Leave Powell alone. No, the other one.

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But leave Michael Powell alone.In his usual reactionary manner, Dan Gilmore calls Michael Powell’s NYT op-ed this week “insulting and scary” and endorses Jeff Jarvis’ line-by-line rebuttal of it as “solid.” I think broadcast decency laws are unnecessary at best, but it vexes me how worked up people get about Powell.

If there is one good thing that happened as a result of Bush’s re-election, it’s that Michael Powell will hopefully get to stay on a little longer as FCC chairman. He is a friend to competition and new technologies and has a real enthusiasm for both. Unfortunately for him, he becomes the personification of censorship and prudishness because he is the head of the FCC, which is charged by Congress to play nanny to the airwaves.

I’m sure he considers that aspect of his job an annoyance, and I doubt he much cares about Janet Jackson’s boob or Howard Stern’s potty mouth. He’s got other things—like cable broadband deregulation—on his mind. But as he explains in his op-ed, just one complaint from a citizen will launch an investigation. The law is nuts and, as Powell says, critics of the law should try to get it changed, not criticize the FCC for carrying out its statutory duty (which it thankfully does half-heartedly, I might add).

Additionally, the “escalating calls for the government to enforce indecency laws aggressively” that Powell speaks of are coming from Congress, not the American people. Again, as he points out, the “culture war” plays well and it is easy for politicians (with the help of the media) to take a stand against butt-sex and not have to talk about Social Security reform or the war.

Folks concerned about free speech should be thankful to have Powell because he is what stands between us and Michael Copps, the Decomcratic commissioner who might have been Chairman in a Kerry Administration. Copps is a populist who has made a crusade of indecency. Here he is from a warm feature on Focus on the Family’s website:

There is no First Amendment right to own a broadcast station or license that’s not in the public interest. There’s no First Amendment right to broadcast material that is contrary to the law of the land. So I do sometimes take umbrage at those who think all they have to do is say “First Amendment” and I’m going to run away.

Powell’s op-ed was neither scary nor insulting, it was sensical. Thinking people should get off his case and try to change the law, if that is what is important to them. Better, however, would be to focus one’s attention on changing the complete culture of the country, which is drifting towards zealous ignorance. The indecency issue is just one symptom of that.

Dec 4, 2004 | Comments

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