Fox Defends Constitutional Right To Broadcast Whipped-Cream-Covered Strippers

For a few moments I’ve become a fan of Fox, and even Rupert Murdoch. Fox is standing up to the FCC on their ridiculous fines for “indecency” and fighting for the right to broadcast whipped-cream-covered strippers. Freedom of expression is freedom of expression after all. The Washington Post reports:

In an unusually aggressive step, Fox Broadcasting yesterday refused to pay a $91,000 indecency fine levied by the Federal Communications Commission for an episode of a long-canceled reality television show, even as the network fights two other indecency fines in the Supreme Court.

The FCC proposed fining all 169 Fox-owned and affiliate stations a total of $1.2 million in 2004 for airing a 2003 episode of “Married by America,” which featured digitally obscured nudity and whipped-cream-covered strippers.

Fox appealed immediately after the FCC ruling. Last month — four years later — the FCC changed its mind, saying it would fine only the 13 Fox stations located in cities that generated viewer complaints about the program. That reduced the fine to $91,000.

Despite the sharp reduction, Fox said it would not pay the fine on principle, calling it “arbitrary and capricious, inconsistent with precedent, and patently unconstitutional” in a statement released yesterday.

I’d feel even better about Fox if they wouldn’t falsely label one of their networks which specializes in broadcasting partisan political opinion as being a “news” network.

3 Comments

  1. 1
    DM Metzger says:

    So trashing on and advocating the ban of mature video games because of a single romance scene is ok but whipped-cream covered strippers are off limits?

    Why do I get the feeling that the folks at Fox News should take a few hints from their entertainment devision brethren?

  2. 2
    Politivine says:

    While I applaud Fixed News for standing up for their right to air the material as they see fit, it doesn’t change my view of them.

    They are a still right-wing, fear-mongering, hate-mongering media outlet that will never gain my viewership again.

  3. 3
    Cat says:

    Let's just count this the same as when the courts put AL Capone away for tax evasion.

Leave a comment