The culture wars just took a left turn on the free speech front: nearly a third of ABC's affiliates opted not to run a special Veteran Day's airing of the Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan because of fears they could be fined for indecency.
66 stations opted not to air the film because they feared the graphic language in the film would violate the FCC's recently adopted "zero tolerance" attitude toward profanity and obscenity during family viewing hours, before 10 p.m.
ABC slotted the film to air in its entirety from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
ABC's contract with Dreamworks for the broadcast rights of the film precluded any editing of the film.
Saving Private Ryan contains graphic depictions of World War II battle scenes, including frequent use of the words "fuck" and "shit."
Earlier this year, in deciding that U2 front man Bono violated obscenity standards when saying "fucking" during a 2003 award ceremony, the FCC ignored precedents and ruled that the word "fuck" and variations thereof were always objectionable
Senator John McCain, a Vietnam veteran, taped a segment defending the film on ABC, arguing that the film's subject matter outweighed any concerns about the use of vulgarities. "While it contains violence and profanity, these are not shown in a gratuitous manner," he said.
Young Broadcasting, a media conglomerate with television stations across the nation, was one of the companies that decided to preempt the program.
"This has been a difficult and agonizing decision for us," Young Broadcasting president Deborah McDermott stated in an announcement that the company's stations would not air the film. "However, we have a responsibility to operate in accord with the law, and until the FCC or the courts clarify what the broadcast legal standards are for programs of this type, we will continue to be confronted with these difficult choices."
Young Broadcasting owns KRON-TV in San Francisco, which was fined $27,500 for indecency earlier this year for a morning news program that aired a segment on Puppetry of the Penis—two male performers capable of performing "tricks" with their penis. A penis was in full view during part of the segment, drawing the fine.
Even the conservative Parents Television Council, a leader in the fight against indecency, endorsed the film, noting "context is everything."
However, the American Family Association (AFA), a right-wing Christian organization, called upon its members to file complaints with the FCC against stations airing Saving Private Ryan.
A suggested complaint letter on the AFA Web site suggested that while honoring the sacrifice of veterans was important, "airing excessively profane language during prime-time television hours is not necessary to convey that sacrifice."
And sure enough, the FCC told Broadcasting and Cable News on Friday that they had received multiple complaints about ABC's airing of the film.
The AFA had been critical of ABC for broadcasting Saving Private Ryan on Veteran's Day twice in the recent past. Each year the group lobbied their members to file complaints with the FCC, and each year the FCC declined to penalize ABC for airing the program.
