SIVACRACY.NET: PBS Worries Actual Real Life Soldier Footage Could Be "Indecent"

Frontline fights back; from Poynter Online
To: [Public television] General Managers, Program Directors, Communications Directors
From: David Fanning, FRONTLINE Executive Producer
Michael Sullivan, FRONTLINE Executive Producer, Special Projects
Louis Wiley, FRONTLINE Executive Editor
Re: Response to PBS�s Hard Feed of Edited "A Company of Soldiers"
Date: February 17, 2005

Several months ago, FRONTLINE set out to make a film that would bring the real and raw experience of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq into the homes of public television viewers. That program, "A Company of Soldiers" will air on Tuesday, February 22. This is a film about young men at war, often in combat, and always in danger. As you might expect, the language of these soldiers is sprinkled with expletives, especially at their moments of greatest fear and stress. As we edited the program, we were judicious, but came to believe that some of that language was an integral part of our journalistic mission: to give viewers a realistic portrait of our soldiers at war. We feel strongly that the language of war should not be sanitized and that there is nothing indecent about its use in this context.

As we have done in the past, we brought the matter of language to the attention of PBS and indicated our desire to create two versions of the program -- a version with the language left intact for a hard feed, and an edited version to be soft-fed to stations for whom such language has always been a matter of local sensitivity. This has been standard practice for years with FRONTLINE programs with language issues.

PBS, citing FCC indecency rules, has decided to hard-feed the sanitized version and provide a soft-feed of the intact version. We have always understood that the decision to broadcast is a local decision. We respect the right of every station to make its own decision, based on its own audience. We recognize that recent actions by the FCC have put a burden on individual stations, exposing them to fines and legal costs. As you deliberate about this program, there are some things we would ask you to consider.

Our attorneys, including outside counsel, have advised us that the expletives in "A Company of Soldiers" do not violate the FCC�s indecency rule. They have concluded that the uses of the f-word and others in this film do not cross the FCC�s guidance against "gratuitous" use. They are not meant to "titillate" or "pander" to the audience. And as you know, there is a "safe harbor" after 10 pm for such language for those stations who regularly air the program at that hour.

You no doubt are familiar with the recent case of ABC's broadcast of the film "Saving Private Ryan," which contained repeated instances of similar language, used in the same context as this FRONTLINE. It was widely reported that a majority of the FCC commissioners decided they would not support viewer complaints about the language in "Saving Private Ryan," and outgoing Chairman Michael Powell concluded that the agency should not take action against the ABC stations that aired it because the
language was part of accurately portraying the story about the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II.

Some of you may have heard Chairman Powell�s remarks at a gathering of public television colleagues earlier this week, suggesting that context is indeed key to these decisions, and that for public television the greater risk is in self-censorship.

For these journalistic and legal reasons, FRONTLINE believes this is the moment for public television to stand firm and broadcast "A Company of Soldiers� intact, as it was intended. We believe what is at issue is not the particulars of this case, but the principle of editorial independence. Because overreaching by the FCC is at its heart a First Amendment issue, all programs are at risk, whether art, science, history, culture, or public affairs.

We believe the risks of an adverse outcome are small and the principles we stand on are large. Editorial decisions should be free from influence by the government and should be made in accordance with the standards, practices, and mission of public broadcasting.