Wednesday, October 08, 2003

By Dan Majors, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Apparently, George Carlin was wrong. Carlin, you may remember, said there were seven words you can never say on television. (You'll have to go to the Internet to find out what they were. This is a family newspaper. We've only printed four of them.)

But Carlin made his observation in 1972. Back then, TV was quaint.

Today, television is more daring. More risque. On the edge.

Which brings us to U2, the Irish rock band that won a Golden Globe Award in a nationally televised show last January. Bono, the group's singer, walked up to the microphone and could not contain his surprised glee.

"This is really, really, [expletive] brilliant," he said.

Obviously, he didn't say the word "expletive." He said a different word, a naughty word. Or at least people thought it was naughty.

Hundreds of folks complained to the Federal Communications Commission, the government agency responsible for regulating radio and television broadcasts. An official indecency complaint was filed against NBC and "The Golden Globe Awards Show."

The Parents Television Council encouraged visitors to its Web site to send an e-mail to the FCC and NBC "to express my extreme disgust and disappointment in your network for allowing the 'F-word' to air unedited."

The FCC reviewed the tape of the incident and after 8 1/2 short months has decided that it's not what you say. It's how you say it.

According to David Ho, a reporter with The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., the FCC has ruled that Bono's colorful language didn't violate federal indecency rules. (Or are they decency rules?)

The FCC, using the F-word more often to explain its decision than Bono did on the air, said the word "may be crude and offensive, but, in the context presented here, did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities." That distinction is a key test to measure whether a statement meets a federal standard for broadcast indecency.

David Solomon, chief of the FCC's enforcement bureau, said Bono used the vulgarity as an adjective or to emphasize an exclamation and that "the use of specific words, including expletives or other 'four-letter words' does not render material obscene."

The Los Angeles-based Parents Television Council, however, did not embrace Solomon's wisdom and yesterday accused the FCC of "splitting hairs."

"It's not shocking to us on the FCC decision because they're a toothless lion," said Lara Mahaney, director of corporate and entertainment affairs for the council. "They don't take indecency seriously and that's why you see it proliferating on the broadcast airwaves."

Solomon defended the ruling as being consistent with past ones. "Fleeting and isolated remarks of this nature do not warrant commission action."

Wait till Bart Simpson hears about this. He'll be cussin' like a Steelers fan.

There will be no foul language in describing the foul smells
Residents of Hays and Hazelwood went before the city Planning Commission yesterday to oppose the development of a horse racing track. One of the concerns they raised was the odor from the stables.

And the council members all talked nicely to each other
Allegheny County Council members last night decided to rein in the political and personal words that some county officials are mailing out at taxpayer expense. "County taxpayer dollars shouldn't pay for political mailings," said Councilman Doug Price, the bill's sponsor.

But the cats will continue to be limited to nine lives
A couple of weeks ago, we told you how the Pennsylvania Game Commission was threatening to crack down on communities that used "trap-neuter-release" programs to control stray cat populations. Well, the commissioners backed off that plan yesterday.

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