The FCC’s campaign against offensive words and images sent shivers through the hierarchy at PBS when execs learned the network had mistakenly fed an unedited version of an Independent Lens documentary, The Weather Underground, on April 27 [2004].
The
film about white American radicals in the 1970s included the taboo word “fuck.”
Although PBS edited the documentary for broadcast and told stations it would
feed the bleeped version, viewers on April 27 heard every harsh word leftists
of that distant time used to denounce the Vietnam War and the U.S. power structure.
“There’s nothing we can say except that there was a mistake made at PBS,” said John Wilson, co-chief programmer, during the April 29 opening session of the Public Television Programmers Association conference. Through a “human error,” the edited version wasn’t loaded onto the server that feeds programs. “We have nothing but our most profound apologies,” he added.
On the legal front, PBS, APTS and eight public TV stations filed comments with the FCC last week describing destructive consequences of the commission’s recent crackdown. Public TV programs require “a parallel faithfulness to the sometimes painful reality of the subjects on which we report” and must “reflect the true nature of artistic and dramatic endeavor,” the pubcasters wrote.
At the PTPA meeting, PBS President Pat Mitchell described the extraordinary steps she took to limit damage from the broadcast — making personal calls to each FCC commissioner and Chairman Michael Powell, to members of the congressional appropriations committees that deal the CPB funding and to right-wing media critic Brent Bozell. Regulators and watchdogs praised PBS for acknowledging the error, Mitchell said.
Mitchell promised a vigorous investigation at PBS. “These kinds of mistakes cannot be allowed to happen without consequences,” she said.
Filmmaker Sam Green, who was watching his documentary debut on KQED in San Francisco, said he was “prepared to cringe” as the program unfolded because he hadn’t seen the edited version. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised. “I certainly hope that this does not cause problems for PBS, but I have to admit that I was super happy to see the unedited version of the film on TV.”
Green already had edited the theatrical release version of the film to remove scenes of sex and extreme violence and he thought bleeping the language damaged the film’s integrity. “It’s extremely important for PBS and others to stand up to FCC,” the producer added. “It’s the only way to fight this hysteria over indecency and obscenity.”
PBS has taken the “most cautious approach” in responding to the FCC’s new vigilance, Mitchell said at the PTPA conference, although she acknowledged her own concerns about the “chilling effect” it’s having on producers and broadcast journalists.
“We have been zealously editing the f-word, the s-word . . . and re-editing scenes that might indicate nudity or anything that would cause alarm,” she said. “We just felt that during this period when everybody’s trying to get the landscape straight and the regulations clear, that we would err on the side of caution.”
PBS’s stance has already influenced program decision-making. Wilson told station programmers that PBS backed away from distributing a compelling docudrama about sex slaves. Sex Trade could “never make it past the Department of Naughty Bits,” he predicted, and “will never see the light of day on broadcast TV.”
“Hopefully this Calvinist spasm will subside quickly, but until it does I wouldn’t look for tough, edgy dramas to come along,” Wilson added.
Public TV’s comments to the FCC responded to the commission’s decision to fine NBC for airing rock star Bono’s use of the word “fucking” during an awards show. Pubcasters didn’t petition the FCC to reconsider but described the NBC ruling’s unintended fallout.
Public TV said it has self-censored its programs to an unprecedented degree, applying stringent editing standards to Frontline, Nova and a recent KCET, Los Angeles, production of a Tony Award-winning play, The Gin Game.
Covington & Burling, the law firm representing PBS and WGBH in Boston, coordinated the filing, which was co-signed by APTS, KCET, WETA in Washington, D.C.; WNET in New York, KCTS in Seattle, KQED, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Twin Cities Public Television.
Reported with assistance from Jeremy Egner
Web page posted May 19, 2004
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