent speech would effect many other integral parts of broadcasting. For instance, "these rationales could justify the banning from radio a myriad of literary works...they could support the suppression of a good deal of political speech, such as the Nixon tapes; and they could even provide the basis for imposing sanctions for the broadcast of certain portions of the bible."(Gunther, 1991) Carlin's monologue was speech, there is no doubt about that, and it does present a point of view. Carlin tried to show that "the words it uses are "harmless" and that our attitudes toward them are essentially silly."(Gunther, 1991) They did not object to this point of view but did object to the way in which it is expressed.

The second reason why broadcasting has received limited first amendment protection is because "broadcasting is uniquely accessible to children, even those too young to read."(Gunther, 1991) Even though children at a young age can't read obscene messages, the Carlin broadcast could have enlarged a child's vocabulary in a matter of seconds. These two important factors of broadcasting gave the Supreme Court the push they needed for regulation. The Court decides that "the ease with which children may obtain access to broadcast material, coupled with the concerns recognized, amply justify special treatment of indecent broadcasting."(Gunther, 1991) But does that mean that adults have to listen to what is fit for children's ears? Must adults now go out and purchase George Carlin's album for entertainment? This decision might not seem a fair one to most who agree with Carlin's message, but according to the Supreme Court it "does not violate anyones first amendment rights."(Gunther, 1991)

The FCC was given the power to regulate the airwaves and prohibit broadcasters from promoting "indecent" material over the radio. After the Pacifica case the FCC has also extended the ban of indecent as well as obscene materials to 24 hours per day. Because of the 24 hour ban the previous "law of nuisance" allowing for indecent material to be "channeled" at certain times of the day was abolished. To promote strong regulation against indecent material the FCC has the authority to issue fines on broadcasters, whether it be fines in the terms of money or suspension of air time. The FCC, or the government, was given the ultimate power. The power to regulate what we hear.

The outcome of the FCC v. Pacifica Foundation gave the FCC "the power to regulate radio broadcasts that are indecent but not obscene."(Gunther, 1991) We could look at this power given to the FCC as an infringement of our first amendment rights. Should Americans let the government regulate what we here or say on our public airways? Or should we place "the responsibility and the right to weed worthless and offensive communications from the public airways in a public free to choose those communications worthy of its attention from a marketplace unsullied by the censor's hand."(Gunther, 1991) One could interpret this to mean the government might feel that we are not responsible enough to do this for ourselves. But I believe ,however, that if a certain amount of regulation is not applied things could very easily get out of control. If the "seven dirty words" were allowed to be said on the airwaves at any time of the day then others might find reason for openness in many other regulated activities such as

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