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FCC Considers Banning "Nightline" After Friday StuntChairman Michael Powell compares reading names of dead soldiers to Janet Jackson's boob baring incident
The decision came shortly after the news program devoted an entire episode to reading the names of those who have lost their lives in the Iraq War. Seven ABC affiliates refused to carry the program, claiming it was politically motivated, and it is believed that those affiliates filed the formal complaint that spurred the FCC investigation. "First, the American public has to endure Janet Jackson's nipple, and now this," said FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "I frankly don't know which is more offensive. There's no reason for ordinary Americans to have to be reminded that people are dying in Iraq and to do so on a popular program like 'Nightline' stretches the boundaries of common decency." Not all of the FCC commissioners agreed with Chairman Powell's assessment. "What's offensive about reading names?" said Commissioner Michael Copps. "This issue is being politicized, but not by the left. There are some who see this as 'anti-war' or 'anti-Bush,' but it is what it is. These people died over there and deserve to be remembered." Chairman Powell, however, disagreed with his colleague.
This is the second controversy concerning the dead in Iraq. The first concerned photos of flag-draped coffins that were published in newspapers and on the internet. Powell also criticized these images. "You know, if people want to see dead people," said Chairman Powell, "they need to turn on NYPD Blue or maybe Law & Order. There's always a dead body or two there." |
The news story infuriated the right wing. Now, it has the FCC theatening action. Popular ABC talk show "Nightline," hosted by Ted Koppell, is being censured by the Federal Communications Commission after airing a program last Friday eveningdescribed as "patently offensive and obscene." 
"I think it's real patriotic that these men and women gave their lives in Iraq," said Powell. "But, trying to honor them in this manner accomplishes nothing. It would be better if the dead were simply shipped here in the dead of night, without any television coverage, and quietly buried in their home towns without a whole lot of fanfare."