American Broadcasting First Amendment Lucas
|
A curious Associated Press story out of China not so long ago caught my eye. It spoke of the nation’s attempts to combat “social pollution.” For the uninitiated, social pollution refers to the sewage that clogs television and radio airwaves. It’s the endless stream of sexually explicit material that corrupts kids and coarsens our culture. In the past, Chinese regulators have cracked down on advertisements featuring crude language and images. Now, China has opted to ban broadcast ads for push-up bras, figure-conscious underwear, sex tonics, and sex toys. According to the AP story, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television stated, “Illegal ‘sexual medication’ advertisements and other destructive ads pose a grave threat to society.” The agency maintains that the ads “seriously mislead consumers, injure the people’s health, pollute the social environment, and corrupt social mores.” I genuinely could not have put it better myself. These types of ads are demeaning–particularly to women. They view humans as mere buyers of commodities who ought to be titillated as much as possible. And they threaten the innocence of a nation’s most valuable treasure–its children. American broadcast executives ought to take a cue from the Chinese. Yes, the First Amendment warrants freedom of speech, but with freedom comes responsibility. If television commercials hawking vodka and cigarettes are considered socially irresponsible, so will have to ads that trade sex. Social pollution is just as dangerous and deadly as environmental pollution–if not more so. The byproducts of social pollution are AIDS, an potpourri of STDs, pornography, and marital breakdown. It might likewise be said that there is a vast cost related with social pollution. Think of all the health care bills that result from sexually transmitted maladies…the counseling bills incurred by families ripped detached by pornography and divorce. Let’s be clear–I am not calling for censorship. What I am calling for are sensible policies that make sure that little eyes are not subjected to sexually suggestive broadcast ads. Ideally, network executives and local television and radio station owners will have to be more than willing to police themselves. However, if that fails, the Federal Communications Commission must take bolder steps aimed at cleaning up our airwaves. No viewer needs to see Victoria’s Secret ads on a Monday night. No one must feel deprived if they cannot watch a mercantile for 18-hour bras. Companies hawking shapely underwear may still get their message out through catalogues, magazines, the World Wide Web, and other publications. Television will have to be considered off-limits for prurient pitches. Now that Al Gore is a media mogul, perchance he ought to consider laying out capital galore of his time addressing the social pollution problem. It is each bit as substantial as global warming–and it may actually have more outstanding repercussions for our children. |
