Staff
Published: February 18 2004
Many believe that Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) programming on stations like PJC’s WSRE-TV is among the last safe havens for family viewing. When PBS re-aired the “Frontline” episode “American Porn” Feb. 5 at 9 p.m., the network tested that long-held notion.
“American Porn” is a documentary that gives viewers an inside look into the pornography industry-an industry that has filtered into almost every facet of society.
No one can forget mainstream artists Madonna and Britney Spears engaging in a “lesbian kiss” on the MTV music awards or Janet Jackson’s revealed right breast during the half time show of the Super Bowl on CBS.
Even Larry Flynt, CEO of Hustler Magazine, admits in the documentary, “you can now see on television pictures just as explicit as we were publishing in Hustler in 1974.”
What most viewers may not realize is that WSRE-TV, located on the Pensacola campus, was offered two versions of the episode by PBS: one version that was edited and one version that was not.
According to PBS, in the specially edited version, offensive images are “black boxed” and offensive language is bleeped out. However, the film’s sequences and the narration remain exactly the same.
After some initial confusion as to which version aired, WSRE-TV firmly stated that the edited version of “American Porn” was broadcast on Feb. 5. A spokeswoman for WSRE-TV said that there was “black boxing” and that all “cuss words were not bleeped out on both versions.”
However, according to Jenna Lowe, associate publicist for “Frontline,” “All strong language is bleeped out in the edited version.” PBS agrees that while both versions mask frontal nudity, the specially edited version has additional material that is “black boxed” or bleeped out.
The Corsair sought to view both versions, but at press time WSRE-TV was unable to make them available.
“Both versions were fed to member stations, and the decision to air the edited or the unedited version was left up to that affiliate,” said Lowe. “We advised stations to pre-screen the documentary because we knew that it was controversial.”
“Frontline” producers said they “knew that many PBS stations might find the material too explicit for local community standards.” Nonetheless, according to Lowe, the unedited version was fed live from PBS, and the burden to show the edited version rested on the station.
One PJC student disputes the claim that the edited version aired. Jonathan Parish said that while he wasn’t offended, he did indeed see female nudity.
Whether the program that aired on WSRE was the edited version or not, more than 10 obscene words describing various sexual acts were heard or visible in the hour-long, commercial-free program.
There were seven scenes depicting lesbian acts. Two showed a couple of actresses involved in a Madonna/ Britney-like kiss. Three scenes showed buttocks.
There were scenes more graphic than that. A clip from HBO’s racy “Sex and the City,” in which the characters described a sexual act in graphic detail, was aired.
Also, there was a scene from a movie called “Porno Boot Camp” depicting young women being grilled about performing sodomy.
The Corsair understands that an in-depth look into the porn industry is a worthwhile endeavor. Images and language that would be unsettling to some may be necessary to show the underbelly of this industry. But it seems that none of the shocking content would have been lost if stronger language had been bleeped and nudity masked.
While some may question why WSRE showed the program at all, the bigger question is why PBS put the burden of showing a less offensive version on its member stations.
PBS needs to be more sympathetic about the community standards of different stations.
Edited versions of programs like “American Porn” should be fed from PBS headquarters, not vice versa.
If an individual station wanted to air the more offensive program, it could choose to do so.
Such a scenario would remove any possibility of the explicit version airing by mistake on member stations.
Meanwhile, WSRE-TV should inquire as to why some viewers thought they were seeing the unedited version.
If by some chance the station has inadvertently aired unedited, offensive material, it would be reassuring to know that it can’t happen again.
Also, PBS should be more careful when using nudity and explicit language in order to capture a subject’s “realism.” In communities such as Pensacola, strong language and nudity could overshadow any educational value the program might have.
John Carman, a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle, puts it like this: “Given the fact that the ‘Frontline’ brass decided to show so much porn in order to help viewers understand it, the key question becomes whether the worthwhile information counterbalances the shock value.”