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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Today we present the second part of ourreport about the American media.

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VOICE ONE:

The media in the United States have changed in recent years. Forexample, in nineteen eighty-four, about fifty companies owned oroperated thousands of North American media. They included dailynewspapers, magazines, radio and television stations and bookpublishers. In two thousand-two, only six companies owned about thesame number of these media.

Companies with large media holdings include the Walt DisneyCompany, Viacom, Time Warner, General Electric and News Corporation.

The chance to choose among more media pleases many Americans.They enjoy the Internet and cable and satellite. But others protestthat some material presented by the media can seem too similar.

VOICE TWO:

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission voted to loosenrestrictions on media owners. This agency, the F.C.C., supervisesthe use of the public airwaves. It is responsible to Congress. TheF.C.C.'s measures increased the number of media businesses that acompany can own or operate in the same area.

But in June, a court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, mainlyrejected the changes. The Third District Circuit Court of Appealslargely stopped the F.C.C. from easing ownership restrictions.

VOICE ONE:

MichaelPowell

F.C.C. Chairman Michael Powellcalled the court's action "deeply troubling." Mister Powell is theson of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Michael Powell spoke for themajority of the five commission members. The commission said it wasconsidering an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The F.C.C. rule changes would have ended some restrictions onowners. Those limitations were placed in nineteen seventy-five. Theysaid a single company could own local television stations that reachthirty-five percent of the public. The new limit would have beenforty-five percent.

A company called Nielsen Media Research divides the nation intotwo hundred ten market areas. The new rules would have easedlimitations on how many media organizations a company could controlin the same market area.

VOICE TWO:

Chairman Powell said new conditions in the American media meanthat the nation needs new rules. He pointed to the competition thatthe broadcast industry faces from newer media. He said thiscompetition means that traditional television broadcasting needshelp. Mister Powell said the changed rules would have provided thisprotection.

A number of different kinds of activist organizations opposed therule changes. The National Council of Churches protested toCongress. So did the National Rifle Association, which supports gunownership rights. More than two million people wrote theirobjections to the F.C.C. rule changes.

Some activists said the F.C.C. overstated the importance of theInternet as a local news provider. They said this influenced theF.C.C. decision to change the rules. They pointed to a study by theConsumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America. The studyasked where people get local news. It showed that sixty-one percentof those asked still read newspapers for community news. This wassaid to be true although newspapers in general have lost readers inrecent years.

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VOICE ONE:

Some restrictions on media operations had been loosened muchearlier. That happened when Congress passed the TelecommunicationsAct of nineteen ninety-six. Among other changes, theTelecommunications Act affected radio station owners. It alsoaffected those who hold a major financial interest in a station.They received permission to operate up to eight signals in thecountry's largest market areas.

VOICE TWO:

Some media companies bought or joined with small local communitystations. For example, Clear Channel Communications owned fewer thanfifty radio stations before the Telecommunications Act passed.Afterwards, Clear Channel grew to more than one thousand two hundredstations. The company clearly leads American radio. InfinityBroadcasting owns and operates America's second largest number ofradio stations. It owns about one hundred eighty stations.

About one thousand radio stations disappeared after theTelecommunications Act. People in some areas say they miss hearinglocal sports events. They say they need local weather reports fortheir safety. But the F.C.C. says stations owned or operated bynetworks do better with local news and production.

VOICE ONE:

Some critics of the Telecommunications Act also say the measureharmed free speech. For example, Natalie Maines sings with the groupDixie Chicks. She criticized President Bush while performing inLondon last year. After that, a number of radio stations stoppedplaying Dixie Chicks music.

Critics say this was censorship, the removal of content that somepeople or groups dislike. The American Civil Liberties Union isamong organizations that say censorship threatens democracy. TheFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution promises freespeech. It lets people express themselves without governmentinterference.

Some activists for children are angry about a Supreme Courtdecision involving freedom of speech on the Internet. Late in June,the court announced that a law called the Child Online ProtectionAct may be illegal. A court majority said the measure may violatethe First Amendment.

Yet American legal tradition does permit limits on free speech.Oliver Wendell Holmes was one of America's greatest Supreme Courtjustices. Many years ago, he said that no one has the right, forexample, to falsely cry "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

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VOICE TWO:

When citizens protest what they believe is unacceptable materialon public airwaves, the F.C.C. can decide to punish media companies.The problem is to judge what is unacceptable. Laws governing themedia judge some situations and images to be indecent and offensiveto community morals. They also say some words are unacceptable.

The F.C.C. bans obscenity 鈥?those bad words -- over publicairwaves at all times. But some programs that contain material meantfor adults are permitted in the late evening, when children aresupposed to be asleep.

A private group, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, recentlydid a national opinion study of parents. More than half said theyare very concerned about the amount of sex and violence theirchildren see on television. Sixty-three percent of parents said theywould support stronger limits on what can be shown during earlyevening hours.

VOICE ONE:

JanetJackson and Justin Timberlake during the 2004 SuperbowlHalftime Show

Early this year, hundreds ofthousands protested an incident during a half-time show at the SuperBowl football game. Television cameras showed the uncovered breastof singer and dancer Janet Jackson.

Late last month the F.C.C. told the CBS television division ofViacom Incorporated that it owes five hundred fifty thousand dollarsin fines for the incident. CBS was given thirty days to appeal theproposed fine.

VOICE TWO:

A network statement expressed regret over the incident. But italso said CBS does not believe it violated indecency laws. Theprogram was produced by MTV, also a property of Viacom. CBS says itdid not know that the incident was to take place.

The F.C.C. also has punished Clear Channel Communications forindecency violations on its radio stations. That happened afterlisteners complained about comments by Howard Stern and otherbroadcasters. The company says it will pay record fines ofone-point-seven-five million dollars for airing the comments.

Clear Channel dropped Mister Stern's program from six of itsstations. But now he is heard in a number of new markets.

VOICE ONE:

Deciding what is acceptable for the public in the media is adifficult issue. Should total freedom be permitted? Or are somelanguage and images unacceptable?

No one believes these questions will be answered anytime soon.Nor will the issue of how many media a single company may operate inthe same area. It seems that there is only one thing sure about useand control of the American media. Debate will continue.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Faith Lapidus. To send us e-mail, write tospecial@voanews. And join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA inVOA Special English.