Barack Obama marks his first year in office with mixed results on the economy and health care – but there’s widespread agreement on his grade in taking on Hollywood-related issues.
Incomplete.
To be fair, it’s still a bit early -- especially since Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski was not in place until June. But a big 2010 is expected.
The number of initiatives begun, court rulings on the way, trade pacts under negotiation and anti-trust deals under review makes Obama Year 2 the real test, say consumer groups, associations and Hollywood unions on differing sides of various issues.
The administration did get good marks for successfully delalying the transition to digital TV transition from January to June 2009, minimizing problems.
And at least the guy has media savvy. Not only did he move his State of the Union address so it wouldn’t conflict with the season premiere of “Lost,” but he rescheduled it to follow “American Idol.”
Here’s a rundown of what’s happened, what hasn't and what’s ahead on the major Hollywood-related issues:
INDECENCY
Status: Waiting for court rulings
As a senator, Obama complained that TV was “coarsening our culture.”Genachowski, during confirmation hearings, promised to continue the indecency enforcement begun by his predecessor Republican Kevin Martin -- but so far the FCC has taken no major action.
Big decisions pending on two upcoming separate appellate courts cases are an obvious reason for the stall. CBS’ challenge of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl fines and Fox’s challenge of FCC “fleeting expletives” sanctions because of Cher and Nicole Richie’s comments on successive Billboard Music Awards shows could rewrite rules of what the FCC can do on the subject of indecency.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals are expected to issue opinions sometime in the next few months.
Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, said the FCC is being appropriate in the way it's looking at indecency. “We would encoure them to go slow and methodically when dealing with First Amendment issues,” he said.
Dan Isett, director of public policy for the Parents Television Council, however, accuses Genachowski of giving “lip service” to indecency enforcement. Isett told TheWrap that the FCC under Genachowski still has more than 1.6 million indecency complaints to act on, both big and small. (Some of these are Jane Fonda saying the C-word on the “Today” show, while talking about “The Vagina Monologues; a “Las Vegas” sex scene; and bestiality on “American Dad.”)
“I don’t think that the current stuff in the courts should have any say in [affecting] ongoing legal [enforcement],” he said.
An individual at the commission told TheWrap that while the FCC has not taken any major enforcement actions, the reviewing of complaints is continuing.
NET NEUTRALITY
Status: Farthest along, but … could face a major setback
The Obama campaign platform written mainly by Genachowski promised to implement net neutrality.
