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CNN Live Today
Stern Warning
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: For more now on the debate about indecent programming and Howard Stern's suspension, we're joined by Dennis Moore, managing editor for "USA Today's" life section. Thanks so much for being with us today, Dennis. Appreciate your time. This definitely has gotten a lot of play so far.
Let me ask you, though, how much of this will matter? Won't Howard Stern just go on some other radio station and do what he has always done?
DENNIS MOORE, "USA TODAY": We've been through this several times before. You remember the V Chip. You remember record labeling. Each time there's a brouhaha, the captains of industry must trundle up to Capitol Hill, often with their tails between their legs, apologize, something is done. In the case of the V Chip, there was the ability to block certain types of potentially offensive programming. In this case, Clear Channel and other networks promise that we won't hear offensive things coming out of their shock jocks. But it replays itself. So I don't know that we can say this is the end of it, it just may be, once again, the resumption of the cycle.
COLLINS: Dennis, I'm wondering, should it be actually the FCC who make the changes to programming standards, or should it be the internal change done within the company itself, like Clear Channel, who if of course announcing that they have made a big revision to their standard of programming?
MOORE: The FCC is doing it because the companies aren't. They are bombarded with complaints from listeners and viewers, but they also see big ratings, which translates into big money. And we have to remember, this is a business. So it requires a regulatory agency or Congress to yank the chain occasionally and pull them back into what are considered the lines of public decency. Many people think that it's the artist's responsibility to push the boundaries, while plenty of people think it's Congress' responsible to pull them back in within the lines.
COLLINS: All right, Dennis Moore, thanks so much, talking with us today from "USA Today," appreciate your perspective on that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: For more now on the debate about indecent programming and Howard Stern's suspension, we're joined by Dennis Moore, managing editor for "USA Today's" life section. Thanks so much for being with us today, Dennis. Appreciate your time. This definitely has gotten a lot of play so far.
Let me ask you, though, how much of this will matter? Won't Howard Stern just go on some other radio station and do what he has always done?
DENNIS MOORE, "USA TODAY": We've been through this several times before. You remember the V Chip. You remember record labeling. Each time there's a brouhaha, the captains of industry must trundle up to Capitol Hill, often with their tails between their legs, apologize, something is done. In the case of the V Chip, there was the ability to block certain types of potentially offensive programming. In this case, Clear Channel and other networks promise that we won't hear offensive things coming out of their shock jocks. But it replays itself. So I don't know that we can say this is the end of it, it just may be, once again, the resumption of the cycle.
COLLINS: Dennis, I'm wondering, should it be actually the FCC who make the changes to programming standards, or should it be the internal change done within the company itself, like Clear Channel, who if of course announcing that they have made a big revision to their standard of programming?
MOORE: The FCC is doing it because the companies aren't. They are bombarded with complaints from listeners and viewers, but they also see big ratings, which translates into big money. And we have to remember, this is a business. So it requires a regulatory agency or Congress to yank the chain occasionally and pull them back into what are considered the lines of public decency. Many people think that it's the artist's responsibility to push the boundaries, while plenty of people think it's Congress' responsible to pull them back in within the lines.
COLLINS: All right, Dennis Moore, thanks so much, talking with us today from "USA Today," appreciate your perspective on that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
