The most glaring examples are FCC commissioners Michael Copps and, to a lesser degree, Jonathan Adelstein. The Democratic duo played a central role in rallying broad, grass-roots support against then FCC chairman Michael Powell's plans to OK further media consolidation. Yet they are now among the key communications officials inside the Beltway who, along with grass-roots conservative groups, have called out for an indecency crackdown.

"I have an enormous amount of respect for Michael Copps," notes Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a congressional point person during the anti-consolidation battle. "He, more than any other person in the country, led the cry in explaining the danger of media consolidation. I have love and respect for him. On this issue, though, we disagree."

"Our two [primary] issues of concern are media concentration and censorship," explains Jonathan Rintels, a screenwriter and executive director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media, an artists advocacy group. "We think the world of commissioner Copps and commissioner Adelstein, but we're disappointed on their stand over censorship. Without Copps and Adelstein [the fight] has been difficult."

Indeed, an assertive voice of caution -- the type of counterweight Powell had to fight over media ownership -- simply does not exist when it comes to the issue of indecency. "We don't have a clear anti-government, 'let's use some restraint here' voice at the FCC," says Rintels.

"Of course it would be helpful to have people on our side at the FCC," notes Sanders.

It's true that Adelstein recently sounded a cautionary note, warning that any effort by Congress to extend indecency regulation to cable and satellite television "would likely be held unconstitutional in the courts." Says former FCC commissioner Tristani hopefully, "Maybe commissioner Adelstein can be persuaded that the [indecency] regime has gone too far." "I am very concerned about the First Amendment implication of going after artists for indecency fines," Adelstein told Salon in an interview. In the House version of the legislation that passed recently, artists could be fined if their music were broadcast and found to be indecent. "It's not the artists' responsibility to adhere to FCC regulations about indecency. It's the broadcasters' responsibility not to air indecent content," says Adelstein, who warns that targeting artists would have a "chilling effect on free speech." Copps was unavailable for comment for this article.

Today Copps is marching arm-in-arm with the newly appointed FCC chairman, Republican Kevin Martin, against indecency, much to the delight of cultural conservatives. "We have a great deal of respect for chairman Martin and commissioner Copps," says Tim Winter, executive director of the Parents Television Council, which has led the charge in filing indecency complaints, often against the most popular shows on television. "Both of them have been beacons of light [on] this issue."

It was Copps and Martin who dissented on the FCC's $755,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications for 26 indecency violations by four of its radio stations last year, saying the punishment was not harsh enough. Copps wanted to hold hearings about revoking the stations' licenses, while Martin wanted to fine the radio giant more than $1 million.

And in January the same two objected to parts of an FCC ruling that dismissed 36 indecency complaints against TV shows such as "Friends" and "The Simpsons." Copps argued that the commission should have investigated the charges more thoroughly.

Martin, who has close working ties to the White House, is often seen (and portrayed in the press) as an eager warrior in the indecency battle, and his appointment as chairman was cheered by conservative groups that lobbied on his behalf. "If President Bush appoints a strong chairman and a public-minded second [FCC] commissioner, things will finally change," Tony Perkins, president of the pro-family Family Research Council, wrote to members this winter. "This is an historic opportunity and one that the FRC team won't let slip away. I have been working on this for some time, making calls and sending letters to key U.S. Senators and Congressmen urging them to let President Bush know we want appointments to the FCC who will enforce indecency law. I have weighed in at the White House also."

But in truth, Martin joined the indecency game much later than did Copps and Adelstein, who for years served as de facto indecency cops at the FCC as they relentlessly chided Powell for not being tough enough on enforcement. (Powell once famously said, pre-Janet Jackson, that when it came to policing content he did not think the government should serve as the nation's "nanny.") "Chairman Powell only came to this issue [of indecency] and to enforcing the law at the barrel of a gun," complains the PTC's Winter, referring to the political firestorm that followed the Super Bowl incident.

It was Copps who in 2002 suggested adding "excessive violence" as a definition of over-the-air indecency, arguing, "It's time for us to step up to the plate and tackle the wanton violence our kids are served up every day." It was Copps who in 2003, writing to the PTC, gave the FCC an "F" for indecency enforcement. And it was Copps who told the Washington Times last year that steamy daytime soap operas could become a potential target in an FCC indecency crackdown.

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