BILLBOARD - CHERNIN CALLS FOR AN END TO FCC CENSORSHIP

News Corp President and COO Peter Chernin said Tuesday that the FCC should get out of the censorship business, maintaining that the commission's recent fines against major broadcasters, including News Corp's Fox Broadcasting, are a violation of the First Amendment. Speaking at The Media Institute's awards dinner in Washington DC, where he received the group's Freedom of Speech award, Chernin defended the network's right to televise a Billboard Awards show live in which Cher and Nicole Richie used language that is barred by FCC rules. The case is due to be heard by the Supreme Court on November 4. Chernin said that the case "hinges on utterances that were unscripted on live television. If we are found in violation, just think about the radical ramifications for live programming -- from news, to politics, to sports. In fact, to every live broadcast television event. The effect would be appalling." He maintained that Fox plans to "fight to the end" to be able to air "occasionally controversial, offensive, and even tasteless content." He noted that government censorship currently applies only to broadcast television and radio, not to cable or the Internet. "Does it really make sense," he asked, "to continue government censorship of the occasional bad word, brief nudity, or sexual innuendo on a handful of broadcast channels when we live in an environment of infinitely unregulated choices?"

22/10/2008