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Indecency: An amendment not made

Democrats took the opportunity of the markup of H.R. 3717 "Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004" to remind their Republican colleagues that there are other broadcasting issues as yet unresolved which need attention. The amendments were made with the full intention of withdrawing them, just to have them read into the record, but the intent is clear. Battle lines over consolidation and crossownership remain drawn.

The withdrawal signaled the Dems desire to support H.R. 3717, and their acknowledgement that adding additional baggage would constitute a poison pill.

Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Janice Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced an amendment which would restore the national broadcast television audience reach cap to 35% until the link between consolidation and indecency can be studied. They said 80% of indecency fines went to two of the biggest companies, Viacom and Clear Channel, and that alone warranted a deeper look for a possible link.

Then Ed Markey (D-MA) added a "perfecting amendment" to the amendment, concerning the definition and punishment for indecency, and here, we'll have to let Markey's amendment speak for itself:

"Definition: It shall be considered indecent and patently offensive to contemporary community standards for the local media marketplace for a single person under Commission rules to own three television station licenses, eight radio station licenses, the only newspaper in town, the only cable system in town, and all the Internet assets of such entities, within one community."

"Fines and Penalties: In lieu of a monetary fine, Commissioners who misguidedly supported the massive deregulation of media ownership shall be required to (1) take remedial courses in the civic importance of media diversity and localism and the informational needs of citizens of a great democracy; and (2) shall be required to watch the movie 'Citizen Kane' over and over again until they flinch at the word 'rosebud.'"