:: Captain's Personal Blog ::

Stardate: Tuesday, May 04, 2004

An Open Letter to the FCC

To whom it may concern:

There is a hope that this letter will be read and taken into consideration by someone in authority, but given the recent spate of e-mail being sent by zealots on either side of the indecency issue, I tend to doubt it. Regardless, I sent this e-mail as a plea from a concerned citizen.

I am about to mention two words which I believe will make you disregard this letter. I beg of you to give me a chance and read on. I hope you find what I have to say different from what you have undoubtedly read over and over again.

Those words are "Howard Stern." Let me give you some background on myself first. I have never met the man. I listened to him as a much younger child, and spent many years as an avid listener. When I went to college, I left the state of New York, and listening to Mr. Stern at the time became impossible. Not being too obsessive, I was forced to stop listening. Past that, I rarely took an opportunity to listen anymore. I had no desire to. The humor had become a bit to childish for me, and it just was not the same anymore.

I grew up in a reasonably moral household. Not particularly religious, and rather free in allowances. I was never truly protected from watching films which had profanity, or even a small amount of nudity in them. As it turned out, I knew what was bad and what was good and obstained accordingly. To date, I have never done drugs (nor do I have a desire to,) I am not a sex fiend, and I never use profanity (not because I find it offensive per se, but simply because I feel that when you use profanity, you use it because you can't think of anything more intelligent to say.)

I realize that it may just be that I am an anomaly. I accept that. Despite that, I still wonder about the recent backlash against what is deemed as "indecency." The Super Bowl stunt was wrong. It shouldn't have happened and those responsible should be held accountable. I don't dispute that.

What happened happened during what is accepted as a family show. It was not done for the sake of art, as much as it was for shock value. The validity of something as art, however should not be debated here as that it opens up another can of worms entirely which I feel that I am ill-equipped to tackle at this moment.

Howard Stern has been on the air for as long as I can remember. It has always been my understanding that his radio program has been on "the cutting edge" (if you'll pardon the cliche) of what is acceptable on air. For close to 20 years (give or take) the public has accepted what he has done. He has been consistently one of the highest rated programs in almost any market that he is in. This being the case, the issue should be reduced to simple democracy. The public has voted him number one, so he should stay. Simple as that.

The indeceny issue should be fought at home. If you want to trace the breakdown of the family, look back to when parents decided to let radio and television act as babysitters for their children. Those who do not have time for children should not choose to have children. I realize that that is a harsh choice to make, but truly it becomes the responsibility of the parent. If a parent leaves a child alone in a room and the child hurts himself/herself on a sharp object left in the room, the parent is responsible. It is called negligence. Why should the standard be any different for a radio or television?

The issue has been fought for as long as men have been self aware:

"A snake is lying on the ground, injured. An elephant walks by. 'Please, elephant. I need help crossing the river. Will you help me?'' asked the snake. The elephant agrees and carrys the snake to the other side. Upon reaching the other side, the snake bites the elephant. 'Why did you do that?'' asked the elephant. 'I can't help it. I am a snake. It is what I do.'"

Now, I know I didn't get the story quite right, but I am sure you've heard it. The same is true here. If you don't want to be bitten, the solution is to stay away from the snake. The solution is not to kill all the snakes. That would be A solution, but not the right one.

Howard Stern has been accepted by the masses. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have been 'The King of All Media.' Sure, he's crass and sometimes vulgar, but that is what we have come to expect. He is, in truth, no worse than Jerry Springer or half the other things on television, which are easily seen. He has become an artifact of popular culture. It is undeniable.

I ask you to set politics aside for a moment, because I don't believe that they should be the central idea behind what is happening here. Instead, go with what you know to be common sense. Personally, it doesn't matter to me if I turn on the radio and hear Howard Stern. What matters to me is that I live in a country that knows it's limitations and refuses to deny the liberties that have been set out for it's citizens.

Please take this under consideration before forcing Howard Stern off the air. Not because I want him on the air, but because you may soon have to decide how far you are willing to go, and just when you are going to stop.


:: J 5:22 PM [+] ::
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