Is There Really A Problem Here?
I found this little blurb on one of my fav web sites, www.newsoftheweird.com.
Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird
The “indecent” CBS drama “Without a Trace” for which the Federal Communications Commission is proposing a $3.3 million fine of the network and affiliates was apparently complained about by only two (at most) actual viewers of the estimated 8.2 million who watched it that December 2004 night, according to FCC records that CBS cited in a June filing to the commission. Those two (and 4,209 complaints from people who apparently only heard about the show) did not start arriving at the FCC until 12 days afterward, which coincidentally was the day that a family watchdog organization began alerting its members about the show. The same CBS program had aired in 2003, with no complaints. [Reuters, 6-14-06; MediaWeek.com, 6-13-06]
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Look at these numbers – does this really spell out a problem of the decline of America? If you look at the numbers from the “wardrobe malfunction” at the Superbowl a few years back, you find very similar numbers of folks complaining (i.e., hardly any). What does this tell us? That the media likes to make mountains out of molehills.
