This is what I wrote to the FCC regarding Naudet's 9/11 documentary because of network reluctance to air the documentary again for fear of being fined:
TO: Chairman Kevin J. Martin: KJMWEB@fcc.govCommissioner Michael J. Copps: Michael.Copps@fcc.govCommissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.govCommissioner Deborah Taylor Tate: dtaylortateweb@fcc.govCommissioner Robert McDowell: Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov
Dear Mr. Chairman and Commissioners,
This email is to express my concerns and desire that the Naudet 9/11 documentary NOT be forced to edit out the strong languages of interviewees and that the stations who do choose to broadcast it NOT be fined for allowing the language.
It is not in our best interest as Americans to sanitize this important documentary - the event was too profound and the strong language of the participants is reflective of their genuine experience and emotions. To censor the language, to prohibit it, or to attempt to "sweeten" it, diminishes the valid experiences of the people who lived through that day. You can be sure those people in New York - civilians, cops, fire department, first responders and all on the streets as it was happening were not saying "golly", "shazam", "gosh", "darn", "shucks", or "oh, my stars & garters!".
No broadcaster should be faced with being fined for presenting this documentary in it's entirety, uncensored. Yet I read that many CBS affiliates will not show it to honor 9/11's memory for fear of reprisal and fines. We are Americans and this is a free speech issue. This documentary is not prurient, it is not indecent. There are times when "strong language", including the F word, must be allowed. We are not enfants covert who need to be protected from the truth of other' people's experiences, narratives or emotions. Truth has it's own voice and censoring the voice of truth, punishing those who would show that by fining them is unacceptable to me as an American. It is not what I spent 5 years of my young adulthood serving in the military to support.
Cordially,
Morgan (withheld in blog)
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