The rule of thumb in radio or television used to be that if profanity came up in the context of covering a news story, it was acceptable and therefore not subject to an FCC fine. I doubt that an appeals court had that in mind when they ruled yesterday that inadvertently airing profanity didn't violate decency standards. This is not what the FCC had in mind since they have tried to institute a no-tolerance policy on virtually all expletives. This is a huge victory for our media, a major defeat for the FCC. The agency will now have to reassess its efforts to enforce standards while it tries to handle the hundreds of indecency complaints piling up...
Fox Broadcasting Corp., a News Corp. unit said "we were very pleased." If they're pleased how do you think the personalities who just love to push the envelope feel? Next question. Do you think they'll push it even further? You don't need time to answer that one. You know they will. This ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York is a blockbuster, to use a term made famous by the late Johnnie Cochran. Another name comes to mind in describing this ruling, Bill Clinton...
Will the FCC now have to decide what "inadvertent" means? To quote the former president from his grand jury testimony with respect to Monica Lewinsky, "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is". The question he was answering was his rationalization of why he wasn't lying when he said to his top aides that "there's nothing going on between us (he and Lewinsky)". The 'is', used in the contraction, there's. Back to the drawing board, FCC...
10 Timeline Memories:
- 1851] Uncle Tom is born: Harriet Beecher Stow publishes the 1st installment of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or "Life Among the Lowly" in the National Era abolitionist newspaper. It will run in the magazine for 10 months in installments...
- 1954] Hail Caesar: "Your Show of Shows", a comedy classic, makes its farewell performance. Sid Caesar and company (Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris) depart with 5 Emmy's over their 4-year run. Comedy writers included Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Larry Gelbart...
- 1967] The curtain comes down: Murderer Richard Speck is sentenced to death in the electric chair for his murder rampage. The sentence is reduced to a life term. Speck dies of a heart attack in prison in 1991, one day short of his 50th birthday...1989] The last original Islander, goalie Billy Smith retires...
- 1967] On the 7th day we stop fighting: The 6-day war between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan begins...
- 1968] Another Kennedy is cut down: 1968] Senator Robert F. Kennedy is shot and mortally wounded after claiming victory in the California Democratic Presidential Primary. Gunman Sirhan B. Sirhan is immediately captured...
- 1974] Wedding Bells: Sly Stone and Kathy Silva rock down the Madison Square Garden aisle prior to a concert. The marriage lasts all of 5 months...1993] Mariah Carey and SONY CEO Tommy Mottola marry at a 5th Avenue church. They will separate in 1997 and then divorce...
- 1981] AIDS gives birth: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5 men come down with a rare form of pneumonia. These are the 1st recognized cases of what will become AIDS...
- 1993] "Happy Trails": Conway Twitty ruptures a stomach vessel after collapsing on his tour bus after a show in Branson (MO). Twitty who had 39 Country chart toppers, passes away at 59...1999] Mel Torme a.k.a. "The Velvet Fog" dies from complications of a 1996 stroke at 73...2002] Ramones bass player Dee Dee Ramone is found dead of a heroin overdose at 50. Dee Dee's real name: Douglas Glenn Colvin...2004] Ronald Wilson Reagan, our 40th president dies in Los Angeles at 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's...
- 1998] A near-death experience: C-Span reports the death of Bob Hope to which Hope replies, but I wanna tell you, ladies & gentlemen, a funny thing that happened on the way to my death. As Mark Twain once said, "the report of my death is an exaggeration"...
- 2002] A kidnapping that wasn't so smart: 14-year old Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her parent's home in Salt Lake City...
Music Memories:
- 1956] One's an 'uncle', the other a 'king': Elvis Presley sings "Hound Dog" on Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theatre"...
- 1957] Released on this date: "Be-Bop-A-Lula" - Gene Vincent (you can see how talented he was on this video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qf0rd1Y7po ...1957] "Suzie Q" - Dale Hawkins...
- 1959] There's a time for joy, a time for tears: Robert Zimmerman a.k.a. Bob Dylan graduates from Hibbing High School in Minnesota...
- 1984] #1 on this date: "Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper (who uses her husband and mother in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZYxsUDZQ4Q ...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
The death of Bobby Kennedy in 1968 was one of those occasions to 'tone' down the music. It wasn't toned down as much as it was for his brother, president at the time but we didn't play any uptempo music or music deemed to contain lyrics that might offend listeners, even one. Because of the 3-hour time difference between L.A. and Boston, I got a call from Bill Watson, one of Bill Drake's guys, in the wee hours of the morning informing me of the shooting and it's a good thing because I wouldn't have known about it until the following morning. We eventually went back to all our regular music after the initial impact of the shooting. This was one of those indelible days that you remember exactly where you were at the time...
Frank Kingston Smith on Joe Paterno, who I mentioned in my Billy Donovan blog: "You do know that I was a walk-on at Penn State in 1961. That's when there were still Freshman squads and Joe Paterno was the coach. I was a defensive tackle". Smitch goes on to say about Lou Holtz, also mentioned: "Lou Holtz is my wife's cousin. His real last name is Tykonovich". Who knew???
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Mark Wahlberg (36), Kenny G (51), Suze Orman (56), Laurie Anderson (57), Ken Follett (58), Robert Kraft (66) and Bill Moyers (73)...
Timeline Countdown: 4 days until the Belmont Stakes, 12 days until Father's Day, 16 days until Summer and 29 days until July 4th...
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