To the San Francisco BAY TIMES:

The Federal "Communications" (?) Commission
distorts American perceptions of reality in many ways.

First, they invite fewer and fewer corporations to own more and more radio and TV broadcast stations.

Then they try to stamp out micro-broadcasting, such as the 42-watt Free Radio Santa Cruz (please see STREET SPIRIT, Nov. 2004; and FreakRadio.org ).
[ http://www.freakradio.org ]

And then they mislead Middle America about the extent of body-tolerance here in The City. If you're lucky enough to attend San Francisco LGBT Pride events in person each June, you'll see lots of topfree (bare-chested) womyn, and a few fully nude men, and various examples of partial or complete exposure. Barings gradually climb from year to year, decade to decade, except when bad weather temporarily turns back the cultural clock.

But you won't know this if you rely on broadcast TV; or if you watch videotapes made and sold by a broadcast TV station.

Why? Because broadcast TV stations are very, very afraid of the FCC, especially since the Janet Jackson incident ("the breast that ate Couch Potato Nation"). Indeed, FCC censors had many ABC stations so panicked recently that they didn't dare show "Saving Private Ryan". The old "Banned in Boston" label has been replaced by "Banned from Broadcast".

[ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/11/12/entertainment1733EST0679.DTL ]

So a person in Ohio, watching a made-for-broadcast tape of our Pride Parade, won't realize how mundane skin is becoming at certain outdoor SF public events -- including Bay 2 Breakers, Dyke March, Pink Saturday, Pride Festival, Dore Alley Fair, Folsom Street Fair, Love Parade, "Castro-ween"; and possibly Harrison Street Fair.

The FCC allows only a gelded version of reality, presented as "truth". Unless rural and suburban viewers actually visit our ongoing social experiment, they won't know they're being lied to.

And censorship of TV also has consequences on the ground, especially in certain parts of the Pride Parade. If any participant shows "too much", then the TV cameras will turn away, deleting the whole contingent from "videality" (reality as distorted by video).

This creates an ethical and tactical dilemma for parade participants. Should a group pressure individuals to cover up, or not? Most queers and leatherfolk want to honor personal freedom, on principle; and yet most businesses and organizations also want TV publicity. The FCC forces them to choose, where either choice is unsatisfactory and controversial, sometimes damaging group morale and cohesion.

If "liberal media" isn't completely an oxymoron...YET,
that's not for any lack of effort by fascists.


Tortuga Bi LIBERTY,
for Senior Unlimited Nudes,
San Francisco

Friday, 12 November 2004
http://pages.prodigy.net/seniornude
http://seniornude.blogspot.com