Tyranny of the Minority
There is a concern about a new "tyranny of the minority": only 5% of respondents agreed with the statement: "If even a small group of listeners is offended by a radio show's content, the FCC should take action against it." Similarly, 75% of respondents agreed that, "Small groups of people are having too much influence over whether radio programs should be fined or punished."
Only a tiny number of respondents feel that the FCC should be making programming decisions; just 12% agreed with the statement "The FCC should take programs that it considers indecent off the air."
Don't Buy The "Protect the Children Claim"
Finally, and perhaps most significantly, these Rock radio listeners reject the claim by many that the government must "clean up broadcasting to protect the children." When asked to choose between two statements regarding responsibility for radio programming and listening the results were as follows:
87% say it's the parents' responsibility to keep material they find indecent away from their children
13% say it's the broadcasters' responsibility to eliminate indecent material from the airwaves so children can't hear it.
The obligation was put on parents over broadcasters in similarly strong numbers among all subgroups, including women, parents of children under 13, Republicans and Democrats, frequent churchgoers and those who never attend religious services.
"These shows have been on for 20 years or more, doing the same things they always have, and only now that Janet Jackson showed her breast on the Super Bowl halftime show has it become an issue for politicians," says Jacobs. "While it's impossible to 'stand up for indecency,' this study shows that the broadcasters and the listeners should stand up for their rights. Listeners know that certain radio shows might offend them, and they know how to change the station if they don't want to hear such things."
This survey was conducted over the Internet by invitation to listeners of 40 Rock radio stations across America. A list of participating radio stations is available by request. The number of respondents from any individual radio station was capped. In total, 13,700 respondents participated in the survey between March 12th and March 19th, 2004. A complete report on findings from this study will be released on Monday, March 29th on http://www.edisonresearch.com and http://www.jacobsmedia.com.
- from a PR Newswire Press Release
