US TV networks are defending their right to talk bullshit after regulators judged they had overstepped the mark by broadcasting the word. They are hitting back against the US media watchdog, the Federal Communications Commission, which among recent rulings has decided that the use of the terms "bullshit" and "bullshitter" were in violation of decency laws.
Fox and CBS have asked the court of appeals in New York to look into FCC decisions which they believe were "unconstitutional, contrary to the relevant statutes, arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law". They are supported by rival network NBC, while Disney is filing a similar appeal in the District of Columbia. In all more than 800 affiliated networks are joining in the legal efforts.
The appeal is the latest shot in a cultural war in the US that has excited debate and worried executives as regulators get ever tougher on content. The most notorious incident was Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl - which cost CBS $550,000 in fines. The broadcaster is urging the FCC to reconsider that decision. It is also seeking a review of the mouthwatering $3.3m fine meted out against FBI drama Without a Trace for depicting group sex.
Plenty of commentators are determined to safeguard the right to air bullshit - not least Media Guardian columnist Jeff Jarvis. With sex and swearing becoming more commonplace on British TV, even within minutes of the 9pm watershed, the debate seems rather peculiar from this side of the Atlantic. Perhaps only admirers of the late Mary Whitehouse and Daily Mail subs get outraged by this kind of thing these days.
But are the American regulators more in touch with public attitudes to decency? Have the relatively laissez faire British watchdogs allowed too much "indecency" on to our television screens? As for the networks, are they really sticking up for free speech or just trying to patch up the holes in their wallets?
