NEWS October 28, 1996 FCC CHAIRMAN HUNDT SAYS CHILDREN NEED PROTECTION FROM BROADCASTING OF HARD LIQUOR ADS ON TV FCC Chairman Reed Hundt today asked for public help "to guarantee that every child has reasonable protection from the media's capacity to do harm," including "advertising hard liquor to an audience of children." In a speech to the American Academy of Pediatrics in Boston, Hundt said, "Halloween is supposed to be one of the best nights of the year for kids. But in some markets there's something real to be afraid of this year. Halloween is one of the biggest drinking nights of the year, and to boost sales even higher, some broadcasters have started carrying distilled spirits advertising for the first time in my lifetime." Hundt said, "Would it be a good day for kids if broadcasters were to reverse a fifty year tradition and show liquor companies' advertisements for hard liquor on broadcast TV to the children of our country? That's what some liquor companies and broadcasters are starting to do," he said. "What do you think about that? Is that what the public wants done with the public's property of the airwaves? Will you let us know at the FCC? Won't you help us figure out how to think about liquor ads? The people need to decide," he said. Hundt said, "We also need your help to guarantee that every child has reasonable protection from the media showing too much violence, or failing to help us educate our kids. We need your help to guarantee that every child can have access to communications technology in every classroom, to guarantee that every child can learn about modern technology with modern technology." Hundt said, "The key word that should underlie all the Commission's decisionmaking is the public interest." He said Americans want educational TV for kids from broadcasters; ratings of violent shows for adults to use in making informed choices; at least five percent of the programming of new media, like satellites and digital TV set aside for public interest programming, including free time for political debate; communications technology in every classroom; rural health care clinics to be linked to academic hospitals; children with disabilities to be mainstreamed through modern communications technology; TV shows to be closed captioned; and heart monitors and hearing aids to be safe and to be compatible with new wireless technologies. "Every one of these wants, needs, demands and expectations the American people have for the communications revolution is reasonable, affordable and achievable if Congress and the FCC make the right decisions and we write the right rules." - FCC - SPEECH BY REED HUNDT CHAIRMAN FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS BOSTON, MA OCTOBER 28, 1996 (AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY) Making Tomorrow A Better Day for Our Children I'm honored to be with you who have devoted your careers to improving the health and well-being of our children. I especially appreciate the concern you have shown in making this month Child Health Month. I'm grateful also that you care about both the physical and mental health of our children. As a parent and as the chairman of the FCC, I'm aware that you have long recognized that popular culture is one of the greatest influences on the physical and psychological condition of children. The impact of popular culture on kids is, of course, at the core of my job description. Since being confirmed to my marvelous job three years ago, I have learned a great deal from the A's and the P's: the American Psychology Association, and the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and then what I call the Advocates and Persuaders from the business community. In the last category I refer to the 100,000 lawyers and lobbyists for the private sector who ply their trade in Washington; there are days when I think all 100,000 work in the communications area. Not everyone who talks to me is always in agreement with everyone else. Sometimes I think FCC stands for Fueling Controversy in Communications. But it has been terrifically important to open up the Commission's processes and policy debates to all Americans. Whether the example is our internet page with thousands of hits per day, or our new free long distance number - 1-888-call-FCC, or the fact that I'm the first chairman in history to speak to this group, I am proud that at the FCC we have invented new ways to be open and responsive to the American public. The key word that should underlie all the Commission's decisionmaking is public interest. Every commissioner, every staff member, should ask with respect to every decision -- and we make literally thousands a year -- what is in the public interest? What do the American people want and need from us? Let me tell what I've heard and learned and understand about the public interest. I have learned that the public interest consists of two things: first, opening closed markets to competition at home and abroad; and second, guaranteeing that all Americans benefit from the communications revolution both by enjoying the fruits of competition -- lower prices and more choices -- and by getting access to communications technology that the marketplace might not readily deliver. So Americans want educational TV for kids from broadcasters. We want ratings of violent shows for adults to use in making informed choices. And Americans want at least five percent of the programming of the new media, like satellites and digital TV, set aside for public interest programming, including free time for political debate. And we want communications technology in every classroom. And Americans want rural health care clinics to be linked to academic hospitals. And we want every pediatrician in every part of the US to be on a communications network, for a very low price, that will permit them to work and consult and heal together. Americans want children with disabilities to be mainstreamed through modern communications technology. We want the blind to be able to talk to voice recognition computers connected to the internet, and the deaf to have access to telecommunications relay service so they can make phone calls to anyone else. Americans want TV shows to be closed captioned. And we want heart monitors and hearing aids to be safe and to be compatible with new wireless technologies. And do we want liquor ads on TV for the first time ever? The people need to decide. We want a small but smart, responsible and responsive government. Every one of these wants and needs and demands and expectations the American people have for the great communications revolution is reasonable, affordable and achievable if Congress and the FCC make the right decisions and we write the right rules. Now since I've been at the FCC we have been more deregulatory and market-oriented than ever before in our history. I am the first chairman ever to order a reduction in force; it was not pleasant but it was long overdue. And we have deregulated the long distance and mobile phone markets nationally and in all the states. When state governments have tried to reregulate industries, we have not let them. We have yet to end the monopolies of the local exchange market or break up the international telephony cartel, but we're working on it. But our commitment to the other, nonmarket dimensions of the public interest also has never been stronger. And that's what I want to talk to you about today. I am especially pleased to be on your program with Congressman Ed Markey, currently ranking member of the House Telcom Subcommittee. Ed is one of the two or three most prominent communications experts in Washington and one of the smartest and bravest and finest public servants I have ever met. We are a holler away from his district, and I can almost hear them now clamoring at about a 95% approval rating for him to go back to Washington for another two years. I can testify to his leadership and his high skills in promoting the public interest. Every one of the goals and achievements for the public interest that I listed for you was directly and successfully championed by Ed Markey. What Ed has done in his career is to help the communications revolution make every day a good day for kids. When everyone in the house is up at 7 am, wouldn't it be a good day if there were a menu of interesting, educational TV shows for kids like my seven-year-old Sara to watch? When our children go off to school, wouldn't it be a good day if in their classrooms they could enter the world of wonder that communications technology can bring them? We'd like our children in our neighborhood public schools to be in classrooms that have computers on networks with Internet access, distance learning, electronic mail, and CD- ROMs. When our children come home in the afternoon, it would be a good day if there were choices on broadcast TV that are safe and enriching. Then in the evenings, when the parents get home, wouldn't it be a good day if mother and father could call the kids' homework up on the TV screen or the PC? Or could get and send e-mails to the kids' teacher? Or could use the PC to send messages to other parents in the community about the soccer games or the PTA auction. These could be key ways to participate in a child's education. Last but not least, when you turn on the TV, you should be able to know in advance what shows are inappropriate for kids. By written notice in the TV guide, by software coding from networks, by means of the v-chip, you should be able to choose shows that you think are appropriate to watch, and you should be able to protect your kids from the inappropriate. That's the way a good day for kids could be. Now let me ask you: would it be a good day for kids if broadcasters were to reverse a fifty year tradition and show liquor companies' advertisements for hard liquor on broadcast TV to the children of our country? That's what some liquor companies and broadcasters are starting to do. Halloween is supposed to be one of the best nights of the year for kids. But in some markets there's something real to be afraid of this year. Halloween is one of the biggest drinking nights of the year, and, to boost sales even higher, some broadcasters have started carrying distilled spirits advertising for the first time in my lifetime. What do you think about that? Is that what the public wants done with the public's property of the airwaves? Will you let us know at the FCC? Either 1-888-Call FCC or www.fcc.gov will get you in touch with us. Communications technology can make kids days better or it can make them worse. Everything about the good or bad day for kids that I've laid out for you ispart of what congress has asked your Federal Communications Commission to take care of. We can't do our jobs without help from Congressmen like Ed Markey. But he'd be the first to say: none of us in public office can do our jobs without your help. No one in the country knows more about what makes the world a better place for kids than you do. We need your advice and we need your advocacy. For example, in August, the FCC achieved something that many thought impossible: we voted unanimously for guidelines calling for a minimum of three hours a week of educational programming for children. This was the first time in the history of television that the FCC passed a rule that asks for a quantified and specific amount of educational television. You can't get it, if you don't ask. In the new telcom law there is the v-chip provision. This is the first law ever to deal directly with the problem of violence in the media. The other day I was given a copy of this book, Physician Guide to Media Violence, from my Chief of Staff, whose wife, Dr. Patti Friedman, is a pediatrician. The book says "there is an established body of evidence documenting the troubling behavioral effects of repeated exposure to media.". This book, published by the American Medical Association, demonstrates that our medical community is in the forefront of recognizing and attacking the problem of media violence. My wife, Dr. Elizabeth Katz, is a psychologist. She has given me similar literature from the American Psychological Association. The medical community has long supported educational TV and the v-chip. And the medical community knows that we got the educational TV rule and the v-chip and the other advances I mentioned earlier only after a long struggle, Washington-style. There was heavy lobbying against these changes in the status quo. There were pressure tactics of many kinds against change. But the new rules protecting the public interest in the media passed because persuasive people asked the FCC Commissioners to do the right thing. You can't get it, if you don't ask. Many in Washington did the asking -- President Clinton, Vice President Gore, Senator Lieberman, Congressman Markey and a majority of Congressmen signing on to his letter. But our Commissioners would not have moved if private citizens had not led the demand for better television. From Massachusetts, the famous Peggy Charren of Action for Children's Television, and from all over the country doctors and teachers and parents wrote and called and visited us. Thousands of citizens looked out for the public interest. That's what it takes to make change. You can't get anything in Washington without asking for it. And when there's a lot of lobbying for the status quo and against change, then there needs to be a lot of asking to make for change. In a democracy that's not unreasonable, is it? In a democracy you can't be passive. Everyone needs to vote; everyone needs to ask government to do what needs doing but which none of us can do so well acting alone. That's the definition of the purpose of government that Abraham Lincoln wrote 150 years ago and it is still true. So what do you want us to do for the good of the country and our children? We haven't yet seen the ratings system broadcasters are preparing. It will be on my desk in weeks. Will you be involved in reviewing it? I'd like your help. As your own Child Health Month Web page states, "repeated exposure to community or media violence can have long-lasting effects on children." Won't you put your expertise to work when we write the rules to make the v-chip work? Won't you help us figure out how to think about liquor ads? Here's another challenge: we have only 9% of all the classrooms in American connected to the information highway. The President said we ought to get all our children and teachers on-line by the end of the century. He called for that in the 1994 State of the Union speech and he, with the support of Ed Markey in particular, put in the new telecommunications law special provisions telling the FCC to write rules that would guarantee access to communications technology to every child in every classroom. Vice President Al Gore coined the term, "information highway," and long ago he articulated the vision of the schoolgirl in Carthage, Tennessee, who could go to the Library of Congress to get the learning not available in her small town in rural America. Every town should be that Carthage. But we haven't translated this vision into a set of rules that will get that job done. We vote with state commissioners on recommendations on November 7. Then you and everyone else in the country have a chance to comment. Next spring we vote on the rules. We need your help in building a coalition to do the right thing. You can't get that done, if you don't ask. We want to make our kids' days into very good days. We need your help to guarantee that every child has reasonable protection from the media's capacity to do harm -- whether by showing too much violence, or failing to help us educate our kids, or advertising hard liquor to an audience of children. We need your help to guarantee that every child can have access to communications technology in every classroom, to guarantee that every child can learn about modern technology with modern technology. So if the voters decide to re-elect the President and I therefore keep my job after a week from Tuesday, I hope you'll be asking us for what you think is the right thing for kids. Ask us again and again. There's no limit to the number of times I'd like to hear from you; and there's no limit to the number of times the Commission will try to do the right thing, with your help. - FCC -