Is the Federal Communications Commission about to fire up the "decency" guns and go hunting the airwaves for a few choice words? Alerted by CJR Daily, we turn to a report in Mediaweek that the FCC has hired Penny Nance, "an anti-pornography activist and former lobbyist for groups that push for Christian precepts in public policy" as a special advisor in the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.
If the name sounds familiar, it may be because it was Ms. Nance who appeared on "Fox News Live" presidential-campaign coverage as a "stay-at-home mom" although she was actually working as a lobbyist and running her own business, Nance and Associates. She's also well known as founder of the Kids First Coalition, which offers real recommendations and information for parents seeking "family-friendly" entertainment. This is not to say I share or endorse her tastes, but the First Amendment covers a lot of territory in tastes.
But I'm not sure Ms. Nance thinks it does. Until her FCC appointment, she was also a lobbyist for the Center for Reclaiming America, which aims "to defend and implement the Biblical principles on which our country was founded." And it takes particular aim at the ACLU, saying the nonpartisan civil-liberties group "seek[s] to replace the democracy the Founding Fathers fought for with [its] own atheist vision."
(Regular readers will recognize my usual disclaimer here: I'm on the board of our local ACLU chapter. FWIW, our board members are a multi-pack of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths, and no religion. In my brief tenure, yes, we've opposed the teaching of "intelligent design," and we've also defended the rights of pro-life anti-abortion protesters in at least two entirely separate cases, and the religious rights of ultra-conservative Amish people. We're not anti-religion, but we're very pro-separation-clause.)
Ms. Nance's "reclaiming" biz is not a one-off. Also until recently, she was on the board of Concerned Women for America, whose mission is to "bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy." And in January, she was among like-minded folks from the Family Research Council, the Eagle Forum, the American Family Association, the Parents Television Council and Morality in Media signing a letter (pdf file) to President Bush about the future of the FCC. "[T]he breakdown of standards on TV and radio is a 'moral values' problem we cannot ignore," the letter said, which also decried "the huge indecency problem on basic cable channels" and heralded "a major problem in the making" with satellite radio. The signatories (whose names filled more than three pages) called for "repeated and expanded" fines "until broadcasters understand they are not above the law."
The FCC hasn't proposed any fines thus far under new chairman Kevin Martin, reports Reuters, but the complaints are piling up. "One of the most recent complaints was by a parents group upset that the ABC television network failed to censor a swear word during one broadcast of the Live 8 concert."